'Roots' EW.com Reunion 2010

http://www.ew.com/reunions
Ben Vereen, LeVar Burton, and Louis Gossett Jr. on the legacy of "Roots"

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• gossett
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[dionfly]

Great video. They're so vivacious. "How do they look so young?" Black Don't Crack.

[Mardal]

Kunta Kinte!

[Kerussk]

When I was... ooh, about 6 or 7? Roots was on swedish television and I still remember it vividly. Thank you for that.

[twilightlovert]

MAKE A MOOOOVIE!!!!!!!!!

[kalimaganeshshivan]

@SuperMuseveni The word Kunta is often used in Voodoo and Santeria ceremonies when calling the Orishas (Spirits). You often begin the juju with Kunta Legba (you always begin with Legba because he is the keeper and opener of the crossroads to the Orishas), Kunta Obatala, Kunta Oludumare', Kunta Babalou, Kunta Shango and so forth. Kunta used in this sense refers to "the calling down and become part of me". The psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, refers to this as the id or the shadow self using archtypes.

[kalimaganeshshivan]

Where's John Amos? He played the elder Kinte and was a central part of the storyline besides Burton!

[kalimaganeshshivan]

@SuperMuseveni The name Kunta Kinte was not the true name of Alex Haley's ancestor. Kunta is a Nigerian Oba word that refers to a state of mind and being in the African tribal aesthetic, while Kinte refers to any Nigerian or Kenyan African tribal colored cloth or tartan, similar to a coat of arms in Europe. Haley needed a name that sounded truly African since he did not know the true name of his ancestor (records were lost; oral tradition existed for him). That's why he didn't change his name.

[kalimaganeshshivan]

@SuperMuseveni Actually your feelings mirror my own when it comes to the portrayal of John Quincy Adams as being the most sympathetic yet unapologetic performance in the movie (Anthony Hopkins). There is no way in the real historical life of this man that he was that noble to Africans because he was a slave owner just like his constituents, Jefferson and Washington.