Reflections on Roots

He lifted up the infant and, as all watched, whispered three times into his son’s ear the name he had chosen for him. It was the first time the name had ever been spoken as this child’s name, for Omoro’s people felt that each human being should be the first to know who he was. Roots tells the story of Kunta Kinte, the great-great-great-great-grandfather of author Alex Haley. There is a huge burden on Roots: over 12 million slaves were captured and shipped across the Atlantic, and Roots endures in the public conscience as the story of those untold millions. Read more