Roots is not just a saga of my family. It is the symbolic saga of a people.

The main thing you got to remember is that everything in the world is a hustle.

I travel a lot. It used to be, when I would go to any country, I could guarantee that the first question would establish my name, and the fact that I've written Roots, and the third question, at least no later than the fourth question would not be a question, so much as a statement, something like, "We understand that in America white people do such and such bad things to black people."

Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.

Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte.

Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.

Beginning writers must appreciate the prerequisites if they hope to become writers. You pay your dues - which takes years.