As the opening bars of Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” began to fill the New Orleans Superdome on Sunday, Zül-Qarnain Nantambu, a New Orleans-based artist, knew he had a decision to make. Here he was on one of the world’s biggest stages — with millions tuned in for the Super Bowl LIX halftime performance. “Are you going to be brave? Are you going to be a coward?” he asked himself. “Are you going to take a stand?”

With the world watching, Nantambu, 41, made his choice. As the rest of the 400 hired dancers moved in a coordinated rhythm to Lamar’s music, Nantambu reached into his clothes and unfurled a joint Palestinian and Sudanese flag. He took off running, waving a flag adorned with the words “Sudan” and “Gaza” in black ink. After roughly 30 seconds, he was wrestled to the ground by security as the crowd watched.

Despite the mere seconds of screen time, his protest captured national attention.

“I don’t get caught up in politics or anything,” he told The Intercept, adding. “What’s going on in these places are inhumane. The civil war in Sudan, the oppression and the war and the tyranny that’s going on in Gaza, is inhumane. And these people are connected with us all as humans, and........

© The Intercept