Dr. John Garang and Manute Bol on Bor Massacre:
Just
a few blocks away from where Garang and Machar’s declaration was taking
place, another prominent Sudanese man was making a declaration of a
whole other kind. His name was Manute, and he was the first Sudanese
basketball star to grace the NBA. When the brutality of the early 1990’s
had been unleashed upon his home country he was also the first person
of prominence to speak out in the United States.
OxFam, the international aid agency was holding a conference on
Capitol Hill and the lanky nearly 8 foot tall Basketball player had been
invited to speak. Leaning over the podium that barely even reached his
waist, Manute a man often known for few words suddenly became prolific
in his expression of how much his people were suffering.
As he told the expectant audience, “Look at me. I came here to
America and I live like a King, I have money, I never have to worry
about what it is I eat. Everything is taken care of. Every night I can
eat a good meal and go to sleep. But then the next morning I see a
program on the news about my home country, about the Sudan and it makes
me want to cry. I have seventy of my people right now homeless in the
capitol of Sudan. They have no place to go.”
Manute then looked out at the audience with his characteristic
honest and straightforward style and continued, “People are starving and
people are killing each other? And for what? Over religion? Over skin
color? This has to stop and it has to stop now.”
Manute then leaned forward again, grabbed the microphone on the
podium adjusting it closer to his face and quietly told the audience,
“Thank you.” After a slight pause the mesmerized crowd then erupted into
a burst of cheers and applause.
Shortly after Manute’s address at the OxFam conference in DC he was
introduced to Dr. John Garang and from that moment forward, the SPLM
had a brand new champion and a powerful symbol for their cause. Manute
Bol; a famous celebrity, a basketball star of the west, who was
determined to bring the full clout of the NBA to the table when it came
to bringing the world’s attention to the plight of South Sudan.
Shortly after his first public address in Washington DC, John
Garang flew to the nation’s capitol to meet Bol himself. When Garang
arrived in the hotel lobby where their first meeting had been arranged
to take place, a tired Manute Bol just back from a rigorous workout with
the Washington Bullets was already slouching down low on a couch
watching the lobby television.
Garang didn’t even notice him as he stepped over to the
receptionist and asked in his polite, stilted accent, “Excuse me Ma’am, I
am looking for a Mr. Manute Bol?” Manute then snapping to attention
upon hearing Garang’s inquiry, abruptly stood up from the couch, causing
the slightly startled receptionist to sputter, as she pointed to him
from across the room, “Um—yes—I think that’s him”
Garang then turned to see the towering figure of the basketball
star smiling down on him as Manute greeted him, “John Garang, thanks for
coming.” Garang just as amazed at Manute’s height as everyone else,
laughed as he stared up at him, telling him, “Before I left they told me
that Manute Bol was a big supporter of our cause—they just didn’t tell
me how big!”
Manute Bol then laughed softly as he told Garang, “Ah, don’t worry
about that, my whole family is tall.” He then directed Garang to a table
in the corner of the lobby where the two both took a seat and got down
to business. Garang had pulled out a map of Sudan and was highlighting
the areas in which they had made progress against the National Islamic
Front of the North, and then Garang paused as his finger fell upon the
town of Bor.
Manute sensing the gravity of the situation asked him, “Garang, is
it really that bad? I mean—all the reports of the fighting in Bor? How
bad is it?” Garang then looked Manute right in the eyes, and told him in
dead seriousness, “Yes, Manute, it’s worse—worse than anything you
could ever imagine.”
With the haunting words of John Garang sticking with him throughout
the basketball season, Manute would eventually go back to his homeland
the next summer to find out for himself just how bad it really was. His
first inkling came at the airport when he saw the skeletal figures in
tattered clothing who came to greet him. When the plane touched down
thousands of tired and weary Sudanese stood in silent audience waiting
for Manute’s arrival.
The air was thick with desperation and despondency but as soon as
Manute Bol stepped down from the plane smiles could be seen almost
everywhere. And from then on he had a very lively entourage following
him wherever he went. They stared in amazement at the man who had not
too long ago lived in the same conditions, and yet was able to come back
a superstar//
About the Author:
Adier Mach Deng is a South Sudanese Author, Economist, and Artist living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He authored three books: Escaping Jihadists of Sudan, Beyond the Rivers of Sudan, and the Bor Massacre (coming soon).
He was born in the village of Dong, Twic East, South Sudan. As a boy,
raised in this region, he experienced the cruel reality of civil wars,
genocide, and massacres through mid-1980 to early 2000. Adier holds
degrees in Political Science, Law, and Business. Visit his website at www.adierdeng.org; twitter: @adierdeng and at www.facebook.com/Adier-Mach-Deng.
Comments