A 1970s Time Capsule from #AtoZChallenge @AprilAtoZ R is for Roots

BLOGGING FROM A TO Z

A 1970’s Time Capsule

POP CULTURE

Be sure to visit my other post today: Rocky Horror Picture Show

The A to Z Challenge has dueling decades going on.  Check out the 1980s theme from a fellow blogger HERE

Roots is a television miniseries in the USA based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel, entitled Roots: The Saga of an American Family.  Aired by ABC-TV, in 1977, Roots received 37 Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award.  The series finale holds the record as the third-highest-rated US television program.

Alex Haley

In the series beginning, we see the story of Kunta Kinte born in Gambia, West Africa in 1750.  As he grows to manhood in the Mandinka tribe, he takes part in tribal manhood training and later witnesses white men with firearms.  He is captured and sold to a slave trader where he journeys to Colonial America.  The ship arrives in Annopolis, Maryland and the slaves are sold at auction.  A plantation owner buys Kunta Kinte and gives him a new name, Toby.  An older slave and fiddler is assigned to teach Toby English and to train him to be a slave.  From the beginning, Kunta Kinte struggles to be free and has several unsuccessful escape attempts and persistently voicing that his name is Kunta Kinte.  He is whipped until he acknowledges his name is Toby.

LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte

The mini series continues with the story of Kunta Kinte as an adult and then several generations of his family through the l8th and 19th century including the Civil War and the post war period.

Adult Kunte Kinte and his wife, Belle

In the end, Alex Haley takes the viewer to Kunta Kinte’s great-great-granddaughter and then to himself.

The program’s popularity lead to millions of people researching their own roots.

A to Z on the Music Charts

Reunited by Peaches and Herb reach number 1 on Billboard Hot 100 on May 5, 1979 and stayed number 1 for four weeks.

A to Z At the Movies

The top grossing film of 1976 and number 14 for the decade, Rocky, the story of a prize fighter became a mega movie franchise.

Sylvester Stallone as Rocky on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.

All images in this article are in the public domain. For any YouTube clips embedded in my posts, I am not the uploader.