Jok Maduk Jok is cofounder of the Sudd Institute, a South Sudanese public policy research organization, and a historian at Loyola Marymount University. Before participating in a discussion of the problem of genocide, he talked about the girls’ school he founded in his home country of South Sudan in the Zócalo green room, and the sense of that has given him as well as the discussion it’s started there.
What’s your favorite thing about Los Angeles?
Topanga Canyon. The Malibu hills. Just how you can drive two hours or one hour and be in the middle of wilderness, despite the image L.A. has as a sprawling city that does not have any nature.
What’s your comfort food?
Native foods. Non-meat foods—like beans and vegetables. I think in the United States we consume too much meat, to the detriment of our health and the health of our environment.
What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
Setting up a girls’ school in my native home village in South Sudan as a way to start a discussion on the importance of girls’ education for the whole nation, not just for the welfare of the girls. I sold my home in L.A. to be able to start this school. And I think it has started something that is very rewarding in terms of one’s sense of accomplishment.
Describe your singing in one sentence or one word.
Captivating. (Laughs.)
What’s hanging on your living room walls?
A variety of East African local art. [Do you have a favorite piece?] The shadow of two women. Probably on their way to run some physically taxing errand, like carrying water on their heads.
What are you reading right now?
China in Ten Words [by Yu Hua]. Brilliant work, actually; it’s an introduction to Chinese culture.
Who’s the one person, living or dead, would you most like to have a beer with?
Amílcar Cabral, the former liberation leader of Guinea-Bissau.
When did you last get a traffic ticket?
Ten years ago, driving between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. It was a funny encounter because the police officer came up to me and said, “Where are you from?” and I said, “I assume that is not why you stopped me. And I am not obliged to tell you where I am from, because what makes you think I’m not from here?” I got off without a ticket.
What was the most important year of your life?
2011. I got married.
What’s your drink of choice?
Milk.