There's a feeling of shame. Shame that someone could convince a fully grown person that they were nothing more than chattel. Shame that there weren't nearly as many rebellions as I thought there should be. And anger that every time a community of blacks went off and created their own communities and successful businesses it was always sabotaged by jealous whites of the time. It's baffling.
Then WGN premiered the show "Underground". I love John Legend. And I heard he was an executive producer for the show. I read that this show was different from the other slave narratives. These slaves would be bold. I decided I'd watch one episode and that's it.
This show is about the escape of 7 slaves and their dangerous quest to freedom. On one of the first episodes I watched Rosalee stop to pick flowers as the hunting dogs were hot on her trail. I thought to myself 'what is wrong with this house slave? Doesn't she realize no one has time for her insolence?' Only to find out that she was picking a poisonous flower and leaving a trail in order to kill the hunting dogs.
In that moment I realized I didn't always watch slave narratives with the right eye. I didn't see Rosa Lee as a person capable of being inventive. And that's a shame. Why had I never seen them as people?
I continued to watch the rest of the season on the edge of my seat just waiting for the characters to show us just how they survived. Just how creative they were. How courageous. How scared. How very human they were.
When I saw previews for this new "Roots" I said "again y'all?" But I gave it a chance. For no other reason than that I'd never seen the original.
I loved how they showed Kunta's rites of passage. His love and respect for his parents. The importance of being a man, a husband, and a father. The importance of honoring his name and his ancestors. And even, the God he reverenced which if you weren't aware...as depicted in this updated Roots was the Abrahamic God. Don't let the "Allahu Akbar!" Fool you. He is indeed the God you serve. The prayers that Omoro Kinte prayed are all very familiar to me. That resonated with me. So many times have I seen the question posed "who did Africans worship before European influence?" and I get angry every time. Angry because I know that the faith I have was NEVER created or even inspired by Europeans and angry that people of my own race don't know that.
While Kunta is shackled aboard the ship that would transport him to America he soils himself. He hollers out to an uncle, also aboard the ship, that he is ashamed, to which the uncle replies, "the Shame is not yours Kunta. The shame is not yours to bear."
In America, Kunta is repeatedly referred to as a nigger. He never shrieks or shrinks. He repeatedly replies "No nigger. I am Mandinka." It's funny how we've decided to adopt this ugly word and attempt to make it beautiful. A term of endearment. How? You can't make something inherently evil into something beautiful. I don't care how you argue it.
In this long-winded rant my point is this...watch it, don't watch it, but don't be afraid of the history of chattel slavery in this country. It's not shameful to us, the descendants, and it doesn't reinforce racism. It is the truth of what this country was founded on. You have to teach your children because the history books are trying to erase it.
If all you want to teach your children is that they come from Kings and Queens you are doing them and your ancestors a disservice. You are attempting to silence the voice of a portion of your people. Don't do that. Someone else has already silenced them long enough.
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