Lewis Beale of USA Weekend on Precious freedom: Francis Bok’s escape from childhood slavery is a horror tale with a happy ending:
At age 7, most kids are mastering tying their shoes and reading. Francis Bok was a slave. An ethnic Dinka from civil-war-torn Sudan in Africa, he was abducted in a raid by Muslim militia soldiers. For a decade, he spent his days herding sheep and cattle for his master, and his nights alone in a hut, sleeping on the ground. He was forced to convert from Christianity to Islam. Playing and talking to other people were strictly forbidden.
Don’t expect the chickenhawk brigade to volunteer for liberation duty in Sudan. Don’t ask me why. I could swear they were all frothing at the mouth over freedom for the citizens of Iraq just a few months ago.