When Joseph Tucker was growing up in La Cañada, California and attending St. Bede the Venerable Roman Catholic grade school, students had to choose between joining the choir or serving at the altar. Joe and his friends chose to be altar servers instead of singing. But his resonant mature voice went public when, as a student at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, he joined the student staff of the college’s radio station, WZBT 91.1. Their logo was a whimsical image of Abraham Lincoln with googly eyes. Weekly shipments of newly released albums arrived at the station, and before graduation he was airing his own hour-long show.
Joe’s family gave him an early appreciation for world affairs. Undergraduate study of decolonization led to increasing interest in African politics, with postgraduate work in political science. Arriving in Washington, DC in 2004, he worked for the National Endowment for Democracy, the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He was honored to work with many committed public servants, including the late Ambassador Princeton Lyman, one of President Obama’s special envoys to Sudan and former US ambassador to South Africa during the transition from apartheid. Tucker and Lyman travelled together frequently to Sudan and South Sudan.
After spending enough time in the region to appreciate its complex history, including meeting political and civil society leaders plus a wide variety of people striving to make a difference, he notes the deep commitment felt by those Sudanese and South Sudanese who have risked their lives bringing much needed assistance, information, and hope to people in both countries. In particular, he was always impressed by the work of dedicated local print and radio journalists, some of whom were supported by the U.S. and operated in remote, conflict-affected areas.
Over the years, Joe’s commentary has been broadcast on BBC, NPR, Voice of America, and Al- Jazeera, among others. His voice was also heard by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he testified on Sudan in 2022.
Joe recently relocated from Washington, D.C. to Nairobi to follow current events in both countries and the Horn of Africa. AFRECS counts on continuing to hear his assured and informed voice via the internet.