Kunta Kinte married an enslaved woman named Bell and they had a daughter named Kizzy (Keisa, in Mandinka), which in Kunta's native language means "you sit down" or "you stay put", to protect her from being sold away as Bell had been sold away from her two infant children many decades earlier.
As a young boy, Alex Haley first learned of his African ancestor, Kunta Kinte, by listening to the family stories of his maternal grandparents while spending his summers in Henning, Tennessee.
The story of Kunta Kinte, as Haley tells it in Roots, begins with his birth in 1750 in Juffure, Gambia. He is captured as a teenager by slave traders and makes the terrible journey on a slave ship to the United States.
Kunta Kinte is the main protagonist of the 1976 novel Roots and its TV adaptations. Kunta Kinte is played by LeVar Burton and the late John Amos in the original series and Malachi Kirby in the 2016 remake.
Malachi Kirby stars as Kunta Kinte in The HISTORY Channel's series Roots. Find out more about Kunta Kinte and the rest of the cast on The HISTORY Channel.
Kunta Kinte (aka Kunta Kante / Kunte) is the principle character from the book titled Roots: The Saga of An American Family (Doubleday: 1976) written by the Pulitzer Prize winning author Alex Haley.
Kunta Kinte was one of 98 enslaved people brought to Annapolis, Maryland aboard the ship Lord Ligonier in 1767, and despite many years in bondage, he never lost his connection to his African heritage.
Explore the real Kunta Kinte and Alex Haley's journey in creating 'Roots'. Uncover the facts vs. fiction in this landmark African American saga that sparked a global search for ancestral identity.