With a huge bowl of popcorn and a cold cream soda by my side, I was more than ready to watch the highly anticipated remake of the Roots series that aired this past week.
I never really got into the original series (my mother tried to get me to watch it when I was younger, but to no avail) so I was very excited to watch this remake.
What I witnessed over the duration of the four-part series was the tear-jerking, gut-wrenching story of Kunta Kinte as he was ripped from his homeland and sold into slavery. Although there were a thousand things you could take away from the series, here are three that caught my attention:
Your Name Is More Than Just a Name
When Kunta Kinte arrived in Virginia, he was given the name "Toby" by his overseer. Not only did Kunta refute this, he endured a gruesome beating for it (you know what scene I'm referring to if you've seen it.) His refusal to accept any other name than the one his father gave him was empowering, to say the least. Often times, people are ridiculed for name they were given at birth, especially people of color. I even joke about how I'm thankful that my father gave me a "normal" name. However, your name was hand picked just for you, which is what really makes it special. I'm more than just another 'Nathan', I was named after Nathan the prophet, the one who confronted King David about his affair with Bathsheba. He was a man of honesty, morality, and truth. Whether your name is common or not, nobody can rock your name like you can, and it's something that you should treat with the utmost pride. And that's real.
It's Cool To Be Black Until...
Something that particularly stuck out to me was Tom Lee's constant threat to sell Chicken George if his chicken didn't win in the fights that Tom Lee placed bets on and, eventually, Tom Lee sold Chicken George (who is his son by the way) for this very reason. It got me to thinking about how black culture has been mocked and disrespected for decades upon decades, but as soon as someone of caucasian descent flexes any aspect of said culture, it's deemed as "trendy" or "the next biggest thing." Whether it's bantu knots, the glorification of big "assets", or even the usage of the "n word"- all things that have been a source of mockery or hold cultural significance in the black community- it seems that black people are only good enough when it's to the benefit of white people, and if white people aren't included (in the case of the n word) it's an issue. Yet and still, black people, as well as other minority groups, are deemed as "less than" in these United States of America. Hm. I'll let you all ponder this point for a moment.
We've Got To Pass It On
One of the best parts of the series was seeing the ideology of the Mandinka Warrior passed down from Kunta Kinte's father all the way to Tom Jr.'s son. The Mandinka Warrior was a man of courage, intellect, hard work, and pride and the importance of instilling these qualities into each child was not only admirable, but inspirational. It's very much important to teach the posterity about the history of their respective peoples, both good and bad. A holistic view of the past helps us understand how we got to where we are today in the hopes of working towards a brighter future. There's a lot of talk about how millennials are the worst generation yet, but when is criticism ever effective when unaccompanied by correction? That's just a complaint, which develops into distaste, which eventually becomes resentment. Everyone, both young and old, is a vital part to the network of the human race. The older generation mentoring and passing on wisdom to the younger generation is the cycle of life coming full circle. And isn't that just a beautiful thing?
Needless to say, I gained a lot from the Roots series. From the superb acting (including FAMU Alum Anika Noni Rose) to the impeccable production (including FAMU Alum Will Packer), the Roots series was just as entertaining as it was eye-opening. I hope to show this to my own children in the DISTANT future.
