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# Former Sudanese slave Francis Bok urges Samohi students to fight modern slavery
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/kevin-herrera-daily-press-dan-alba-left-president-of-the-freshman-seminar-and-guest-lecturer-francis-bok-a-former-slave-in-sudan-have-an-exchange-at-s/
- Published: 2006-05-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T18:00:00.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Former slave speaks to a healing Samohi*

SAMOHI Francis Bok was just 7 years old when his childhood was taken from him by an Arab militia, as men on horseback stormed his village in southern Sudan, slaughtering everyone in sight.

Bok lost his family, friends and his innocence in an instant. He was taken prisoner and forced into slavery. For 10 years, he lived as an animal — the slave of the Abdulla family. With no one to show him love, no one to guide him through his teenage years and into adulthood, Bok was forced to figure out life on his own, all the while holding desperately onto the slightest bit of hope that one day he would be free.

Today, Bok is more than just a free man, having escaped his captors with the help of a stranger. Bok is now a human rights activist and author who travels the world teaching people about the ills of slavery.

Last week, he visited Santa Monica High School as part of a nationwide tour based on tolerance, responsibility and civic engagement.

“What I want the students to take away from this is that they have the power to make a difference, that it is important to do something urgently to help those still in bondage around the world,” Bok said, following a question-and-answer session with several hundred Samohi freshmen. “Students need to feel they have the power to make a difference because they are the next generation of leaders. To educate them is to ensure that this never happens again, anywhere in the world.”

Bok’s connection to Samohi goes deeper than just another stop of his tour. His autobiography, “Escape From Slavery,” played a critical role in shaping the newly-designed freshman seminar,“Facing History and Ourselves,” a required course for freshmen that seeks to teach them tolerance and the impacts of their individual actions by studying events in history such as the Holocaust and the eugenics movement. Students also discussed homophobia, racism and class division.

“If we give students opportunities to think critically about decisions made in the past, they can make some connections about moral choices they confront every day,” said Dan Alba, president of Facing History and Ourselves, a 30-year-old educational development organization that created the curriculum for the freshman seminar. “We don’t simply regurgitate history, we investigate how history unfolded. We look at the decisions that ordinary people have made so that we can begin to understand the incremental steps that ultimately lead to genocide, murder. The question becomes, ‘How is that humanly possible?’”

The new freshman seminar was created following a series of racially-charged incidents on the Samohi campus, in which students of color began lashing out at one another. A group of teachers subsequently gathered to discuss ways in which this tension could be addressed. The freshman seminar, which continually evolves, was seen by some as being outdated and ineffective, and ripe for a revamping. Teachers looked at the success others had using the Facing History curriculum and decided to shape the seminar around that.

“Freshman seminar at that time was really about skill development,but there seemed to be a lack in focus and we felt there were more pressing issues on campus that needed to be addressed,”said Mary Hendra,a history teacher at Samohi who,along with others, helped develop the new freshman seminar.“We really felt the kids were struggling with issues of identity and division into groups and what that means when a community breaks down, because we really did have our community break down.”

A group of teachers presented the plan to the school board in May of last year.

This year’s roughly 850 freshmen were the first to experience the course, and judging from their reactions to meeting Bok, it seems the class is a success.

The students treated Bok as if he was a celebrity, begging to take pictures with him, get his autograph, and shake his hand. Several students said they were inspired by Bok’s life and pledged to do what they could to make a difference. Some students started a club on campus to raise money for Sudanese refugees and pledged it to Bok, who is in the process of creating a non-profit to help those in southern Sudan who have been displaced by Arab militias from the north.

“At first, I thought the (freshman seminar) was going to be pointless, like just another history class that really didn’t mean anything to me,” said 14-year-old Jessica Soltan. “But after the first week, I really started to enjoy it. I learned a lot about identity, how people perceive different cultures, stereotypes and that everyone does it, even if you don’t mean to. When I read Mr. Bok’s book, my heart just dropped. It really inspired me to want to do more for my community and for others who are suffering.”

Freshman Dimitri Malkov, 15, said he too thought the seminar was going to be just another history class, but soon became engaged by the steady diet of studying court cases, hate crimes and the Holocaust as he tried to make connections to events in his own life.

“We learned what is really going on in the world today, not just 50 or 100 years ago,”Malkov said.“It’s not just about facts.We learned life lessons. It’s not just about yourself, but about what is going on in the world around you.We learned about homopho-bia, slavery, genocide, and how we can make an impact.”

Hendra said the seminar has been a big hit with students, faculty and administrators, and there are plans to keep it going next year. There is hope that as more students move through the seminar, attitudes on campus will change. Students may begin to see commonality, where in the past they saw differences, Hendra said.

“It’s really about giving students the tools to think about their actions and how they may affect those around them,” Hendra said.“It’s about letting them learn from the mistakes of the past so that we may never repeat them.”

As for Bok, he has found a new base of support in his fight against slavery, and with each smile he receives from students, the more his hope grows for a better tomorrow.

“These children say that I inspire them,” Bok said. “But they have truly inspired me. Here they are, strangers to me, but willing to give all they can to help those they have never met. I think this is the power of understanding.

“This is what happens when people take time to listen instead of turning their backs.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 23, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)