Roots: The Saga of an American Family Community Quotes

Remember how we told you that Mandinka culture is decidedly egalitarian? This is just about all of the evidence you should need. What's more, the kintango is directly tying the boys' sense of masculinity with their sense of equality, which is quite powerful when you think about it.

After being kidnapped, brutally beaten, and locked aboard a slave ship, the captured Africans are left with nothing—except each other. The only way for them to survive such an awful experience is to band together and form a new community.

Kunta finds a powerful sense of comfort in his fellow Africans, even at his darkest moments. He might not know how he'll escape this awful predicament, but he knows that whatever happens, he wants his people on his side.