as the centuries go on. i will go to my grave believing that roots is america s story. it s not just black america s story. we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. my name means stay put. but it don t mean stay a slave. as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. we re not children. we re very close to being men. what s your name? kunta. kunta kintae. the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. it was really genius to cast all of america s favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. i ll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. it is difficult to explain in today s culture how unprecedented roots was. no one had ever seen the story of slavery before told from the
africa and coming to america as slaves and what happens to them as the centuries go on. i will go to my grave believing that roots is america s story. it s not just black america s story. we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. my name means stay put. but it don t mean stay a slave. as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. we re not children. we re very close to being men. what s your name? kunta. kunta kintae. the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. it was really genius to cast all of america s favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. i ll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. it is difficult to explain in today s culture how unprecedented roots was. no one had ever seen the story
in eight parts on abc. if it sounds like i m plugging it, i am. basically, television will never be the same again. there was really no bigger television event than roots. it was based on a 1976 book by alex haley about his family in africa and coming to america as slaves and what happens to them as the centuries go on. i will go to my grave believing that roots is america s story. it s not just black america s story. we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. my name means stay put. but it don t mean stay a slave. as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. we re not children. we re very close to being men. what s your name? kunta. kunta kintae. the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. it was really genius to cast all of america s favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. i ll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. it is difficult to explain
we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. my name means stay put. but it don t mean stay a slave. as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. we re not children. we re very close to being men. what s your name? kunta. kunta kintae. the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. it was really genius to cast all of america s favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. i ll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. it is difficult to explain in today s culture how unprecedented roots was. no one had ever seen the story of slavery before told from the point of view of the africans. it may be the first time that television allowed an embracing of black pride.
it s not just black america s story. we might have come over in the bottom of the ship, but we all came over on ships. my name means stay put. but it don t mean stay a slave. as a 19-year-old kid, it was my first job. we re not children. we re very close to being men. what s your name? kunta. kunta kintae. the character that i got to portray in roots was a dream role. it was really genius to cast all of america s favorite television dads in the roles of the white slave owners and the villains. i ll be by to fetch ya in the morning, captain. sleep well. it is difficult to explain in today s culture how unprecedented roots was. no one had ever seen the story of slavery before told from the point of view of the africans. it may be the first time that television allowed an embracing of black pride.