Raíces

I first became interested in Roots when I heard about it on the Disney Channel movie "The Color of Friendship" in 2001. The next time it resurfaced was in Jan. 2002, when Hallmark was going to reair it. Rather than wait (and waste tape) for every night, I bought it on DVD. It is amazing how the crew acheived the dream of Alex Haley's ancestors horrid past, from slave capture to auction, to escape to crippling, to being sold and death. The one thing that shocked me the most was how the KKK was involved in that family's life. When there were funny moments, I laughed and when there were sad moments, I wept. To sum it up: Roots is a masterful miniseries that no family should be without.

All my life I have heard the same old "smoke screens" every time something happens to expose the history of racism in this country that they don't want to acknowledge. That is the case with "Roots", and all the rationalizations used by these people to try and denigrate the story's impact. It does not change the fact that racism is "as American as apple pie". But these people never give up. It has been over 40 years since "Roots", and while things may have improved, we still have a long, long, long, long way to go.

The concept of your beginning or the beginning that led up to you is Universal and applies to everyone. Who wouldn't find their own ancestry fascinating? That's why this was a ground-breaking event never before scene and why it captured vast audiences for decades. Even today, it continues to beckon to anyone who watches the show to ask your personal questions of your own start-up. I remember at the time this came out on TV, the black people were in desperate need of something to hope for of which Martin Luther King had supplied and had done so successfully before his death. Right after these episodes were aired, a discovery of something greater than your hopeless daily day to day existence was introduced and people started believing in themselves and that they mattered. That's how powerful this series was. Of course today, the worth of a human being doesn't require prompting or remembering as we all have discovered that we matter. Kudos to all those that were able to be a part of this life-changing event. Sorry to say but necessary to be told is the shameful part of history where one race thought them selves superior to another and used degradation, pride, and perversion to assert this. Slavery had been going on since mankind matured and traveled the globe respecting no one. The strong preyed upon the weak. What makes it so unacceptable is that it took place in America proving that there is no perfect place to live but instead, lots of work to be done first with the self, then with each other and of course unto God the one who started it all up to begin with. Even sadder still, slavery and trade in humans exists to this day. Have a finger snack and a tasty drink ready to go when watching. Also, there are some scenes that just yank on your emotions and teach us if anything NOT to do what was being done on screen besides tugging at your innards with disgust. It is well said by Toby in one episode who after being unduly and harshly punished for causing trouble best..."how can one man do this to another man" How indeed....

In 1977 I was 10 years old, and all I remember is the majority of the city where I live was watching Roots each day for a week. I recently bought the video and watched it with my now 10 year old son, who is Black and I show him the importance of getting an education because our ancestors weren't allowed such luxuries. At his age everything is rosy just like it was when I was 10, but hopefully he can reflect back on this movie to motivate him in the future.

Great cast of characters-even though I didn't realize that O.J. Simpson was in it! John Amos was the best and the funniest especially when he kept losing his character's African accent and sounding more like "James" on Good Times! Overall the movie is very touching and will have you experiencing mixed emotions if you're of the Black race, and have compassion if you're of other races that haven't experienced such things. I highly recommend this film and a book called the Miseducation of the Negro as Black family heirlooms-or for anyone who wants to be enlightened concerning a portion of Black history.

I was just a kid when I first saw this mini series and it taught me people used to enslave each other no many time ago. It taught me you never have to give up, it taught me many things, that had shaped my life on many ways. I'll never forget it...