The 40th Anniversary Celebration of Alex Haley’s “Roots” was hosted by the Oakland Film Society and the Hon. Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Oakland City Council, who looked lovely in her African gown and gele crown. She said “’Roots’ awakened the consciousness of the nation—sparking renewed interest in genecology.” Haley’s “Roots” put folks on notice that black history did not start with slavery— his work and by extension the 2016 reimagining evokes Sankofa, a concept that tells Diaspora citizens to remember the past and go back and fetch their goodies ancestors sewed in the garments of history for this time.
Oakland, the home of revolutionary Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, is also the home of the nation’s first Black Arts Movement Business District and key player, the Oakland International Film Festival which celebrated its 15th Anniversary this month with a stellar lineup of films.
The Oakland International Film Festival concluded with a mbongi or sacred circle honoring the ancestors, Alex Haley at its center. Key to the mbongi, a Kikongo traditional gathering, is the discussion of an issue of grave concern. Nothing could be more pertinent than knowing one’s personal history, that is, where your people come from. The youngest panelist, Mandela Van Peebles, Noah in “Roots” (2016) miniseries, spoke about what it meant to carry a revolutionary name like Nelson Mandela, a man who remained unbroken, despite 27 years on Rikers Island breaking rocks.
Mandela said knowlege of his ancestors and being aware of the multiple legacies flowing through his veins made him feel powerful if not invincible. “Someone in my ancestry walked these footsteps [referencing ‘Roots’]. I want to make my ancestors proud. My ancestors had to fight to read [at a time when it’s not cool to be smart],” Mandela, a recent graduate of Marymount University, said youth need to be balanced and not fall into traps which make ignorance cool.
Seated next to his father, activist and director, Mario Van Peebles, the father’s arm across the back of his son’s chair, one could see the mutual admiration, respect and love between them as Mandela spoke of travels to Africa and Europe with his dad who made the sojourn that much more valuable. The elder Van Peebles, who directed his son, Mandela, in episode 1 in “Roots” (2016), says “Roots” is the story of survival and resistence.
“Black Americans are remarkable. Without last names, history or a language we resisted and won. When my son is shot, it is all the kids who are shot. Millennials drove the film. Police brutality, repeal of the Voting Rights Act. . . . We are watching a story about a hero, a family that was heroic.”
He recalled his dad, Melvin Van Peebles and his film, “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (1971), and how the Black Panther Party made the underground classic a success. “My daughter is a badass [too],” Van Peebles states as his daughter waves from the audience.
Van Peebles also directed episode 2. The second episode highlights a stellar cast of powerful black women, Christin Ayers, moderator, stated.
Black people are the new game of choice, whether or not you believe Brent Staples in his 1986 classic, “Just Walk on By: A Black Man and Public Space,” (“Ms. Magazine”) or director, Jordan Peele. Staples says he does not realize “how he reached the ripe old age of 22 without being conscious of the lethality nighttime pedestrians attributed to [him].” Director, Jordan Peele’s character Chris Washington can’t believe until it is almost too late that he is an historic sitting duck too. Looks like Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s work on the recessive gene is verified twice. Despite hints to the contrary, we might not need to “Get Out” immediately, but certainly knowing one’s roots is helpful when crafting an escape plan.
Where do the 100 million descendants repatriate? Such were some of the ideas parleyed between panelists that stellar closing night. Louis Gossett Jr., who was skeptical about a remake of the series, says that what “Roots” shows is that in traditional African culture something was expected of a child at every age and the success of the slave trade is the result of this research. Africans who built this nation were picked for their skillsets.
The evening opened with a processional – Sounds of Diaspora with Diamano Coura and Samba Funk! Funquarians. John Santos’s contribution was a beautiful musical libation for the ancestors, followed by Oakland International Gospel Choir with special guest Papa Zak. Young Gifted and Black raised the roof with their Black Lives Matter and then the moment we had been waiting for, the panel discussion.
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The first to join Christin Ayers, host Black Renaissance, on the panel were the newer “Roots” cast, directors and producers: father son team, Mario and Mandela Van Peebles, Joanna L. Mountain, Ph.D., 23andMe, Mark Wolper, Executive producer “Roots” (2016), then the original cast present, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Noah), Louis Gossett Jr. (Fiddler) and the actress who portrays Noah’s birth mother join the Fireside Chat.
It was great seeing Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (63) who at 23 portrayed “Noah” in the original series seated next to Mandela (22), who portrays the same character in the 2016 series. Noah is described as a “rebel before his time” and Hilton-Jacobs from “Roots” to “Cooley High” has been just that in a career that spans multiple genres. Hilton-Jacobs spoke about growing up in New York and the older men who taught him right from wrong. “I grew up during a time when there was no cable. We talked to each other.” Alex Haley’s “Roots” got Americans talking about race, and the hope that “Roots,” the Next Generation, has and will continue to do the same.
Hilton-Jacobs reflected on the men and women who were “snatched from their world,” yet did not let that rift break their spirit. He said he was proud to be the descendent of such a people.
Paul Robeson said, “Don’t buy into racism, sexism, classism. We just wind up killing all of us. We have to learn to live in harmony with nature or we perish as fools.” Van Peebles stated in answer to a question about relevance and “slavery fatique.”
Mandela said that film is his weapon of choice. That art is how he changes the narrative and wins the battle. Film is a forum to educate and entertain. “It is an amazing weapon,” Hilton-Jacobs said. “Use it.”
Van Peebles Sr. said even if the story is painful to watch, we have “to face it and help each other along. Gossett said when he saw Nelson Mandela swallow 27 years of bitterness and anger, his “resentment disappeared. Seeing Africa through the eyes of American Africans [means] we don’t have to tell the same stories over and over again.”
The Sankofa concept whether spoken or intuited certainly seemed to guide “Roots” (2016) miniseries, which had as a key strategy Mark Wolper, Executive Producer, in collaboration with Joanna L. Mountain, Ph.D., 23andMe, a use of modern technologies to excavate more fully (something Haley was not able to do well) the genetic histories of the key characters. In a way, “Roots” (2016) is an ashay to Baba Haley who lives once again. Wolper said he was inspired to remark “Roots,” which his dad, David L. Wolper, produced in 1971, based on his son’s reaction to the classic when made to watch it. Wolper realized, he said, how the important story needed to be updated to appeal to a 21st century audience.
Louis Gossett Jr. (Fiddler), whose son, Sati’s film “Forgiveness” (2016), screened OIFF 15, said the “Roots Legacy” challenges us to “make a better society where racism cannot live.”
The evening closed with the Awards Ceremony where Donna Carole Roberts, dir., “Yemanja,” received Best “Roots” Documentary Award; Diaunte Thompson, dir. “A Hundred Blocks,” Audience Choice Awards; and Sean Durant, dir., “Gina’s Journey,” Best “Roots” Feature Film. Afterward, the party began with Davey D on the turn table spinning hits from the ‘70s.
Roots 40 @ the 15th Annual Oakland International Film Festival, was a night to remember.