I bought and read the book within the year it was published. It was a story I thought I knew but I did not.
Author, Alex Haley tells his family’s history beginning with the birth of a baby boy in Juffure in West Africa in 1750.
The child would be named Kunta Kinte.
When he was 16 years old or
so Kunta was alone in the forest near his village, looking for the most perfect
tree trunk to make the body of a drum.
There was a horrific violent encounter with slave traders who had
surprised him. He woke up in shackles.
Kunta Kinte would survive the
horrendous trip in the hold of a ship and disembark in Maryland. Sold into slavery in Virginia and renamed
Toby, he was the great, great, great, great grandfather of Alex Haley.
I think ROOTS is virtually a
history of African Americans in America - a remarkably detailed and fascinating
novel telling the story of slavery in America. Oral History passed down
through generations of the author’s family is said to be the basis of this saga that unfolds through seven generations.
Black History Month begins
today. I’ve taken my copy off the shelf. I will begin re-reading this amazingly written book. Have you read ROOTS? Will you?
S/o to everyone going "its February, Valentine's day is coming"... Lets give some credit to it being the first days of Black History Month
ReplyDeleteVERY TRUE VERY TRUE........ Must of admit I had not realized it was the beginning Black History Month... I guess its a side effect of being at Howard University..... hehehe
Stop It!!! I'm so proud of you and really, all students 'making' it at Howard U.....Just keep on. Keep on Learnin' in the best way and Lovin' in the best way too!
DeleteI think that it is very important as young black women, and also for young black men to inform themselves and gain as much knowledge as possible on our predecessors. I also believe that our generation doesn't read for leisure as often as we should because of the demands of our Howard curriculum for example :) but we should all take this month and LONGER to read important books such as Roots so we can go outside of our community and inform others as well :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post!! Definitely a wake up call :)
Absolutely! Good points all....but, for sure, a great gratitude I hold is knowing of students who are seriously involved meeting the demands of the curriculum designed to enable their fabulous impact on those coming behind them. And, I know a few! I'm blessed. and, "Welcome new follower" - - - 'thumbs up!!'
DeleteI KNOW right... Definitely a WAKE UP CALL!
ReplyDeleteYes, true we as a generation do not read literature for leisure and that's awful. I think it stems down from all the technology that is available nowadays. There's so many other things that take our time. I will say that although we dont read literature for leisure we are in face a generation that reads... electronically... ie. facebook, twitter, worldstarhiphop... people spend hours on these cites!
Ms. Marva!, what do you think could spark a regeneration of literature leisure readers for the future?
Oops, I've learned something new -- 'worldstarhiphop'. Thanks (I'm smilin'). And, you hold a good thought about today's readers. It can't be easy, ratcheting down from social media writing to read literature. Could it be, it requires a patience that is not easy to come by in today's high tech world. That's why I'm trying to blog briefly and still be informative. Sound Bites Are The Way Today, that's what I say. I tried to write "Black Star Girl" more sound bite than anything. Some of my blogs have gotten longer than I prefer - but, I'll keep trying. (hmmm-this got too long, oh well.)
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