“Run!” yelled Nyabol. “Leave your things and run!”
I raced from the marketplace — and right into a huge horse with a militiaman pointing a gun at me. I stopped; I could not move. The thing that scared me most was a big horse, and here was the biggest horse I had ever seen standing in front of me like a wall topped by a man with a rifle screaming at me in a language I could not understand.
My heart was trying to leap from my body.
Someone grabbed me from behind…
Step into the life of Francis Bok – as a seven-year-old in Sudan, Bok was abducted by Arab militamen and held for ten years as a slave. By day, his master beat him and called him an animal. At night, he would lie awake wondering who would come rescue him.
After a daring escape in 1996, Bok made his way to America and joined the anti-slavery movement. Today, he speaks to audiences across the country about his experience.
In his groundbreaking autobiography, Escape from Slavery, Bok recounts in vivid detail the terror of the slave raid, his ten nightmarish years in bondage, and his journey to freedom in America.
Purchase a copy of Escape from Slavery and a portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting Francis and the American Anti-Slavery Group’s efforts to raise awareness of the ongoing slavery and genocide in Sudan.
Supplemental Curriculum for Escape From Slavery
In Los Angeles, CA, Francis Bok’s slave narrative Escape from Slavery has been made required reading for the entire junior class for 2006. St. Martin’s Press, the book’s publisher, has made a teachers’ guide (PDF) to accompany it, which is divided into two sections. The first, entitled “Reading and Understanding the Book,” focuses on reading comprehension, conceptual discussion, and context interpretation. The second, “Questions and Exercises for the Class,” encourages students to engage with the subject matter broadly and associatively, working alone and in groups. A brief, final section offers suggestions for further study.