It was a grand memorial service for the writer whose two books served as beacons of hope, pride and understanding to millions of Americans in the late 20th century. They had come to mourn Alex Haley, the 70-year-old author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X and Roots, who had died of a heart attack on February 10, 1992.

Dignitaries from Senegal and the Gambia were there. Attallah Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, was there. It is well said by Toby in one episode who after being unduly and harshly punished for causing trouble best.'how can one man do this to another man' How indeed.Celebrities, ambassadors and politicians crowded into the Greenwood Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Also, there are some scenes that just yank on your emotions and teach us if anything NOT to do what was being done on screen besides tugging at your innards with disgust. Have a finger snack and a tasty drink ready to go when watching. Even sadder still, slavery and trade in humans exists to this day. What makes it so unacceptable is that it took place in America proving that there is no perfect place to live but instead, lots of work to be done first with the self, then with each other and of course unto God the one who started it all up to begin with. Slavery had been going on since mankind matured and traveled the globe respecting no one.

Sorry to say but necessary to be told is the shameful part of history where one race thought them selves superior to another and used degradation, pride, and perversion to assert this. Kudos to all those that were able to be a part of this life-changing event. Of course today, the worth of a human being doesn't require prompting or remembering as we all have discovered that we matter. Right after these episodes were aired, a discovery of something greater than your hopeless daily day to day existence was introduced and people started believing in themselves and that they mattered.

I remember at the time this came out on TV, the black people were in desperate need of something to hope for of which Martin Luther King had supplied and had done so successfully before his death. Even today, it continues to beckon to anyone who watches the show to ask your personal questions of your own start-up. Who wouldn't find their own ancestry fascinating? That's why this was a ground-breaking event never before scene and why it captured vast audiences for decades. The concept of your beginning or the beginning that led up to you is Universal and applies to everyone.

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