Wednesday Marks 100th Birthday For Late Author Alex Haley

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Wednesday marks the 100th day of the precocious author, Alex Haley.

Haley died astatine the property of 70 connected February 10, 1992, successful Seattle but portion of his enactment from his fashionable communicative astir household past stemmed from Maryland.

READ MORE: Maryland Weather: Severe Thunderstorm Warning Issued For Several Counties

The Pulitzer-prize-winning writer was champion known for his humanities enactment successful the publication “Roots: The Saga of an American Family” which was besides turned into a miniseries. Haley traced and re-told the communicative of his ancestors’ travel from The Gambia, West Africa to America arsenic slaves and their emergence to freedom.

“The communicative of ‘Roots’ is however an African national who went retired to find wood to physique a drum for his member was kidnapped was brought to America, Maryland… and done oral past was capable to walk his communicative on until 200 thing years later, his great, great, great-grandson wrote a publication astir it astir however genealogy is worthwhile and however household past is worthwhile,” said Chris Haley, nephew of Alex Haley.

It was a landmark communicative that changed the mode America views its ain history.

“For galore persons of African descent, talking astir slavery was thing that was shameful, it was harmful for your psyche, harmful for your self-respect, thing you didn’t privation to speech to your kids about,” said Haley. “When roots came out, some the publication and the miniseries, it allowed radical to deliberation otherwise astir it, to deliberation astir with pride, these radical endured these injustices, this inequality and due to the fact that of that we tin observe the descendants who are present today.”

Chris Haley celebrated his uncle’s 100th day connected Wednesday successful Annapolis wherever Alex Haley’s quest to larn astir his ain household past was established.

“I’m the eighth-generation descendant of Kunta Kinte. Uncle Alex is the seventh-generation descendant of Kunta Kinte,” said Haley.

READ MORE: 'I Think They're Pushing Some Sort Of Agenda' Masks In Classroom Debate Continues As School Year Quickly Approaches

“Years and years and years ago, my uncle was present who recovered the transportation to the bequest of my enslavement ancestor successful Annapolis, Maryland,” said Haley.

For generations, a communicative Haley’s ancestors shared done the household done oral past was yet confirmed successful a 1767 Maryland Gazette paper advertisement of the Lord Ligonier, the British enslaved vessel his ancestor, Kunta Kinte, was brought to the U.S from the Gambia.

The advertisement was recovered astatine the Maryland State Archives with the assistance of archivist, Pheobe Jacobson.

Chris Haley said the connection of “Roots” was overmuch bigger than his uncle’s ain story.

“It was astir his volition to explicit transportation and transportation betwixt not lone different individuals but transportation and the value of family,” said Haley

A almighty taxable inspiring a nationwide involvement successful genealogy and preserving household history.

“I deliberation that’s what uncle Alex truly wanted america to know, that we’re each quality figures and you tin lone get to that humanity by reaching retired to each other,” said Haley.

MORE NEWS: Firefighter Struck By Vehicle While Battling Stove Fire In East Baltimore

To observe Haley’s enactment and life, section leaders volition contented a proclamation and acquisition Haley’s household with a cardinal to the metropolis connected August 14 astatine the Annapolis City Lock Dock.