Roots

I still remember reading Alex Haley's Roots in my teens and feeling quite moved by the story of Kunta Kinte, an African man kidnapped in Africa to be sold across the ocean as slave in the United States.

I also remember watching the first TV adaptation from the seventies, and how heartbreaking it was to see visually the brutality with which these people were treated that I had only imagined in my mind.

So when the History channel announced their own reimagining, I had to check it out.

The story is pretty much the same: a young African man is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the US state of Virginia. His ancestral pride runs deep, so bending him to the will of his new masters takes a lot of whip work.

He manages to escape, so when recaptured his punishment will be extreme. He is, after all, just like any other farm animal in the eyes of his captors.

And then there's Chicken George, another slave who becomes very valuable to his owner for his excellent skills at cockfighting training. Even so, he'll always be seen as nothing more chattel.

This show is at times hard to watch, but its value as an educational tool, especially to an American public who sometimes likes to ignore this ignominious part of its past, is enormous. A must watch.

Grade: 8