hmTv at HMTC Podcasts 468: Influential Origins with Alan Mindel and guest Simon Deng P2 on hmTv
hmTv | Influential Origins Ep. 468
Influential Origins with Alan Mindel and guest Simon Deng (Part 2)
In Part 2 of this extraordinary conversation, Simon Deng moves from witnessing violence to living through one of the world’s least-discussed realities: modern-day slavery. Deng explains the meaning of the word abid — a term used in Sudan to label Black Africans as “slave” — and describes how racism, identity, and religion fueled decades of persecution that ultimately split Sudan into two nations.
At just nine years old, Deng was deceived by a neighbor, taken hundreds of miles from his family, and given away as property. For three and a half years he lived as a child slave. He recounts the daily brutality: forced labor, hunger, beatings, sleeping with animals, and being treated as less than human. Even children were encouraged to torment him because, in their eyes, he was not a person.
The episode then turns to the moment hope appeared. A chance encounter with members of his own tribe led to a secret rescue, while his family back home had already held a funeral believing he was dead. Yet freedom did not end discrimination. Back in Sudan he was still called a slave and even chased out of a public swimming pool simply because of his skin color. Ironically, that moment pushed him toward swimming and ultimately toward reclaiming his dignity and identity.
Part 2 is a raw, deeply personal account of survival, resilience, and the psychological scars of dehumanization. It sets the stage for how Simon Deng would later bring his story to the world and become an advocate for human rights and the abolition of slavery.