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. 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. Kunta Kinte was a Mandinka. 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. For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ... Categories: Literature stubs | 1976 books | American novels | Books starting with S ... Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992) was an American writer. ... Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haleys work Roots: The Saga of an American Family, his critically acclaimed genealogical novel. ... In literature, faction is a neologism used to describe a works based on real historical figures and actual events, woven together with fictional writing. ... Harold Courlander (September 18, 1908- March 15, 1996) As a child who was a product of a highly diverse Detroit neighborhood, Harold Courlander was interested in other cultures throughout his life. ... The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are a Mande people of West Africa, all descend physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire. ... Slave sale in Easton, Maryland The history of slavery in the United States (1619-1865) began soon after English colonists first settled Virginia and lasted until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ... Annapolis redirects here. ... Spotsylvania County is a county located in the U.S. state — officially, Commonwealth — of Virginia. ...

In the miniseries, the young character was portrayed by LeVar Burton, and the older by John Amos. Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr. ... John Amos (born John Amos Jr. ...

Memorial

There is a memorial to Toby in Annapolis, Maryland.^[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. 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. Annapolis redirects here. ... Bust of Zumbi dos Palmares in Brasília. ... Palmares, or Quilombo dos Palmares, was a quilombo, a settlement of runaway and free-born African slaves, founded around 1600 in the Serra da Barriga hills of northeastern Brazil. ... Bussa was born a free man in Africa, but was captured and brought to Barbados in the late 17th Century as a slave. ...

In a notorious incident, the original memorial, a bronze plaque, was stolen within forty-eight hours after its installation in 1981. A card was left in its place which read "You have been patronized by the Ku Klux Klan." The plaque was never recovered and was replaced within two months with funds from local residents. The second plaque was stolen as well.^{[citation needed]} AUGUST 25 1981 US Marine Sean Vance is Born on the 25th of August {ear nav|1981}} Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

Plot summary

Haley's novel begins with Kunta's birth in the village of Juffure in The Gambia of West Africa in 1750. Kunta is the first of four sons of the Mandinka warrior Oumaru and his wife Binta Kebba. Haley describes Kunta's strict upbringing and the rigors of manhood training he undergoes. Jufureh or Juffureh is a town in Gambia, lying on the north bank of the River Gambia. ... Year 1750 (MDCCL) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Mandinka (also known as Mandingo) are a Mande people of West Africa, all descend physically or culturally from the ancient Mali Empire. ...

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. 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. Year 1767 (MDCCLXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... In a typical mammalian body such as the human body, the body orifices are: the nostrils, for breathing and the associated sense of smell the mouth, for eating and vocalizations such as speech the ear canals, for the sense of hearing the anus, for defecation the urethra, for urination (and... Slave ships were cargo boats specially converted for the purpose of transporting slaves, especially newly captured African slaves. ... This article is about the slave trade route. ...

Out of 140 Africans, Kunta is one of only 98 who survive the crossing. After arrival in Maryland he is sold to a plantation owner who renames him "Toby," much to his dismay. During the remainder of his life Kunta never 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.) 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". Unfortunately, Kizzy is later sold away when she is discovered to have written a fake traveling pass for a young slave boy she was in love with. Years later Kizzy asks a slave she falls in love with to talk to her father, only to discover to her dismay that he had died, but died saying the words he taught her in his native tongue. After she asks for a moment alone at her father's grave, she crosses out "Toby" on the headstone and writes Kunta Kinte, knowing her father's true name. Castration (also referred as: gelding, neutering, orchiectomy, orchidectomy, and oophorectomy) is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries. ... The Mandinka language, sometimes referred to as Mandingo, is a Mandé language spoken by some 1. ...

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.^[7] There is also a band of the same name.^[8] He is mentioned in the Kanye West song, Never Let Me Down. 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' and also in a song by Akir. 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. 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. Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. ... The Revolutionaries (sometimes known as Revolutionaires) is a Jamaican reggae band. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Kanye Omari West (pronounced /kɑnjɛj/) (born June 8, 1977) is an American record producer and rapper who rose to fame in the mid 2000s. ... Singles from The College Dropout Released: September 30, 2003 Released: February 24, 2004 Released: May 25, 2004 Released: Aug 31, 2004 The College Dropout is the debut album by rapper Kanye West, released in 2004. ... The film title, Boyz-N-The Hood, is taken from the name of a classic hip-hop song performed by Eazy-E as a member of the group N.W.A. For the Southern rap quartet, see Boyz N Da Hood. ... For others uses of the term, see The Wire (disambiguation). ... William Bunk Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. ...

References