ROOTS

One cannot truly know where he is going in life without knowing from whence he came. Twenty-five years ago, an African American author helped thousands of people to discover the history they so much needed, to rediscover their roots.
Alex Haley penned the American saga, Roots, with his family history in mind. He traveled to Africa and submerged himself into the life and times of his ancestors.
The novel, was so in depth that it developed into one of the most successful mini-series ever to broadcast on network television. So successful and important to American History that the entire series was re-released last month on digitally re-mastered DVD.
NBC aired an hour-long tribute to “Roots” complete with commentary by some of actors of film. Although ABC, the original broadcaster of the film passed on the re-airing of the film itself, the Hallmark Channel quickly picked it up and aired it, in its entirety from January 20-26th in honor of African American History Month.
The film includes such veteran actors as LeVar Burton, John Amos, Ed Asner and Cicely Tyson. Leslie Uggams, Ben Vereen and Lawrence Hilton Jacobs also helped to bring the novel to life in the homes of millions of viewers. During the eight-night airing in 1977, two-thirds of American homes were “tuned in” to “Roots”, according to the Robins Report (TV Guide).
Now a new generation has been invited into the lives of Kunta Kinte, Kizzie, and Chicken George. The story begins on the West Coast of Africa where Kunta Kinte is born to his very proud parents, members of the Mandika tribe.
Roots, unlike many other “slavery” and “old south” films, does not make viewers feel as if they are on the outside looking in. It captures the true essence of a painful time and personalizes the fear, the anguish and the courage of a people kidnapped from their homes and forced to make a new way of life for themselves. It has been heralded as teaching tool and is important not only to African-Americans, but to all Americans.