Racines

I just watched the ist two episodes on dvd. and I'm speechless. get this movie and bring friends. It brings so much to the table other than slavery. It spoke volumes to me. Levar Burton is a revelation and it surprises me that he isn't doing more movies. He reminded me of those silent film stars who show with their eyes.

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.

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....

Alex Haley really did a great job experimenting his family tree, I'm amazed he was able to do that much research, and just make a great mini-series out of it. The one thing this series does is just shock you, it teaches you how cruel slavery was, and how much you really didn't know that they were supposed to teach you in school.

One thing I love about this series is how touching it all really is. The marriages of the slaves, the jobs of the slaves, and the story about Chicken George is just very cool. I know to some this series is just very depicting, and to some whites, they feel it's making them responsible for slavery. But what the series is teaching you, is that we should all learn about our mistakes in history, and accept what we are, and try to change for the better without finger pointing.

This series shocked alot of people, and sparked alot of controversy, but it's worth seeing, for any race, for any generation, in any country. Alex Haley, I take my hat off to you.