Roots by Alex Haley. Week #9 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #9 (Final Week)

Pages Read:  800 - 899
Chapters Read: 110 - 120

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The Final Week of Roots has come!  I finished the book yesterday with happiness for this family, I have grown to love over the summer.  Roots follows the Kinte family through seven generations eventually leading to the author Alex Haley.  Alex was born into the family in the twentieth century.  Roots follows the Kinte family from The Gambia in Africa to Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and then to Tennessee, where the family settles after The Civil War.  The family then divides into many branches and the descendants and relatives of Kunta Kinte stretch out across the world.

I am so glad I undertook the reading of this book.  This book brought hope to many African American families whose ancestors were slaves because they assumed their history was lost forever.  Haley proves that with a few clues and stories passed down orally over the generations that any family could find their Roots.  This is a story of the losers in history (the slaves) but Haley determines that anyone can write history, not just the winners.  Roots ultimately is the story of us, the story of American History that is hidden between the pages of history books.  Haley brings the trials and tribulations of his family into the light and I feel teaches the nation a valuable lesson.

It took Haley ten years to research and write Roots.

Every family has a story.   What is your history?

The year is 1977
Roots has been published and has won The Pulitizer Prize and The National Book Award
Roots has been made into a successful mini-series that aired on T.V.
I am 10 years old.

Location: The family migrates to Tennessee after The Civil War
Alex Haley is born in 1921 in New York.
Alex's mother Bertha is related to Kunta Kinte

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.
Thanks everyone for participating in the Readalong.  It was a great summer, A Summer of Roots!

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Laurie from Whatsheread


My reward for reading this 900 page chunkster is to watch the Roots mini-series on DVD.  I can't wait.

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #8 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #8

Pages Read:  703 - 799
Chapters Read: 102 - 109

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

There is only 100 pages left to read in this book and I know I am going to really miss this family, whom I have spent my summer reading about.

  This week there is another major turning point in the book.  Chicken George and Massa Lea go to a huge chicken fight at Massa Jewitt's plantation where a Englishman has brought his game fighting cocks for the biggest competition in about 50 years.  Both George and the Massa take most of their life savings to this fight and Massa Lea is goaded into betting an absurd amount of money he doesn't have.  He loses.  Everyone loses. Chicken George is forced to go to England as part of Massa Lea's debt and train cocks there for two years, which turns into 5.   As a small consideration, Master Lea writes George his note of freedom which he will receive when he gets back from England.

Meanwhile, the Master has nothing left and needs to pay  his bills so he sells off George's family to Massa Murray.  Grandmother Kizzy is not included in the sale and never sees her son or grandchildren again.

Chicken George arrives home from England to find the Lea's place in disarray, his family sold, the Master drunk and over 80, Pompey, Sister Sarah and his mother dead as well as Missus Lea.  Miss Malizy is losing her mind and her and the Master barely  have any food to eat.   Chicken George steals his freedom papers and goes to find his family. 

Mostly, they live a good existence on the Murray plantation.  Tom is the blacksmith and marries Irene who is expecting a child.  Almost all of George's children are married.  The telegraph line and the railroads are coming to North Carolina. Hotels are being built. The tensions between the South and the Northern abolitionists are rising and Lincoln is soon to be president.
The Civil War is coming.

I can't wait to read the conclusion.

The year is 1859
Location:  North Carolina
Kunta is dead
Kizzy is dead
Chicken George is about 54
Tom is about 26

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #7 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #7

Pages Read:  602 - 702
Chapters Read: 90 - 101

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Kizzy's son George acquires a nickname, Chicken George and Haley refers to him with this nickname continually throughout the pages of the book.  Chicken George is a natural at cockfighting and loves his chickens, hence the name Chicken George.  He is also a tomcat and runs around on different plantations with women, until he meets Mathilda.  Mathilda is a religious woman and won't let him touch her and it gets Chicken George to thinking that he wants to marry her.  So the two jump the broom and Mathilda comes to live on Massa Lea's plantations.

Mathilda is one amazing woman.  First of all she puts up with Chicken George and all his antics, including drinking and carousing.  She forms a strong and special bond with her mother in law, Kizzy and she bears George 8 children, 6 boys and 2 girls.  The kids are Virgil, Ashton, Tom, George, James, Lewis, Kizzy and Mary. 

During this time Uncle Mingo dies and leaves Chicken George alone at the chicken coops and this gives him plenty of time to think.  He begins to think how maybe he would like to be a free man.  Mathilda and George create a plan to save up enough money to pay for the whole families freedom.  In total they figure it would cost them about $7000 dollars to free the whole family including Kizzy.  They realize the value the White man has placed on slave labor.

With only 200 pages left I can't wait to find out what happens next.  I really miss Kunta and Bell and assumed they have passed on by now. 

The year is 1836
Location:  North Carolina
Kunta is about 86 if he is still alive.
Kizzy is over 55
Chicken George is about 33

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Laurie from Whatsheread

 

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #6 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #6

Pages Read:  501 - 601
Chapters Read: 78 - 89

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

This one hundred pages marks a major turning point in the book.  First Kunta gets really sick with a fever and they are very worried he is going to die.  Missy Anne reads to him from the Bible and with great doctoring he luckily recovers.  Kizzy and Noah start falling for each other and Kunta was praying for them, hoping they would make a great match.  But Noah decides he wants to run North and be free and then try and earn enough money to buy Kizzy.  It was a great dream that failed when Noah got caught on the run.  Kizzy wrote his forged traveling pass and she is pulled out of her parents arms and taken away by the Sheriff to be sold.  Kunta and Bell suffer a fate worse than death as their daughter is dragged off never to be seen again.  Kizzy is 16 years old and Kunta is 55.

Kizzy gets sold to a po'white cracker master that cockfights to win his money.  There is only 5 slaves on the land and on the first night Kizzy is raped by Massa Lea and impregnated.  She gives birth to Kunta's grandson and the Master names him George.  Kizzy teaches George all about his African grandfather, Kunta.  George grows up and begins to be apprenticed to Uncle Mingo, a slave that cares for the Massa's fighting roosters. He moves away from his mammy Kizzy and learns the Massa is his pappy.   The chapter ends with George attending his first cockfight with Massa Lea and Uncle Mingo.  It is an eye opening experience for George.

The year is about 1818
Kunta is 68
Kizzy is 29
George is about 12, maybe 13.
Location:  Kizzy and George are in North Carolina
Kunta and Bell are probably still in Virginia.

When Kizzy was taken from Kunta the story continues to follow Kizzy and the reader is left grieving for Kunta as it appears we will never be reading about him again.  I really miss Kunta and Bell.  Since George has left home the story appears to be following him and we only learn a little bit about Kizzy from time to time when George visits.  It is interesting how Haley moves from one generation to the next, leaving us to wonder what happens to those we left behind. 

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #5 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #5

Pages Read:  402-500
Chapters Read: 64-77

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

OMG, where has the summer gone?  I am already halfway through this 900 page edition of Roots and am loving this book.  It is very hard for me to stop reading every week.   For me, the book is highly readable and entertaining and I can't wait to see what happens to Kunta Kinte. 

This week Kunta gets married to Bell.  It is the first time he has ever held or been with a woman and he is almost 40 years old.  Kunta and Bell are from two different worlds, his African and hers Slavery.  Many times they don't understand each other's differences and argue or worse, quit talking to each other.  Their love is unique as they discover and learn about each other.  Bell can read and write and Kunta can write Arabic and speak Mandinka.  Bell has reminded Kunta that he cannot be African anymore and must forget those days but he cannot.

Kunta and Bell have a baby girl.  Kunta names her in the traditional way by whispering her name in her ear and they call her Kizzy.  Kizzy is the apple of Kunte's eye yet it frustrates him that he has no control over her destiny.  He doesn't want her to become a white child's play thing but that is just what she becomes.  Missy Anne is the Massa's niece and she adores Kizzy and as they grow up, much to Kunta's chagrin, they become inseparable. Both parents worry about the fate of their daughter as she grows up in a hostile world.

As Bell reads the newspaper she learns that in Haiti, the sugar cane slaves are treated to horrible atrocities and revolt against there white owners and overseers.  Toussaint L'Ouverture rises up and leads the slaves to fight against the English, declares their Independence and wins it and then he has to fight the French who are vying for control of the sugar market.  The book hasn't talked about this yet but Toussaint will defeat Napoleon in 1804 and become known as the black Napoleon.  Toussaint is Kunta's hero and he eagerly awaits news of Haiti. 

Slaves are revolting in Virginia as well and the whites are scared. 
The year is 1800
Kunta is now 50 years old and his daughter Kizzy is 9 (I think)
Location:  Virginia

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Michelle from Truebookaddict
4.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #4 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #4

Pages Read:  302-401
Chapters Read: 48-63

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

A lot of time has passed in this section.  Kunta was 17 when I started reading at page 302 and by page 401, he is 37 years old and thinking about taking a wife.

At 17 Kunta is still quite spirited and very smart and continues to run away.  The last time he is caught, the poor white trash slave catchers cut off part of his foot, crippling him for life.  Kunta no longer runs away.  He is taken in by his massa's brother, who is a doctor and will remain on this plantation.  Kunta actually prefers it here and actually grows to accept his role in life.  When his foot is healed he becomes the master gardener and eventually becomes the massa's carriage driver, driving the doctor all over the county to heal the sick.

The Revolutionary War takes place during this period and the slaves in Virginia share daily gossip and conjecture about what is happening.  Some free blacks fight on both sides of the war.  States up north begin freeing their slaves and banning slavery all together.  The Quakers of Pennsylvania begin helping slaves escape to the north and there is talk of a group of free Africans going back to Africa.  All of this Kunta discusses with his friends, the fiddler, the old gardener and Bell.

On one of Kunta's travels with his master, he hears the African drum playing and runs to meet a man with whom he can speak with in his native tongue.  His friendship and need to speak with this man consumes him and he struggles with identity issues and feels much sadness for his life he left behind.

So far I love this book and am almost half way done.  It is hard for me to stop reading each week as I can't wait to see what becomes of Kunta and his life. 

Kunta is 37 years old.
The year is 1787
Location:  Virginia, USA

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Michelle from Truebookaddict
4.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #3 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #3

Pages Read:  201-301
Chapters Read:  35-47

This post is a day late due to the 4th of July holiday.  Hope you all had a fun, firework filled weekend.

Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.


Kunta is 17 rains during this section of the book and is enduring The Middle Passage across the Atlantic Ocean.  The journey across the ocean from Africa to the Americas lasts about 5 months and is called The Middle Passage.  It is a horrible trip for the slaves and ship crew alike with many people dying on the journey.  The slaves are chained below the deck on a wooden plank that is about the size of 6 feet by 1 foot.  The men are forced to lie down and endure the horrific smells, the hot space and seasickness.  Their are no bathrooms and disease, rats and lice abound.  The men are beaten and wounds become quickly infected and painful.  It is a wonder that any man (slave) survived this horrific journey. 


The women are kept above deck and are used by the sailors night after night.  The women are amazing because when the African men come up to the deck to be scrubbed clean and exercised the women sing to them, and secretly tell what is happening on the boat above deck.  Kunta continues to hold on to his faith to Allah and remains strong in spirit despite how weak his body becomes.


Eventually Kunta's ship arrives in port and Kunta is kept in a hold for 7 days before being sold. The whole time the author keeps the reader in the dark about where Kunta is in America and Kunta remains strong in spirit as his body continues to take many beatings and injuries.  Kunta refuses to be tamed or treated like an animal and continually runs away.  I only wish he wouldn't get caught.


Kunta has a very strong sense of smell and can smell humans and tell them apart.   He can see what part of the blacks is still African even though they have forgotten where they come from and this saddens him.  Kunta faces racism from his black peers who view him as a African animal straight from the trees.  Their ignorance is plain and soon Kunta receives a new name from his master:  Toby. 

The year is 1765.  State unknown.

These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Michelle from Truebookaddict
4.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #2 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley.
Read-A-Long Week #2

Pages read:  106-200
Chapters read:  21-34



Note:  I am reading ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

I had an extremely busy week and didn't start reading ROOTS until Sunday when I read almost all 100 pages.  ROOTS is extremely well written and very readable.  I found that I didn't want to stop at page 200 but I did. 

This week we find Kunta at 10 rains, entering his manhood training and becoming a man of the Mandinka tribe.  I figure by page 200 Kunta is probably about 17 rains as he is captured by the white man and forced aboard his big canoe in chains.

Like week number one, three important events or instances stood out for me and I would like to highlight them.

One, Kunta enters manhood training.  He is taken from his home, hooded and led through the forest where he will become a man in four moons.  He endures beatings, wrestling lessons, hunting lessons, and night walks where he learns to read the stars.  All the young Mandinka boys are circumcised during manhood training.  Griots came to tell the history of the Mandinka's which went as far back as the great kingdoms of Mali.  I really liked reading about manhood training and I think we should adopt some sort of rituals that mark womanhood and manhood for Americans.  What would you include in a training for teens to make them into adults?

Two is the fact that I really wanted Kunta to continue living in his Mandinka village in The Gambia and continue with his travels.  I enjoyed learning about village life and the court system in Juffure.  I knew he was going to be captured by slave traders and I found myself lamenting Kunta's untold tale.  What would his life have been like if he lived his whole life in Juffure, taking a wife and having children?  Traveling to Mali with his brother.  What other interesting adventures Kunta would have had in his place of birth? Alas, Kunta's story leads him to travel across the ocean and never see his family again. 

Three, Kunta is captured by slave traders while he is out looking for wood to build a drum.  He is surprised by them in the early morning.  He is beaten, scared and made to suffer many indignities.  He is taken aboard ship where the horrific stink assaults his nose.  Thus begins his journey on the Atlantic, called The Middle Passage.  The treatment of slaves has long bothered me, especially when they are portrayed by whites as less than human and used as a tool to make money.  Most slaves didn't live longer than ten years, as they were worked so hard and beaten so badly.  I feel fear for Kunta and sadness for his family.

Next week:  I plan to read from pages 201-301 and post on Monday.
These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Michelle from Truebookaddict
4.  Laurie from Whatsheread

Roots by Alex Haley. Week #1 of the summer Read-A-Long

Roots by Alex Haley- Read-A-Long Week #1

Chapters Read:  1-20
Pages read:  1-105

I have decided to read ROOTS in honor of my former student Quincy Blue who was recently found murdered, his body burned beyond recognition, in Saint Paul.  Quincy was an 30 year old African American male, who has two young boys, he was a student at a local business college, engaged to be married and a local hip-hop artist and musician.  They have no leads or suspects in the case.  Quincy died a horrible death and it makes me so sad.  Quincy was in my class about 14 years ago and I taught a unit on African History.  I always show Part 1 of Roots to my class and Quincy would have seen it, which is why I feel that I want to honor Quincy and other African American males who have lost their life to violence by reading ROOTS.  Too many young black men are the victims or perpetrators of violent crime and this hurts everyone.  We need to do something to stop the senseless violence.  The first step is to educate yourself.

ROOTS begins in The Gambia on the western side on Africa in an area known as The Slave Coast.  Kunta Kinte is born in 1750 as the first son to Omoro and Binta.  They live in a tiny Muslim village and we learn about their daily life and survival through the season changes.

The first 100 pages are very entertaining as they chronicle Kunta's first eight rains and the reader experiences African culture and history.

Three things stood out to me as I read the book.
First, the African Griot.  A Griot is a storyteller who keeps the history of the people and relays it to others.  Most African cultures didn't have a form of writing to record their history and so they used Griots.  I love reading about how important they are to society and how the whole village would sit quietly to listen to a story.  In my class, I have a Griot Day, where we sit in a circle for the day and share a story of our personal history.  It is one of my favorite lessons.  What saddens me is that some of my African American students say they don't have a story.  How do I convince them that they do and that it is worth hearing?

Second, the amazing Gambian women.  The Gambian, Mandinka women with their babies on their back, work their rice fields.  Then they work their husbands fields, cook, clean, dye cloth, sew, dance and are just plain amazing.  They carry water and all sorts of materials on their head and just strike me as strong, colorful, and faithful women.  So I have to admit, I tried walking around with books and other things on my head all week.  I recently saw a woman walking down a street close to here with a 12 pack on her head and was just amazed by it.  Nothing stayed on my head though, either because my posture is bad or my hair is too fine and slippery.  I will keep trying though.  I am also thankful that amazing women like this came before me, so that I can have time to learn and do the things they never had time to do.

Third, the traveling tree.  OK, I loved the traveling tree that each Mandinka village has.  When you go on a journey you tie a piece of cloth to the tree and each strip represents the prayer of a traveler, so that his journey will be safe.  Kunta and his father take a journey out of the village about a 3-5 day walk.  Each village they pass by has a traveler's tree and a welcoming committee with a host in the community.  The host feeds the travelers and provides shelter for them for the night.  The members of the village take turns being the community host for travelers.  I think this is a great idea and wished we did it here in small communities in the United States.  Just think of how that would change us for the better.  I would love to welcome visitors from all over the world to my home and table.  I also love the idea of a traveling tree where you tie strips of cloth to represent a prayer and your journey.  I just might have to adopt a tree in my yard and begin this wonderful African tradition.

Next week:  I plan to read from pages 106-200 and post on Monday.
These are the bloggers/readers participating in the Read-A-Long.  Please visit them and comment.  Also if you are participating and want to be included on this list, please comment and I will add a link to your blog.
Thanks everyone for participating.

1.  Bre from Booksnob Wannabe
2.  Sherrie from Just Books
3.  Michelle from Truebookaddict
4.  Laurie from Whatsheread
(I know Michelle and Laurie are starting late and so may not have a post this week)

Roots Read-A-Long Begins Today!

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Hey Everyone, The Roots Read-A-Long starts today!! Have you picked up your copy of Roots by Alex Haley yet? Have you decided to participate? Please leave me a comment as I would love to have you participate!

Roots won the Pulitzer Prize when is was released in 1976 and spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.  It is hailed as an American classic even though it is only 30 years old. If you have ever wanted to read this stunning, page-turning book, now is your chance.

Booksnob Wannabe and I will start posting our thoughts about the first 100 pages next Monday and I can't wait for the conversation to begin.

Next week (probably on Sunday or Monday) I will include a list of readers and bloggers participating in the Read-A-Long, so please join us for a memorable summer, a summer of ROOTS!

Annoucing "ROOTS" Read-A-Long

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Hey Everyone,

This summer Booksnob Wannabe and I are hosting a Read-A-Long of the classic book ROOTS by Alex Haley.  The Read-A-Long will start June 13th officially but you can start any time you like. 
The plan is to read about 100 pages a week for 9 weeks.  Booksnob Wannbe and I plan to post our weekly reviews on Monday.  You can post or comment any time during the week.  Please comment if you want to join the Read-A-Long, we would love to have you join in.  If you have a blog please grab the button and check out Booksnob Wannabe's blog.  Then announce it on your blog. 

I am so excited to read this book, it has been on my to-read list for a long time. 
This is the true story of Alex Haley and his journey to discover his roots.  He traces his heritage back to Africa when his ancestor, Kunte Kinte, was kidnapped as a slave and brought through the Middle Passage to the United States in the  1700's.  The book takes the reader through many generations of his family.  Roots was hailed as a masterpiece when it was released in the 1970's, won the Pulitizer Prize and a mini-series was created for television on the book.  I have never watched the television mini-series, but I will as soon as I finish the book at the end of the summer as my reward.

Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
This "bold . . . extraordinary . . . blockbuster . . ." (Newsweek) begins with a birth in 1750, in an African village; it ends seven generations later at the Arkansas funeral of a black professor whose children are a teacher, a Navy architect, an assistant director of the U.S. Information Agency, and an author. The author is Alex Haley.

I hope you can join us for a great read this summer.  It will be a summer to remember, a summer of ROOTS!