Ever since Kunte Kinte made his star *debut on ROOTS, even' more African­ American babies'have been called Kunte Kinte, KilzY, and other African names than at any other time since the mid­ sixties. But the African names spell far more than enjoyment of the movie-in fact, they spell the excitement of a peo­ p e beginning to rediscover their iden­ tity-after the severe blo of the slave trade which stole us from our homes, disrupted our * development, and robbed us of our dignity. In a time when many of our men and omen alike sometimes appear to tum a ay from their roots and act like wilde people without a past or Mure, it is im- . portant to sho that we kno who are are-Africans in America-and Where we came from, Africa. It is even more im­ portant and beautiful, too, to sho that • • rica we are proud of the fact. Kno ing our true identity gives us' strength. Even today, there. are people ho ould like for us to think that we came from nothing, or from somewhere we should be ashamed. Great * afChitec­ ture (the pyramids, the Zimbabwe ruins, the Benin wall, for example), * astron­ omy, mathematics, science, the first 'kings and queens, Christianity and the first man and woman-all have their . roots in the same Africa that many of us ere taught to disrespect and to fear. When the King Tuthankhamun exhibit came to 'the United States from Egypt, thousands of people looked at the rich sculpture and jewelry with fascination and pretended to themselves that the "Boy King" was someone other than an African, even with his beautiful' black z c � CD m ::D ...4 a features and his cerr-o ed braids. But King TU�3fl hamun of 3,