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The ‘Roots’ of Slavery and its Lasting Effects

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — In 2021, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) launched a global news feature series on the history, contemporary realities, and implications of the transatlantic slave trade. Today, leadership in America is trying to erase this history. This is Part 6 in the series.

Published

8 months ago

August 31, 2025

Stacy M. Brown

In 2021, the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) launched a global news feature series on the history, contemporary realities, and implications of the transatlantic slave trade. Today, leadership in America is trying to erase this history. This is Part 6 in the series.

By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent

Kunta Kinte: What’s snow, Fiddler?

Fiddler: Never you mind, boy, never you mind. Let’s get on back to home. I got enough trouble teaching you the difference between manure and massa. ‘Course there ain’t all that much difference when you gets right down to it.

“The first time he had taken the massa to one of these ‘high-falutin’ to-dos,” as Bell called them, Kunta had been all but overwhelmed by conflicting emotions: awe, indignation, envy, contempt, fascination, revulsion—but most of all a deep loneliness and melancholy from which it took him almost a week to recover. He couldn’t believe that such incredible wealth actually existed, that people really lived that way. It took him a long time, and a great many more parties, to realize that they didn’t live that way, that it was all strangely unreal, a kind of beautiful dream the white folks were having, a lie they were telling themselves: that goodness can come from badness, that it’s possible to be civilized with one another without treating as human beings those whose blood, sweat, and mother’s milk made possible the life of privilege they led.”

―Alex Haley, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family.”

“I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

The year was 1976, and America was still feeling the aftershocks of the Civil Rights Movement, the murder, some eight years earlier, of Martin Luther King Jr., and the end of the Vietnam War. King’s death, along with the murders of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Sen. Robert Kennedy – both of whom were proponents of civil rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and other minorities – were reminders to many that America still had not come close to achieving the slain leader’s “Dream.”

What’s more, in 1976, author Alex Haley released his family’s autobiography, “Roots.”

It would not only go on to become a best-selling book, but a much-watched and talked about ABC Television mini-series that re-awakened everyone to the darkness, horrors, and inhumanity of the transatlantic slave trade. “Alex Haley tapped into something very special, the idea that black Americans have been, are, and will always be compelled to understand their history,” said Dr. Kellie Jackson, an assistant professor of Africana Studies at Wellesley University.

Jackson’s research focuses on slavery, abolitionists, violence as a political discourse, historical film, and black women’s history. That “Roots” spawned an era where African Americans would give their newborn children African-themed names was no surprise and counts as an important moment in self-recognition, said Jackson, whose new book, “Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence,” examines the conditions that led some black abolitionists to believe slavery might only be abolished by violent force. “For many African Americans, giving their children names with meaning is incredibly important. What’s remarkable about ‘Roots’ is that despite the master’s attempts to rename Kunta Kinte, ‘Toby,’ the name in popular culture and memory never stuck,” Jackson said. “Kunta Kinte is only referred to by his African name. I think this is a signal of the value African Americans place on names. In the 1970s and beyond, giving black children Afrocentric names provided not only a feeling of pride, but a sense of heritage in history.”

Jackson continued:

“Naming children after great rulers such as Nzinga, Kenyatta, or Chaka still resonates with many black parents today. I know parents who have given their children the name Obama. Names that are also signposts to historical moments. What’s more powerful than your name?” Still, those names come with a price because many agree that hate is as American as Apple Pie and baseball. And, victims of such hate not only include the once enslaved African American, but America is a country where it was once illegal for all women to vote. It’s also a country that not only devastated Native Americans, but today still prevents those living on reservations from casting a ballot despite the historic amount of bloodshed and despair brought upon that group. “I believe America does owe Native Americans the chance to cast a ballot,” said Shawn Halifax, a cultural history interpretation coordinator at the MacLeod Plantation Museum in Charleston, South Carolina. “I understand that what the law is and what people who are attempting to exercise their rights are told the law is, can be two different things,” Halifax said.

America has always had a system of discrimination and prejudice against all groups who were not identified as “White Anglo-Saxon” native, said Walter Palmer, the founder of the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School in Philadelphia and current faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches urban studies, social policy, and practice. “Because historically American indigenous native’s language, culture, history, customs, and way of life has been wiped out and they have been a ward of the government, they lost their personhood,” Palmer said of Native Americans. “As American citizens, native indigenous people should be entitled to all the same privileges, rights, and entitlements as all other American citizens,” he said.

Palmer said America has continued to try to hold onto slavery, but in more legal forms like hate groups and prisons. “After the abolishment of slavery and the end of the Reconstruction period, there was the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, which was a replacement of the slave patrols after this period,” Palmer said. “America always used the prison system as a means of threat, intimidation, and social control, and this was later enlarged to use Chain Gangs and Jim Crow laws to further control the African Americans,” he said.

Palmer said “Roots” was built on the legacy of prior black historians over the past two hundred years, like Fredrick Douglass, William B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey, G. Carter Woodson, Martin Luther King, and Malcolm X. “The connection that African Americans have had to the African Diaspora goes back to the ‘Back to Africa’ movement of the early 19^th century, like the American Colonization Society, that was created in 1821,” Palmer said. For the 20th Century, “Roots” proved a watershed moment, Halifax said. “I imagine it inspired an incredible number of people to seek to learn more about their family’s past, because they knew little about it or had not been listening carefully to the stories of their elders,” Halifax said. “I think ‘Roots’ influenced some white Americans. I think the movie helped place the notion in the minds of many whites that enslaved populations were families and communities that experienced pain and suffering, that experienced joy and wonder, that were founders and builders of this country. That they were more than property,” he said.

Halifax continued:

“I think ‘Roots’ helped usher changes regarding the placement of African Americans within the context of our national history. Of course, this did not happen just because of ‘Roots.’ “In fact, I think ‘Roots’ was a crashing wave into America’s consciousness that had been pushed by a swell generated during the Civil Rights and Black Power movements that preceded it. Stories from America’s history were to be highlighted as “American History” and were decided by white male academics. “I think ‘Roots’ helped send a message. Historians needed to be more inclusive in their storytelling. It was during the 70s and 80s that more inclusive social histories were being researched and pursued in academia, and academia began to become more diversified. “By the 90s, museums and historic sites began recognizing that there is more to America’s story than just rich white guys, their families, and the wars they waged. And equally important, it was by then that people began demanding more of these stories. Unfortunately, following the crashing wave of Roots, there has been a very slow seep into the American conscious as a whole.”

“I think evidence of its importance is in the fact that its remake was released the same year as the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture,” Halifax said. “I suspect that was not an accident. We have a long way still to go. The study by the Southern Poverty Law Center on how Slavery is taught in American schools is damning.” Halifax pointed out that it took 100 years for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture to open. To lesser fanfare and just before the opening of that museum on the National Mall, two other smaller museums opened within a few months of each other.

Both state that their purpose is to share the history of enslaved people and their descendants. Both are former slave labor camps, known euphemistically as plantations – the Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana, and McLeod Plantation Historic Site in Charleston, South Carolina. “As far as I know, they are the only two former plantation sites who have rejected the white dominated narrative, to look at these sites as places of memory for those held captive and enslaved and for those whose families survived,” Halifax said. “These two sites hold promise as places of healing where slavery, its legacy, and American racism can be examined. In the end, I think Roots has had an important and lasting impact.

Up Next: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration

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The hidden risks of poor water management in residential properties

Poor water management in residential properties can result in structural damage, health risks, and long-term financial strain. Water is the most important resource for any country, and having access to clean drinking water should be a right that needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, we are noticing a trend in the US right now where poor water […]

Published

3 days ago

April 17, 2026

admin

Poor water management in residential properties can result in structural damage, health risks, and long-term financial strain.

Water is the most important resource for any country, and having access to clean drinking water should be a right that needs to be preserved. Unfortunately, we are noticing a trend in the US right now where poor water management in residential properties is becoming more common.

It’s not even just access to water that gets affected when residential water management isn’t made a priority. It can result in issues with major leaks and flooding events, which affect the health and safety of residents.

Gradual Structural Damage

The worst thing about flooding or water leaks is the gradual structural damage that real estate investors have to deal with. Water can seep into materials like:

Wood
Drywall
Concrete

It can do so over time, drop by drop, and eventually cause significant damage to these structures.

A slow leak behind a wall or under a floor may go unnoticed for months, gradually compromising the integrity of the structure. Over time, this can lead to:

Warped floors
Cracked foundations
Weakened support beams

If you aren’t interested in spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair your residential properties, then it’s important to focus on water management in your annual plan.

Mold and Indoor Air Quality Issues

Excess moisture creates the perfect growing environment for mold. Within 24 to 48 hours, mold can start developing in damp conditions, and it often does so in hidden places like:

Behind walls
Under carpets
Poorly ventilated areas

Mold is a health hazard, especially for the very young and very old, and those who have a compromised immune system. Indoor air quality starts degrading very fast when mold growth happens, which can result in allergies, asthma, and other respiratory conditions.

Addressing mold problems can be both complicated and expensive, often requiring professional remediation to fully eliminate the issue.

Increased Utility Costs

If you notice that your utility bills have gone up in recent weeks or months, without any corresponding difference in tenants or temperature, it could be due to a water leak. Malfunctioning fixtures can also cause an increase in utility costs.

Even small, continuous leaks can add up to substantial water loss, making regular inspections and maintenance essential. That’s why paying attention to water management is so crucial for any real estate investor.

Foundation and Drainage Problems

Proper drainage is crucial to protecting a home’s foundation. Water needs to be directed away from the property, and if not done so, then it can accumulate around the base of a structure. This can lead to soil erosion, foundation cracks, and even basement flooding.

Clogged gutters, improper grading, and inadequate drainage systems are common contributors to these issues. All of these have to be addressed to prevent long-term damage to your foundation and prevent expensive repair bills that eat away at your budget.

Professional eavestrough installers are necessary to ensure rainwater stays away from your foundation and moves away from the property properly.

Pest Infestations

No homeowner or investor wants pests in their residential properties. It’s not good for the health of the residents, nor is it good for the reputation of the properties in attracting future tenants.

Moist environments often attract pests such as:

Termites
Rodents
Insects

Standing water or damp areas provide ideal conditions for these unwanted guests to thrive.

Once pests are established in your property, they will start causing further damage by eating away at certain structures. To get rid of them requires expensive pest control services and takes time.

Insurance and Financial Implications

Even though insurance does cover certain types of water damage, it doesn’t cover all forms of water damage, and thus, you might end up paying out of pocket in certain cases.

Damage resulting from neglect or lack of maintenance is often excluded from coverage. That’s why it’s so important to apply water management strategies to all of your residential properties.

If you wish to sell your property later, then it’s important to be very cognizant of water damage, as buyers will conduct inspections that could alert them to such water damage and prevent your home from selling in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are Some Preventive Measures for Water Management?

There are many home safety tips you can follow to ensure your home stays safe from water damage.

Regularly inspecting plumbing systems, cleaning gutters, and ensuring proper drainage can help identify problems early. Installing moisture detectors, maintaining appliances, and addressing leaks promptly are also effective strategies.

You can also hire a water damage specialist and have them take a look at your home to ensure nothing untoward is going on, especially if you notice a major change in your utility bills.

How Does Water Damage Interior Spaces?

Water damage can occur without the home dwellers noticing it. In some cases, the water damage to interior spaces is very apparent, as when the ceilings start sagging or the walls and ceilings develop water stains.

You might also notice the floors rotting or warping.

In addition to structural concerns, water damage can ruin personal belongings such as:

Furniture
Electronics
Important documents

The emotional and financial cost of replacing these items can be significant.

Nothing good comes out of water damage, but it’s highly preventable if you only take the steps mentioned above. Do not become lazy or complacent in this situation. It could be the difference between saving hundreds of dollars in water damage bills and not.

Protect Yourself From the Risks of Water Damage

Not everyone places such a priority on water management, and that’s a shame. It’s truly when you are dealing with water damage that you regret this decision.

Residential water management can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in bills in the future. It’s worth the time and resources you place upon it.

By staying vigilant and adopting proactive maintenance habits, homeowners can protect their properties and protect their investment from degrading into a money-sucking pile of stones.

Please check out related articles on our website for more interesting articles on a wide variety of subjects.

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Black Micro-Schools Deserve Recognition: NABML Creates National Standards and Resources

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE: Black families are the fastest-growing demographic in alternative education. Discover how the National Association of Black Micro School Leaders is providing educators with resources, training, and certification to launch thriving microschools.

Published

4 days ago

April 16, 2026

Oakland Post

by Dawn Montgomery
BlackPressUSA Contributor

Public school advocates and politicians typically spearhead the attack on microschools, focusing on their perceived “lack of oversight and public accountability.” Yet Black families are the fastest-growing demographic in alternative education. This shift is driven by the recognition that traditional public education cannot change quickly enough to serve its children’s needs. The National Association of Black Micro-School Leaders is an organization working to counter this narrative and fill a critical gap. Nicole Stewart, the founder, told The Carolinian that “Black families are the fastest-growing group in alternative education, but Black microschool founders have had no national home, no unified voice, no shared resources, and no collective power.”

Nicole Stewart, a former educator with nearly 20 years of experience in public education, retired to start her education consulting company and later opened her own school. That experience led her to discover microschools. Stewart advocates for a balance between joy and rigor in education, designing learning experiences that honor identity, strength, and purpose. She understands that microschools can be tailored to address the specific needs of the families and communities they serve.

The oversight criticism is legitimate. This concern is precisely why NABML is establishing the national benchmark for community-led education. NABML’s certification is that seal of approval, signaling to families, funders, and policymakers that a school is not merely functioning but is outstanding. Additionally, the organization emphasizes the importance of legal structures, fiscal stewardship frameworks, and community involvement as foundational to sustainability and accountability.

NABML realizes this vision via four main support systems:

Community Design Day: NABML facilitates a process in which the neighborhood tells us what its children deserve. You get to explore new learning approaches and define educational priorities for your community. A community task force is then formed to implement these ideas, and NABML supports you along the way. This creates a space where you can be a part of the process as a founding member of a microschool.

Founders Launch Lab: This professional development experience equips Black microschool founders and educational leaders with the training, operational, and strategic skills to launch and sustain thriving schools. Participants gain the business acumen and pedagogical frameworks necessary to navigate the transition from traditional educator roles to entrepreneurial school leaders.

Membership (The Vault): Members gain instant, 24/7 access to proprietary legal templates, student handbook builders, fiscal stewardship frameworks, and zoning blueprints designed specifically for the microschool model. They also join a curated community of mission-aligned founders through monthly “Brilliance Circles” and a private digital forum. Membership unlocks the NABML Fund, a curated capital pool designed specifically for the network, removing a major barrier to school launch and sustainability.

Certification: This is the seal of approval that tells families, funders, and policymakers that your school isn’t just operating; it is also excelling. NABML is currently developing the national benchmark for community-led education, making sure that certified schools meet rigorous standards for student outcomes, community engagement, and fiscal responsibility.

Whether you’re a parent seeking educational alternatives, an educator ready to launch a microschool, or a policymaker committed to expanding equitable education options, NABML invites you to be part of this transformation.

Ready to start or support a microschool? Visit https://nabml.org/ to learn more, access resources, or join the Founders Launch Lab.

Want to invest in Black educational futures? Make a donation at https://secure.qgiv.com/for/naobml/ to support founders in building schools that serve their communities.

Every microschool launched is a community transformed. Every founder supported is a generation of Black children empowered to thrive.

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IN MEMORIAM: Rest in Power — Minnesota Loses a True Warrior in Yusef Mgeni

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — Yusef Mgeni, a brilliant historian, community organizer, former St. Paul educator and fierce advocate for Black people, died on April 7, 2026, leaving behind a legacy that will echo through generations of Black Minnesota history and community building.

Published

5 days ago

April 15, 2026

admin

By MSR News Online

Minnesota and the world lost a powerful voice and a true warrior on April 7, 2026. Yusef Mgeni is gone, but his legacy will echo for generations.

Yusef was a brilliant historian, a community organizer, a former St. Paul educator, and a fierce advocate for Black people. He carried with him an extraordinary archive of speeches, books, articles, and photographs documenting the work of countless Black scholars and leaders. His knowledge was not just deep. It was generational. Talk to him about any subject concerning Black history, and he would give you a dissertation.

His roots in this community ran deeper than most people knew. Yusef was the grandnephew of Fredrick McGhee, the pioneering 20th-century civil rights activist and attorney who made his mark in St. Paul at the turn of the century. That lineage was not lost on Yusef. He carried it forward with pride and purpose, spending decades making sure the stories of Black Minnesotans were told, preserved, and passed on.

As a journalist, Yusef called NAACP leaders and community figures to identify the issues that mattered most to Black people and wrote about them in local newspapers. He was a contributor to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, a platform he understood and respected deeply. As a former St. Paul NAACP vice president, he remained active and engaged well into his retirement, answering emails and voicemails for residents who were at their wits’ end, helping them navigate evictions, legal challenges, and systemic barriers.

“Generally, they contact us when they are at their wits’ end,” he once said. “They are going to get evicted; their car is getting repossessed. We assist in navigating the system.”

His work was always about access. Under his leadership and alongside other NAACP leaders, the St. Paul chapter helped establish a landmark covenant between the police and the St. Paul community in 2001, a model that contributed to dramatically lower excessive-force costs than in Minneapolis in the decade that followed.

Yusef was also a passionate champion of ethnic studies in Minnesota’s schools, understanding that education rooted in Black and Brown history was not a supplement to American history but central to it.

“Ethnic studies is also American history,” he said. “The fact that the legislature and the MDE have both endorsed ethnic studies requirements in schools is a real plus for giving people the opportunity to explore and learn more about American history, and more importantly, to see themselves reflected in that learning.”

In the 1970s and ’80s, Yusef worked alongside Mrs. Clarissa Walker at the Sabathani Community Center, where they poured their energy into uplifting and empowering the community. Their work helped shape the cultural and political landscape of South Minneapolis during a critical era. They were part of a generation that built institutions, nurtured young people, and fought for justice with unwavering commitment.

Yusef also played a key role in the early development of KMOJ Radio, helping to establish a platform that amplified Black voices long before it was common or convenient. His activism extended through education, the St. Paul NAACP, the Million Man March, and the Urban Coalition, always rooted in a deep and abiding love for his people.

He was also an interviewee in the Rondo neighborhood oral history project preserved by the Minnesota Historical Society, ensuring that the voices and stories of that community would never be lost.

Not long ago, a colleague was blessed to sit with Yusef at his home, where he reflected on his life and his legacy. He talked about his work in education, his activism, and his years of service to the community. But what stood out just as much was how he spoke about his family and his people, with warmth, with pride, and with purpose.

Today, we honor him not only for what he accomplished but for the spirit with which he did it.

A scholar. A builder. A warrior. A keeper of our stories.

Thank you, Yusef, for everything you gave and everything you sacrificed on behalf of Black people. Your legacy stands tall, and our community is better because of you.

Rest in Power, Yusef Mgeni.