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God Grew Tired Of Us
A
Book Review / Movie Openings Expand To Baltimore and Other
Cities
By Wayne A. Young
 The movie, God Grew Tired of Us,
(see Special Snippets sent 01/18/2007) was so moving that I also read
the book of the same name (National Geographic Society, $26).
Unlike
the movie which introduced me to the struggle that created unbelievable
hope in the surviving refugees of the North /South conflict in Sudan, I
left the book knowing more intimately why so many recent immigrants can
come to the United States, hold three jobs, and surpass the standard of
living of so many native-born Americans.
As
one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, John Bul Dau took the long journey from
Southern Sudan to Ethiopia and finally to a refugee camp in Kenya
without his parents and family. (The Northern Army was out to kill the
male children of Southerners). During one of the legs of his long
walk, where he was often naked and hungry, Dau wrote, "I envied the
boys who had a cup of urine to drink." Having survived such
tribulations, it is no wonder that he would later "embrace my new
mother and father: the classroom and the book."
Rightfully
so, John praises those Americans who cared enough to help him. When the
United States brought him and many other Lost Boys to America, they
settled him in Syracuse, NY. Many of those who helped him were
not
African-American. So while the book was extremely insightful and
inspirational, one can detect the small impact the African-American
perspective has had on this life. He wrote: "Race and social
class do
not seem to define the individual; even physical handicaps are not
relevant."
John
is now married, with child, and educated. He found his parents
and his
mother lives with him in America. He remains a proud Dinka.
He hopes
to return to mostly Christian Southern Sudan in 2010 and campaign for
independence from the mostly Muslim North. "Maybe they will call it
Kush, to cement the nation's identity to its biblical foundation," he
writes.
The Film: Now
Showing in Baltimore Click
here for additional locations.
Photo:
Wayne Young with a "Lost Boy of Sudan "John Dau. |
