Roots took the world by storm in 1977.  Two years before I was even thought of, the entire nation was glued to their television sets watching the life story of Alex Haley.  Haley’s book, which was written originally in 1974 and published in abbreviated form in the Reader’s Digest then the completed version hit the shelves in 1976 , resulted in the syndication of the television mini-series.  Roots is a detailed account of Haley’s family and it’s elevation from captivity to freedom through the generations.  The compelling story shed new light to the plight of the black American family.

The story and the subsequent mini-series was so moving that some of the cast members have not watched it since it’s original airing.  It is something about the reality of the harshness of slavery that made the actors tense on set even though they realized that they were indeed merely actors.  Slavery was real.  The affects of slavery today are real.  Despite people’s miseducation, the affects of slavery has trickled down into racism and is still present in our society today.  The important thing is to educate our younger generation as well as ourselves because we need to know the struggles in which we have come through to get where we are.  We need to know our Roots.  Catch ya’ on the FLIPSIDE.