The 250-mile walk will begin on September 15th at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in New York and end on October 7th, with a freedom rally at the Capitol in Washington. Deng and supporters will walk through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland en-route to DC. "We must hold our elected representatives accountable to their commitments to bring peace to Sudan," says Deng.
Deng, of the Southern Sudanese Shilluk tribe, was abducted into slavery by Arab Northerners before escaping and returning to his family after two and a half years of enslavement. In his freedom, Simon rose to become the national long-distance swimming champion of Sudan and immigrated to the United States in 1991.
Deng began telling his personal story in 1998, after reading a New York Times article about slaves still being bought and sold in Sudan for $10.
In the spring of 2006, Simon Deng partnered with recently deceased basketball star and Sudanese icon, Manute Bol, and David Bredhoff to create the first Sudan Freedom Walk. The walk brought the passage of the Darfur Peace and Accountability act of 2005. Senators Hillary Clinton and Sam Brownback along with Nancy Pelosi led a group from Congress who rallied with Deng in Washington in April, 2006. Deng also led the European Sudan Freedom Walk from Brussels to Hague in 2006 as well as the Chicago Sudan Freedom Walk in 2007.
Source: The Sudan Freedom Walk
