This interview will leave you speechless: The Lost Boys of Sudan

October 01, 2014

Writer

Glenn had the opportunity to interview Ger Duany and Emmanuel Jal on radio today, two of the stars (and real life lost boys of Sudan) featured in ‘The Good Lie’ from Warner Bros. The movie is getting rave reviews and Glenn calls it a ‘perspective game changer’ that every American needs to see. Ger and Emmanuel tell Glenn of the horrors they escaped as child soldiers in the Sudanese civil war. Unbelievable stuff.

Watch a trailer for the film below:

GLENN: About a week and a half ago, I saw a movie I've been telling you to see. It opens up Friday. And I've been telling you you need to bring everybody you know. You need to bring your family, your friends, your kids. I'm coming back to my house in Dallas in weekend assuming we're not under some Ebola quarantine. I'm bringing my family to the movie theater on Friday night to see this movie. It is tremendous. And probably I think the most important movie at the right time for America.

You will be amazed at this story, uplifted by the story. Horrified by the story, but I think most importantly at least I was shamed by this story. Because it puts our American problems into perspective and it puts our Christianity into perspective. Really. What are we doing with our life? And you see us with the eyes of an outsider. It's called The Good Lie. Stars Reese Witherspoon, but quite honestly when I left the theater a couple of weeks ago, I said to the guys from Warner Brothers, as much as I like to talk to Reese, we can talk to her any time. I want to talk to the Lost Boys. I want to talk to the guys who were in it, especially if they had led a life similar to that. They have, and they're here with us.

Ger Duany is here. He plays Jeremiah in the movie, and Emmanuel Jal, he plays Paul. You guys both, first of all. Hello, welcome, and how are you.

VOICE: Hi, thank you.

GER: Thanks for having us.

GLENN: You guys both grew up kind of similar to the movie. You were in the Sudan, and you were taken and forced to fight as child soldiers. Right?

GER: Yes.

GLENN: What is that like?

GER: Thanks for having us, first of all.

And this film is set in the backdrop of the civil war between the north and south Sudan. In the center of it is our life experiences as a Lost Boy of Sudan who escaped the war in 1987 by foot to Ethiopia. When we reach Ethiopia and the refugee camp which was controlled by the military, we were trained instantly at the age of eight and then stayed in Ethiopia for four, five years. And not only that, in 1991, we encountered the Ethiopian civil war that make us scared everywhere again in Africa. Many of us ran to Kenya and any country that surrounded our country. So I went back to South Sedan and Emanuel the same goes for him. And now we here, we talking about the movie.

GLENN: Did you guys lose all your family as the characters in the movie did?

EMMANUEL: When -- we all have experienced differently because the war reached my family. All my aunts died in the war, including my mom and later to learn my uncles only two that I know that are alive, and so the way you look at it, it's like Hell. So we have experienced Hell on Earth. Sometimes you ask yourself questions if, when we're kids, if this is not Hell, where is the other Hell? Because my mother would tell me that one day the world would end and bad people are going to go to Hell. And so when the bombs dropped -- rained in my village and seeing everything being taken away from me, and I thought that was Hell. And all through our lives, you see six, seven years old, burying their own dead.

GLENN: I saw the scenes in the movie, you know, where I want to live, and so you're drinking your own urine, and a leader is I don't even know, what, eight or ten years old, of this small little group that goes out. He's now the chief.

And the things that these kids are having to deal with. Nobody in America thinks of things like this.

GER: Yeah, our war was very brutal. Especially the previous one was very brutal. Not as much as the current one that's going on now. And you're watching that movie, you see those kids drinking their own urine, it's real. Because in our area, it's dry. To find water, you just have to bet your entire life. Those kind of events they really happen, in this movie, because we're just in a surviving mode.

GLENN: Okay. I want to make sure that you as a listener, please don't think this is a depressing movie. Because I hear this stuff, and I say I don't want to see a movie about the Sudan and the civil war because that sounds depressing. It's really shocking.

EMMANUEL: It's a testimony.

GLENN: I don't know how you guys did it, but it's so uplifting.

EMMANUEL: It's a testimonial movie. Anyone who come there will see how life is. And also for people who have faith, you will see what faith can do. Because faith is the substance of the things hoped for and evidence of the unseen.

Myself, I would put an experience at one point. When you talk about the urine place, we all have an experience. But one of the lowest point I ever had was when I was tempted to eat my friend when we ran out of food. So my friend was dying. And I told him, 'I'm going to eat you tomorrow.' But I remember what my mother used to do. So she come from the church. So she used to pray. So I prayed to my mother's God, and I say, God, if you can give me something to eat today, one day when I survive, I'm going to give the testimony and give the credit to you.

So if you look at the movie, the Bible is a star in its own right.

GLENN: It is. And yet it's not jammed down anybody's throat. I mean, it's very subtly done and beautifully done, but it is the rock that you tie yourself to. Can I ask what happened, you found food the next day?

EMMANUEL: What happened is when I prayed -- because cannibalism started. We're eating snails, vultures. We ran out of food, and we're a group of 2- to 400 young people. We plan an escape. In the end, only 16 people survived in the end.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

EMMANUEL: And a crow was the one that answered my prayer that became the block to prevent me from eating my friend.

GER: You know, to add something to that, you know it's true. We have experienced a lot of famine in our area during the civil war, especially 1991 famines has killed thousands of us, let alone the disease. You know, like, we're sitting here. I know like what it is like to be hungry while you're healthy and you really needed it and you can't find it. It's crazy. If you attempted to eat your comrade, that's something -- I'm scared of this guy now.

EMMANUEL: I mean, I've never been in a situation like that where your senses change. My senses changed where, because we haven't showered for days. We haven't eaten, and then my fellow human being smell like dry meat. That's how people smell, those that die. They don't smell rotten. They smell like dry meat. And one time I went under the tree hoping I could find any pieces to eat when nobody is able to see me.

GER: That's like the dry season. I remember like '92 probably like it was a rainy season. There's nothing because nobody cultivated nothing. So how we used to just eat grass and leaves? Then when you go and take a load, and then it come out as greenness. It went through your mouth.

GLENN: So when you guys got here after everything that you saw, this is the part of the movie that really was exceptionally hard for me because you love your characters by the time you get to America. You just love all of you. You're just really -- you two in particular are just exceptional on screen. And then you come here, and Reese Witherspoon shows up and you immediately dislike her because she has no concept and she doesn't care.

No one can relate in our arrogance. No one in our arrogance can relate. So what -- when you really came over as Lost Boys, did you -- what was your experience like?

Jeremiah, the character Jeremiah you played, when he's out in the back of the store and he's like, wait a minute. All this food and you want to help that homeless person. Did you have those kinds of experiences?

GER: We have. Yes, I have those kinds of experiences, but not exactly as Jeremiah encountered those. But to talk about his character, I think he found himself captivated in a society where it's not moving a lot. And you see him in a grocery store where there's so much food, but it has to be thrown away. So things was not adding up to him.

GLENN: You're thinking about I'm going to eat my dude over here. You got to throw away all this perfectly good food. This is nuts.

GER: Yeah. I viewed the boss as a lion. So lion when they speak, metaphorically, it doesn't really mean a lion that ate Paul. This really is a lion in terms of human being that is smart to you and being cruel at the same time. I think that's what Isaiah was referring to.

So in my personal life, when I came here in 1994, we came here to the Lutheran church. And we were like the first group of guys before everybody knew about the Lost Boys of Sudan. They just knew we were a refugee who came to this part of the world. So we didn't know anything. Everything was learning from the very beginning. And that's when I can admit that we are really a lost generation from war.

And later on, we decided to turn to each other and find a strength for what this guy did in the movie. And things came in society where we were welcomed.

GLENN: You guys are both highly successful now. You've done very famous modeling. You've done albums or CDs, and all kinds of stuff, the two of you. Successful.

How have you not lost -- or have you -- how have you not lost that -- how have you not become part of the problem? How do you not become part of yeah, I got all this and it's disposable it's great. It's never going to end.

EMMANUEL: I think that's not the case.

GLENN: The one you play, your character, he does lose his way.

EMMANUEL: He lost his way in so many way because he wasn't focused, and he had so many hopes and dreams, and it wasn't the life that he was hoping.

But in terms of where you're asking about experiences when you come into a new world. If I try to compare the experiences in the movie and actually what I experienced, because in the movie, it's Paul, just to try to see how this shock and how Jeremiah's situation was. The first time I was brought into an organized place, a complex society, where there's toilet in a room, you know, what fascinated me was a toilet. You know, when you go to that toilet. I was wondering when somebody download a file, how that machine takes everything away in front of you. And then clean water comes, and then what I used to do. It's imagination.

So I used to think probably a snake would come out. So when I'm using it. I have to stand hoping when I download the file, probably a snake wouldn't bite me. I just hold it. And so that's one experience.

And if I try to connect it back to Ger's experience coming here, I was in Kenya. I see the TV. I watch the movies about aliens, and I'm reading the Bible. And when I was shock about the cathedrals, the big buildings, the bridges, the train system, and everything, and in my head, I kind of like concluded and said, probably white people are the fallen angels or maybe they're aliens. It took me a while to actually know that these people are normal human beings.

So, I mean, I could go on and on. The life we are living now we've been transformed. I mean, we come from a situation where we're starving at one point. Now, we have plenty to eat. At one time, I was trying to tell kids that I am in a place where I choose to eat one meal a day. And the kids what do you mean, we eat one meal a day? I told them, in this place, people die of fatness. And one kid said, wow, that's the coolest death ever.

And so -- and now you see me like I have music out there. So the truth is this movie we just did, I happened to an album called the Keys. There were two songs are now in the movie. One song is featuring Nelly Furtado.

And so the transformation of our life, we're in a dream. We can't actually believe it. We don't even know how to thank God. Because we've been transformed. The way you look at it, we came from the bottom like lobsters, and now we're rolling at the top like rock stars, you know.

GLENN: It is a pleasure to have you two, and I can't thank you enough for your work and please let everybody know in the movie just how grateful I am that you made it and you made it with such care and such heart. It is truly a masterpiece. Just fantastic movie.

GER: Thank you so much. The sad thing, the thing is we're promoting -- I just came from refugee camp like three weeks ago and the same people we doing the movie about them they are in the refugee camp right now because no country to stand as new state plunged back into civil war. We have dictators. We have a lot of corruption in the country and a lot of famine is killing a lot of children. So this movie right here, not that it's a lost boy story it's a story for humanity and our message to the world is that come support the children of Sudan. Help us find the help that we need that we got from you guys which is American. Because our country --

GLENN: Are you guy on TV with me tomorrow? Do you know?

GER: I'm not sure.

GLENN: I would like to pursue that with you and talk about that.

GER: Please. We enjoy your moment now, though.

GLENN: Thank you so much. The name of the movie is The Good Lie. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Please go see this movie. It opens this weekend in theaters everywhere. It's from the same people that brought us The Blind Side. It's really, really high quality. Really well-done and one of the best stories I've seen in a long time. The Good Lie in movie theaters beginning Friday.

Critical theory destroys truth and justice

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Critical theory once stood out as the absurd progressive notion that it is. Now, its maxims are becoming an integral part of ordinary political discourse. The more you repeat a lie, the more you will believe it, and this is the very dangerous place in which we find ourselves today.

Take this critical theory maxim as an example: If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice. It's a necessary evil, if you will, the necessity of “controlled injustice.”

By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we’ll save the republic. We’ll be acting in a noble way.

This definition of justice is defined by the “oppressed,” not the “oppressor.” It is the greatest happiness for the greatest number. To achieve this justice, however, we need to endorse acts on occasion that, while seemingly unjust, serve a higher purpose. It will ensure the stability and the unity of our republic, and this may manifest in ways that seem contradictory to our values. But these are the necessary shadows to cast light on “true justice.”

And isn’t that what we are all after, anyway?

Here’s another critical theory maxim: Sometimes we find the truth through fabrication. Our pursuit of truth sometimes requires a strategic use of falsehoods. The truth is a construct that has been shaped and tailored to promote the well-being of the collective.

We sometimes need to accept and propagate lies designed by "the system” — not the old system, but the system that we’re now using to replace the old to get more justice through injustice and more truth through fabrication.

We’re engaging in a higher form of honesty. When we fabricate, it’s for the right reason. We are reaching up to the heavens fighting for a higher sort of honesty. To fortify the truth, we occasionally must weave a tapestry of lies. Each thread, essential for the greater picture, will ultimately define our understanding and ensure our unity under this infallible wisdom.

The election is coming up. Does this maxim sound familiar? Many think it is imperative that we secure our republic through election control to maintain our republic. Sometimes, we might need to take actions that by traditional standards might be questionable.

The act of securing elections requires cheating. It's not mere deception. It is a noble act of safeguarding our way of life. We're on the verge of losing this democracy, and without deception, we will lose it.

To ensure it doesn't fall into the hands of those we know will destroy it, we may have to make a few fabrications. We're fabricating stories to be able to control or secure the republic through our elections. By using truth through fabrication and controlled injustice for justice, we'll save the republic. Therefore, we'll be acting in a noble way. Stealing an election from those who wish to harm our society is truly an act of valor and an essential measure to protect our values and ensure the continuation of our just society.

If we desire justice, we must sometimes champion what may appear superficially as injustice.

I know it's a paradox of honor through dishonor. But in this context, by embracing the dishonor, we achieve the highest form of honor, ensuring the stability and the continuation of our great republic.

Let this be heard, far and wide, as a great call to patriotic action. As we advance, let each of us, citizens of this great and honorable republic, consider these principles. Not as abstract or paradoxical but as practical guides to daily life. Embrace the necessity of controlled injustice, the utility of lies, the duty to secure our electoral process, and the honor and apparent dishonor. These are not merely strategies for survival. They are prerequisites for our prosperity.

We all have to remember that justice is what our leaders define, that truth is what our party tells us. Our republic stands strong on the values of injustice for justice, honor through dishonor, and the fabrication of truths. To deviate from this path is to jeopardize the very fabric of our society. Strength through unity; unity through strength.

We've heard this nonsense for so long. But now, this nonsense is becoming an instituted reality, and we are entering perilous times. Don't be fooled by the narratives you will hear during the march to November. Never let someone convince you that the ends justify the means, that a little bit of injustice is needed to achieve a broader, collective vision of justice, that truth sometimes requires fabricated lies and narratives. If we do, justice will cease to be justice, truth will cease to be truth, and our republic will be lost.

Top 5 MOST EVIL taxes the government extorts from you

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"In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." -Ben Franklin

The injustice of taxation has been a core issue for Americans since the very beginning of our country, and it's a problem we have yet to resolve. This belief was recently reignited in many Americans earlier this month on tax day when the numbers were crunched and it was discovered that the government was somehow owed even more hard-earned money. As Glenn recently discussed on his show, it's getting to be impossible for most Americans to afford to live comfortably, inflation is rising, and our politicians keep getting richer.

The taxpayer's burden is heavier than ever.

The government is not above some real low blows either. While taxes are a necessary evil, some taxes stretch the definition of "necessary" and emphasize the "evil." Here are the top five most despicable taxes that are designed to line the IRS coffers at your expense:

Income Tax

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"It would be a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their income." -Ben Franklin

On February 24th, 2024 we hit a very unfortunate milestone, the 101st anniversary of the 16th Amendment, which authorized federal income tax. Where does the government get the right to steal directly out of your paycheck?

Death Taxes

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"Now my advice for those who die, Declare the pennies on your eyes" -George Harrison

Not even in death can you escape the cold pursuit of the tax collector. It's not good enough that you have to pay taxes on everything you buy and every penny you make your entire life. Now the feds want a nice slice, based on the entire value of your estate, that can be as much as 40 percent. Then the state government gets to stick their slimy fingers all over whatever remains before your family is left with the crumbs. It's practically grave-robbery.

Payroll

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"The power to tax is the power to destroy." -John Marshall

What's that? The nice chunk of your paycheck the government nabs before you can even get it to the bank wasn't enough? What if the government taxed your employer just for paying you? In essence, you make less than what your agreed pay rate is and it costs your employer more! Absolutely abominable.

Social Security

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"We don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much." -Ronald Reagan

Everyone knows the collapse of Social Security is imminent. It has limped along for years, only sustained by a torrent of tax dollars and the desperate actions of politicians. For decades, people have unwillingly forked over money into the system they will never see again.

FICA

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"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue." -Thomas Paine

FICA is the payroll equivalent of Social Security. Your employer has to match however much you pay. It means it costs your employer even more to pay you—again, you'll NEVER see that money. At this point, are you even working for yourself, or are you just here to generate money for the government to frivolously throw away?

5 DISTURBING ways World War III will be different from previous wars

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Has World War III begun?

Over the weekend, Iran launched an unprecedented attack against Israel involving over 300 missiles and drones. This marked the first direct attack on Israel originating from Iranian territory. Fortunately, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, 99 percent of missiles and drones were successfully neutralized by Israeli defense systems. Iran claimed that the operation against Israel had concluded and that no further offensive was planned, although the possibility of another attack is still present.

This has left many people, including Glenn, wondering the same thing: did we just witness the start of World War III?

Glenn recently had a World War II Air Force Veteran as a guest on his TV special, who told stories of the horrors he and his brothers-in-arms faced in the skies over war-torn Europe. This was a timely reminder of the terrors of war and a warning that our future, if it leads to another world war, is a dark one.

But, if Glenn's coverage of the Iranian attack revealed one thing, it's that World War III will look nothing like the world wars of the twentieth century. Long gone are the days of John "Lucky" Luckadoo and his "Bloody Hundredth" bravely flying their B-17s into battle. Over the weekend, we saw hundreds of autonomous drones and missiles clashing with extreme speed and precision over several different fronts (including space) simultaneously. This ain't your grandfather's war.

From EMP strikes to cyber attacks, here are FIVE ways the face of war has changed:

EMP attacks

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The entire modern world, on every level, is completely dependent on electricity. From your home refrigerator to international trade, the world would come to a grinding halt without power. And as Glenn has pointed out, it wouldn't even be that hard to pull off. All it would take is 3 strategically placed, high-altitude nuclear detonations and the entire continental U.S. would be without power for months if not years. This would cause mass panic across the country, which would be devastating enough on its own, but the chaos could be a perfect opportunity for a U.S. land invasion.

Nuclear strikes

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Nuclear war is nothing new. Many of us grew up during the Cold War, built fallout shelters, and learned to duck and cover. But times have changed. The Berlin Wall fell and so did the preparedness of the average American to weather a nuclear attack. As technology has advanced, more of our adversaries than ever have U.S. cities within their crosshairs, and as Glenn has pointed out, these adversaries are not exactly shy about that fact. Unfortunately, the possibility of an atomic apocalypse is as real as ever.

Immigration warfare

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The strategy of strangling an opposing nation's economy to gain the upper hand is a wartime tactic as old as time. That's why the Border Crisis is so alarming. What better way to damage an opponent's economy than by overburdening it with millions of undocumented immigrants? As Glenn has covered, these immigrants are not making the trek unaided. There is a wide selection of organizations that facilitate this growing disaster. These organizations are receiving backing from around the globe, such as the WEF, the UN, and U.S. Democrats! Americans are already feeling the effects of the border crisis. Imagine how this tactic could be exploited in war.

Cyber shutdowns

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Cyber attacks will be a major tactic in future wars. We've already experienced relatively minor cyber strikes from Russia, China, and North Korea, and it is a very real possibility that one of our adversaries inflicts a larger attack with devastating consequences on the United States. In fact, the WEF has already predicted a "catastrophic" cyber attack is imminent, and Glenn suggests that it is time to start preparing ourselves. A cyber attack could be every bit as devastating as an EMP, and in a world run by computers, nothing is safe.

Biological assault

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Don't trust the "experts." That was the takeaway many of us had from the pandemic, but something less talked about is the revelation that China has manufactured viruses that are capable of spreading across the globe. We now know that the lab leak hypothesis is true and that the Wuhan lab manufactured the virus that infected the entire world. That was only ONE virus from ONE lab. Imagine what else the enemies of America might be cooking up.

The government is WAGING WAR against these 3 basic needs

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The government has launched a full-on assault against our basic needs, and people are starting to take notice.

As long-time followers of Glenn are probably aware, our right to food, water, and power is under siege. The government no longer cares about our general welfare. Instead, our money lines the pockets of our politicians, funds overseas wars, or goes towards some woke-ESG-climate-Great Reset bullcrap. And when they do care, it's not in a way that benefits the American people.

From cracking down on meat production to blocking affordable power, this is how the government is attacking your basic needs:

Food

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Glenn had Rep. Thomas Massie on his show where he sounded the alarm about the attack on our food. The government has been waging war against our food since the thirties when Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. They started by setting strict limits on how many crops a farmer could grow in a season and punishing anyone who grew more—even if it was intended for personal use, not for sale on the market. This sort of autocratic behavior has continued into the modern day and has only gotten more draconian. Today, not only are you forced to buy meat that a USDA-approved facility has processed, but the elites want meat in general off the menu. Cow farts are too dangerous to the environment, so the WEF wants you to eat climate-friendly alternatives—like bugs.

Water

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As Glenn discussed during a recent Glenn TV special, the government has been encroaching on our water for years. It all started when Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, which gave the government the ability to regulate large bodies of water. As the name suggests, the act was primarily intended to keep large waterways clear of pollution, but over time it has allowed the feds to assume more and more control over the country's water supply. Most recently, the Biden administration attempted to expand the reach of the Clean Water Act to include even more water and was only stopped by the Supreme Court.

Electricity