Kunta Kinte is the central character of the novel, Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, and of the television mini-series Roots,^[1] based on the book. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Roots The Saga of an American Family is a Novel written by Alex Haley and first published in 1976. Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11 1921–February 10 1992 was an American Writer. Roots is a 1977 American television Miniseries based on Alex Haley 's work Roots The Saga of an American Family Roots is referred to by Haley as faction - a mixture of both fact and fiction,^[2] and much of the book's material is borrowed from a book called The African by Harold Courlander. Faction, a Neologism, in Literature, describes a Text as based on real historical figures and actual events woven together with Fictitious Harold Courlander ( September 18, 1908 - March 15, 1996) was an American Novelist, Folklorist, and Anthropologist Kunta Kinte was a Mandinka. The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are one of the largest Ethnic groups in West Africa with a population estimated at eleven million. Kunta was captured and brought as a slave to Annapolis, Maryland, and later sold to a plantation owner in Spotsylvania County, Virginia near the present-day rural community of Partlow. Slavery in the United States began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia in 1607 and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth Annapolis is the capital of the US state of Maryland, as well as the County seat of Anne Arundel County. Spotsylvania County is a county in the US state &mdash officially " Commonwealth " &mdash of Virginia.

In the miniseries, the young character was portrayed by LeVar Burton, and the older by John Amos. Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr (born February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, West Germany) professionally known as LeVar Burton, John Amos (born December 27, 1939) is an American Actor and former football player who has received both a Primetime Emmy

Contents 1 Memorial 2 Plot summary 3 Influence 4 References

Memorial

There is a memorial to Kunta Kinte in Annapolis, Maryland. Annapolis is the capital of the US state of Maryland, as well as the County seat of Anne Arundel County. ^[3] It is one of few monuments in the world to bear the name of an actual enslaved African; other examples include statues in Brazil of Zumbi from Palmares Quilombo (a black leader of rebellions against slavery) and the statue of Bussa in Barbados. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Zumbi also known as Zumbi dos Palmares ( 1655 - November 20, 1695, pronounced 'zoombee' was the last of the leaders of the Quilombo dos Palmares, or Quilombo dos Palmares, was a collaboration of around ten Quilombos (or Mocambos) that grew from 1605 onwards in colonial Bussa (died 1816 was the leader of a slave uprising in Barbados. Barbados ( Portuguese word for bearded-ones, bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz -dɒs situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Island nation In a set of four life size bronze statues, the Kunta Kinte memorial depicts Alex Haley, book on his lap, telling his family's story to children of three different ethnicities. Granite decorations and bronze plaques accompany the statue group.

In a notorious incident, the original memorial, a bronze plaque, was stolen within forty-eight hours after its installation in 1981. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 A card was left in its place which read "You have been patronized by the Ku Klux Klan. Ku Klux Klan ( KKK) is the name of several past and present secret domestic terrorist organizations in the United States, generally in the southern states that are " The plaque was never recovered and was replaced within two months with funds from local residents. The second plaque was stolen as well.

Plot summary

Haley's novel begins with Kunta's birth in the village of Juffure in The Gambia of West Africa in 1750. Jufureh, Juffureh or Juffure is a town in Gambia, lying 30 kilometers inland on the north bank of the River Gambia in the North Bank Year 1750 ( MDCCL) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Kunta is the first of four sons of the Mandinka warrior Omoro and his wife Binta Kebba. The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are one of the largest Ethnic groups in West Africa with a population estimated at eleven million. Haley describes Kunta's strict upbringing and the rigors of manhood training he undergoes.

One day in 1767, when the young warrior left his village to find wood to make a drum, he was attacked by four men who surrounded him and took him captive. Year 1767 ( MDCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Kunta awakens to find himself blindfolded, gagged, bound and prisoner of the white men. Haley describes how they humiliate the young warrior by stripping him naked, probing him in every orifice, and branding him with a hot iron. He and others are put on a slave ship for a nightmarish three month journey to America. Slave ships were cargo Ships specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly purchased African slaves Middle Passage refers to the forcible passage of African people from Africa to the New World, as part of the Atlantic slave trade.

Out of 140 Africans, Kunta is one of only 98 who survive the crossing. After arrival in Maryland he is sold to a Virginia plantation owner who renames him "Toby," much to his dismay. During the remainder of his life Kunta never completely gives up his dreams of freedom and trying to escape, even after part of his foot is chopped off. (He was running and the slave catchers caught him and he had a choice to be castrated or lose part of his foot. Castration (also referred to as Gelding, Neutering, Fixing, orchiectomy, and orchidectomy is any action surgical, chemical ) He eventually marries another slave named Bell Waller and has a daughter named Kizzy (Keisa, in Mandinka/Mandingo), which in Kunta's native tongue means to "stay put". The Mandinka language, sometimes referred to as Mandingo is a Mandé language spoken by millions of Mandinka people in Mali, Senegal, The Unfortunately, When Kizzy is in her late teens, she is sold away to North Carolina when it was discovered that she had written a fake traveling pass for a young slave boy she was in love with (She had been taught to read and write secretly by Missy Anne, niece to the plantation owner). Her new owner rapes her and fathers her only child, George. In the novel, she never learns the fate of her father and mother. She spends the remainder of her life as a field hand on the Lea plantation in North Carolina. The rest of the book tells the story of the generations between Kizzy and Alex Haley, describing their suffering, losses and eventual triumphs in America. ^[4]

Influence

There is an annual Kunta Kinte Heritage Festival held in Maryland. ^[5] Kunta Kinte also inspired a reggae rhythm of the same name, performed by artists including The Revolutionaries,^[6] and Mad Professor, and an album, Kunta Kinte Roots by Ranking Dread. Reggae is a Music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as "Revolutionaires" is a Jamaican Reggae band. Mad Professor (born Neil Fraser, 1955 Georgetown, Guyana) is a Dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix Ranking Dread (b either Winston Brown or Robert Blackwood grew up in the ghettos of Rema and Tivoli of Jamaica ^[7] There is also a band of the same name. ^[8] He is mentioned in the Kanye West song, Never Let Me Down. Kanye Omari West (ˈkɑnjɛj born June 8 1977 is a ten-time Grammy Award -winning American Rapper, Record producer and Singer. The College Dropout is the debut album by Rapper and producer Kanye West, released February 10 2004 He is also mentioned in Missy Elliot's 2002 hit 'Work it', the Bloodhound Gang's 2000 song 'A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying'. Rap artist Akir mentions him several times in the song named 'Kunta Kinte'. An opening scene of Boyz in the Hood has one of the characters telling Jason "Furious" Styles's son "Who's he think you is? Kunta Kinte??" after seeing the chores which the son must do. Boyz N the Hood is an Academy Award -nominated 1991 Film written and directed by John Singleton. On an episode of the HBO drama The Wire, Baltimore Police detective Bunk Moreland deragatorily refers to a seaman as "Kunta Kinte" in an interrogation where the seaman refuses to speak English. William "Bunk" Moreland is a Fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. In the film Coming to America with Eddie Murphy, the main character is teased by the employees (also played by Eddie Murphy) of a hairdressing salon who welcome him as 'Kunta Kinte' as a joke. Coming to America is a 1988 Academy Award -nominated Comedy film directed by John Landis. Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy (born April 3 1961 is an Academy Award -nominated Golden Globe - Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American

References

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