“Haley has done more than recapture the History of his own family. As the first [B]lack American writer to trace his origins back to their roots, he has told the story of 25,000,000 Americans of African descent.” — “Roots” book jacket cover
Before there was Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “The 1619 Project” — a history lesson now streaming on Hulu — there was Alex Haley and “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.”
“Roots” premiered on television on Jan. 23, 1977, and families across America gathered in their living rooms over eight consecutive nights to watch the miniseries.
For many of us, Haley’s story about his family was our story.
We had no genuine concept of where we came from and why, and our story didn’t begin on a slave ship. It started in a cotton field.
Haley gave us answers that we didn’t know we were seeking.
As a result, “Roots” was one of the most-watched television events in American history (with an estimated 130 million viewers). It was also a “major moment in mainstream American culture’s reckoning with the legacy of slavery,” according to the History Channel website.
It is likely no coincidence that Hannah-Jones’ powerful six-part series, based on her New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning The 1619 Project, also premiered in January and wraps up during Black History Month, a schedule that honors the legacy of “Roots” while driving viewers to Hulu.
And while most of us depend on our smartphones for information, 46 years ago, we watched “Roots” for free. But don’t let the monthly subscription fee stop you from supporting Hannah-Jones’ groundbreaking work. Sign up for Hulu’s 30-day free trial.
Even if you think you know the essential Black history moments, you’ll be surprised by the momentous events you don’t know.
It’s been decades since I read “Roots.” The hardcover book sits on my bookshelf, its pages yellowed from time. But I still remember the range of emotions I felt — anger, despair, hope and pride — as Haley’s story unfolded on TV.
Haley, also awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his work, was later accused of fictionalizing parts of his family’s story.
But efforts to diminish the impact of his epic saga failed. His story introduced millions to Black history.
Hannah-Jones drew criticism from historians who disagreed with the premise that the legacy of slavery has negatively impacted all of American life and not just the lives of African Americans.
“The very premise of The 1619 Project, in fact, is that many of the inequalities that continue to afflict the nation are a direct result of the unhealed wound created by 250 years of slavery and an additional century of second-class citizenship and white-supremacist terrorism inflicted on black people,” wrote Jake Silverstein, New York Times Magazine editor-in-chief, in response to historians who objected to some aspects of The 1619 Project.
We can’t afford to abandon the effort to educate all Americans about how racism has poisoned our institutions and our way of life.
Unfortunately, while Black History Month is still observed in many classrooms during February, it is noticeably out of favor in too many others.
For instance, Black history is under attack by politicians. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis drew both scorn and praise for banning an Advanced Placement course on African American studies, arguing that it “lacks educational value.”
But we can’t wait for elected officials to right this wrong.
Like griots, we can pass this information down to our children and grandchildren in a form they can quickly grasp, like social media and streaming devices.
Black history is all around us if we take the time to look.
One of my favorite resources is “Crossing The Danger Water: Three Hundred Years of African-American Writing.”
In a piece written by Ivan Van Sertima titled “They Came Before Columbus,” he said: “What is needed far more than new facts is a fundamentally new vision of history.” Van Sertima died in 2009.
Like “Roots,” “The 1619 Project” gives us a new vision of the history of America’s ongoing struggle to live up to its creed that all of us are created equal.
