ROOTS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (2002)

Quite simply, the world changed. It's hard to believe today, in the multiculti, hip-hop-flavored, Benetton universe we now share, but before Alex Haley's miniseries Roots: The Saga of an American Family aired on ABC most of white society had no idea how to relate to the millions of black citizens who lived alongside them. Over the course of eight consecutive nights, the country sat enraptured by the story of Kunta Kinte, a young West African warrior (and Haley ancestor) kidnapped from his tribe and sold into slavery, and his enduring struggle for freedom. For many black Americans, it was a revelation, a peek into a past they all shared but either never fully realized or never truly acknowledged. For white America, it pulled back the curtain on one of the longest, darkest periods in human history, one that many had conveniently chosen to forget. After Roots, we were one step closer to bringing those two Americas together.

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