the miniseries Roots who was wrote by his descendant Alex Haley. The story begins about 1750 near the Gambia River in Africa as Kunta Kinte, played by LeVar Burton, is born and grows up to be a Mandinka warrior. Shortly after his confirmation into manhood, slave traders capture him while he is alone in the jungle. The infamous "middle passage" is depicted in gut-wrenching horror. But manacles, stifling heat, meager food, crowded bunks and liberal use of the whip cannot dampen the slaves' zeal for freedom. Their attempted revolt does not meet with the success of that some years later aboard La Amistad, and Kunta arrives in colonial Annapolis and goes to the auction block. The auction block now a days is the stand inside the courtroom where
