The first word that comes to my mind when I think about Black To Our Roots is achievement. Directed by Jacqueline Olive and Tre Whitlow, this documentary follows a group of teenagers and their leaders as they traveled to Ghana, West Africa to connect with their roots. The whole documentary is about achievement; every single person achieved something. At a minimum, they all succeeded in raising enough money to travel to Ghana.
Honestly, there are not enough words in Webster’s dictionary to describe how great this documentary is. I learned that we, as African-Americans, need to connect with our people in Africa and continue the legacy our ancestors left for us. This film has made a huge impact in my life. All the characters are positive beyond belief. Common in all of them is a faith in themselves and a hope that they can make a positive change in this world. That is something you need to have if you want to make it anywhere in this life and they already have it as teenagers.
Before I watched Black To Our Roots, I did not know that there are African-Americans that did not consider themselves as African or descendants of Africans. As the film interviewed random people on the street, this misstatement repeated itself. In their ignorance, they are disowning their legacy, their family, and their culture; essentially, cutting off their own root. Thankfully, the teenagers who traveled to Ghana knew the truth of who they are and where they came from.
I would definitely recommend this film to other African-American youths like myself. They need to know that their history does not begin with slavery and that it is important to know all about your culture, past and present, to truly know yourself. As Dr. Carl Sagan, an astronomer, once said, “You have to know the past to understand the present.”
-Enobong Umondak, 9th Grade
Marie Curie High School Medicine, Nursing, and Health Professions, NYC