DENVER, Co. October 25, 2010 - Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo is an extraordinary man with no shortage of friends, or detractors that have branded Tancredo a racist for his critical stance on Latino illegal immigrants.

Interesting to note, however is that he also earned a standing ovation at the July 12 N.A.A.C.P. forum in Detroit.

The Denver Post reports (October 3, 2010: "Hickenlooper leads in poll but lacks clear majority by Karen E. Crummy" ) that Tancredo holds thirty-four percent of the Colorado vote including his edge over Hickenlooper among Hispanic voters, which Crummy reports as being 42 to 40 percent. Tancredo is a contender in this race.

In New York to photograph the start of the Sudan Freedom Walk, I was privileged to learn things about Tom Tancredo, and President Obama, that few Americans know anything about. I discovered that while many in the Sudanese refugee community feel betrayed by President Obama, they reserve a special place in their hearts for Tom Tancredo.
Tancredo holding Bok's autobiography after a campaign stop outside Tony Rigatoni's Restaurant in Golden, Colorado on Oct. 22, 2010.

Tancredo holding Bok's autobiography after a campaign stop outside Tony Rigatoni's Restaurant in Golden, Colorado on Oct. 22, 2010.

It was in front of the United Nations Building in Manhattan that I first heard a Sudanese human rights activist mention Tancredo's name in connection to U.S. foreign policy. What was said became instantly intriguing because of the depth of feeling for Tancredo expressed.

In 2001, then Congressman Tancredo was the primary sponsor and author of the Sudan Peace Act, later signed into law by President George W. Bush. That act focused on stopping a decades-long genocide, slave trade and the Sudanese government's use of force to support slaving. Meeting with escaped slaves and refugees from Sudan who are community leaders and activists in Boston, New York and Philadelphia offered a rare insight into a man who now stands poised to be the next Governor of Colorado emerged.

During the period of September 15-27, 2010 Tancredo was not on anyone's radar as a serious contender in the gubernatorial race. Now that Mr. Tancredo has surged in the polls and rearranged the political landscape, I thought it a good idea to ask my new Sudanese friends what thoughts they had about his candidacy and his detractors.

Francis Bok, who now resides in Boston, was kidnapped during a massacre of his village by Arab slavers at the age of seven, miraculously escaping his captors a decade later.

“He should be considered for governor because he’s someone that has a vision, he’s someone that is always looking years in front of him, he is someone that is visioning for others,â€