Walking the Talk

NEW YORK CITY & WASHINGTON, D.C.

"I thought I could forgive and forget," Simon Deng says, "but villages are being burned, women are being raped and people are being sold into slavery. Americans must act now."

On April 5, Deng — a lifeguard at Coney Island and a member of DC 37's Local 508 — completed a historic, 300-mile protest walk to call attention to the atrocities still being committed in the Sudan, especially its Darfur region. Accompanied by 30 students from Vermont, Deng's journey began at the United Nations on March 14 and ended five states and 13 cities later on Capitol Hill in Washington. He thought up the "Sudan Freedom Walk" two years ago to "amplify the message."

A native of southern Sudan, the 45-year-old activist was sold into slavery at age 9 and escaped two years later. He is well known in his country as a champion swimmer.