Owning up to history

6th June 2016   ·   0 Comments

By Edmund W. Lewis
Editor

I had already decided that I wouldn’t watch the new “Roots” miniseries presented by the History Channel — at least not when it first aired. But I was drawn in, probably like millions of others, by the miniseries’ producers who were savvy enough to air it on three different cable television stations. I literally stumbled across it while channel-surfing and. despite my reservations about revisiting the powerful television miniseries that captivated the nation four decades ago, found it hard to turn away.

Part of my reluctance to turn away was sheer curiosity while I was also hoping to witness something on television that might impact young people of color today the way my peers and I were blown away by the original miniseries and its incredible soundtrack.

While I must admit that I was taken aback by the repeated use of the N-word in the first two segments of the miniseries, there was also something compelling about the way “Roots” was captured on film, particularly with regard to the images of the Motherland and its people. But it also at times veered dangerously off-track and was hard to reconcile with the original miniseries or the book upon which it is based.

The word “why” continued to resonate in my head as I watched the miniseries last week, as in:

1. Why would a “mainstream” cable television network be interested in retelling the story of the late Alex Haley’s forebears since they were first kidnapped and dragged to these shores?

2. Why now, some 40 years after the original miniseries aired and is still available for sale on DVD?

3. Why not tell another story about the Black experience in America or the West that has yet to be told or has been undertold, like the story of the 1811 slave revolt in Louisiana, the largest uprising of enslaved Africans in U.S. history; the story of the Haitian Revolution, the true story of the Buffalo Soldiers, including the units that were established right here in New Orleans; the destruction of “Black Wall Street” by white supremacists; or the story of unheralded and largely unknown Black Civil War heroes like Martin Delany?

Rather than rehash the same stories about slavery over and over, why not delve into the untapped reservoir of preserved firsthand accounts of what enslaved Africans endured on a daily basis? By doing so, filmmakers could tap into the full breadth and intricacies of the Peculiar Institution and create a more accurate picture of how centuries of human bondage shaped the American experience.

At times, I thought the remake of “Roots” tried too hard to influence its viewers, spoon-feeding today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings insights about the world in which they live today and why things are the way they are.

The story itself should be enough to help young viewers understand the connection between the rise of the Tea Party on Capitol Hill, the connection between the 1 percent and attacks on voting, civil and human rights and the rise of Donald Trump.

Also, there is no film adaptation that can stand on its own or replace a seminal book like Roots or any of the others that capture the troubles people of African descent have endured in the United States. Even the most brilliant films could never replace books as the great liberator of the human mind and spirit.

Whether they watched the first or second film adaption of Roots, all viewers need to also pick up the book and dive into its wealth of wisdom, history and inspiration.

I get that new approaches are sometimes wanted and needed to keep things flowing and relatable, but the history of the struggle of people of African descent is not something to be tampered with, toyed with or trivialized even by people with the best of intentions.

We need to be ever-vigilant and steadfast about preserving our history and legacy and telling our own story in our own words, from our own point of view.

There are certainly things a lot less productive that people could have been doing rather than watching a remake of the “Roots” miniseries like showing people funny and/or provocative images and videos on their state-of-the-art “smart” phones, sending out tweets all day about just about any thought that pops into their minds, watching reality TV or scouring Instagram and Facebook all day.

Here’s a thought: If you’re not happy about the new “Roots” miniseries, pull out the old “Roots” DVD set and compare and contrast the two series for your loved ones, friends and/or neighbors. Update your DVD collection with positive, African-centered films and documentaries. Search online for unsung heroes and sheroes of the Black liberation struggle and Black men, women and children who succeeded against all odds. Gather information about genealogical research, take a genealogy class or seminar and trace your own family’s roots. Pick up an autobiography about a Black freedom fighter or the history of ancient Africa. Make plans to include Black history in your family’s summer plans by visiting sites like the Amistad Research Center at Tulane University, the River Road African American Museum in Donaldsonville, La. or the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. Take a tour of Black historical sites in New Orleans. If you can’t afford to take an official tour, research local Black historical sites on the Internet and at the local library and create your own tour. Ask your church, fraternity, sorority, city councilman, state legislator or business owners to sponsor a Black history tour for the children in your neighborhood.

For those looking for a few books to read, might I suggest Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Armah; Jubilee by Margaret Walker; The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon; From Slavery to Freedom by John Hope Franklin; They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima; and Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America by Lerone Bennett Jr.

Take concrete steps to liberate your mind this summer and to honor our Beloved Ancestors like Kunta Kinte, Marcus Garvey, Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, Ida B. Wells, Harriet Tubman, Charles Deslondes, Queen Mother Moore and all the others who sacrificed everything for us.

They deserve our eternal gratitude, unrelenting reverence and more than words could ever express.

This article originally published in the June 6, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.