Roots Four Zero

from Insight ::: 02.27.2023

by Insight News, Inc

You are Black History in the making.

Sharing Our Stories

By: W.D. Foster-Graham Book Review Editor

Roots Four Zero

By J. Darnell Johnson

“Until the lion tells his side of the story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” (African proverb)

In my previous review of Stephanie Shider’s I Think

I Like My Natural Hair, she illustrates the importance and empowerment a strong family narrative has. Knowing who we are and where we come from has always been an integral part of Black History Month. To round out this month’s reviews, I gladly bring to you J. Darnell Johnson’s Roots Four Zero

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Secondly, no greater two Black leaders exempliﬁed how polarizing our thinking can be about our struggle and what needs to be done to address it more than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Dr. King believed in nonviolence as the only solution to solving our problems even in the face of constant brutal assaults on peacefully marching black men, women, and children. King wrote in Stride Toward Freedom, “true paciﬁsm or nonviolent resistance is a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love.”

Contrasting King’s dogged stance for nonviolent resistance, Malcolm X believed in violent self-defense, if necessary, in our struggle against the oppressor. Malcolm said in a 1964 speech, “I am not against using violence in selfdefense. I don’t call it violence when it’s self-defense; I call it intelligence.” The contrasting philosophies between the two men were palpable. Yet, both strategies are relevant and necessary when applied in the right situation, time, another stellar example of his skill at combining ﬁction, fantasy, and reality for children.

Johnson’s central character and protagonist is 14-year-old Zero, separated from her family as an infant and sold to a slave master. Never knowing her true name, she was given the name Zero because the slave master regarded her as a nothing; she had no roots.

The oppression becomes unbearable to the point where she runs away, encountering a magical butterﬂy-appearing sistah named Queen Azina, from the people of Azziza. Queen Azina recognizes that as a slave, Zero has lost her essence, and instructs Zero to travel to the North via the Underground Railroad and ﬁnd the town Griot (storyteller), who can restore her essence and her roots.

On her dangerous journey to freedom, she meets a couple—Period (who has no history) and his wife Question (who has no identity). Rounding out their group is a teenage and space.

As we can see, Martin and Malcolm, probably the two most prominent civil and human rights leaders of our time, held opposing views about how to best address the Black struggle in America. Their strategies could have been informed by their lived experiences and how their upbringings shaped their view of the world. Whatever the case, their differences influenced how Black leaders who came after them engaged in the struggle. Although we have different philosophies, we can still respect and appreciate one another’s approach. For example, Malcolm disagreed with King’s strictly nonviolent resistance stance but respected him as a Black leader. In 1965, while Dr. King was jailed in Selma, Alabama, during a march for voting rights, Malcolm X came to Selma to meet with King but instead had a meeting with Coretta. In that meeting, Malcolm said to Coretta, “I did come thinking that I could make it easier. If the white people realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be more willing to hear Dr. King.” man named Blank (who has no culture). They are guided by Harriet Tubman (aka Moses), the most famous conductor of the Underground Railroad. Step by step, the group makes their way north, stopping at the Underground Railroad stations hosted by Black and White persons alike, avoiding slave catchers and slave masters with a little help from Queen Azina, until they reach the North to find the town Griot. But the Griot herself doesn’t grant their wishes so easily… When I read this story, it was easy to compare it to The Wizard of Oz, but only up to a point. The cruel reality of slavery and its attempts to crush the roots, history, culture, and identity of the African people who were brought here involuntarily is sobering. However, the ending of this story is a pleasant and heartwarming surprise.

Dr. King also respected Malcolm as a Black leader.

I appreciate Johnson’s work and the way he teaches as he is telling this story. He does so in the fashion of a modern-

According to the Stanford University, Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, King wrote a letter to Malcolm’s widow, Betty Shabazz, shortly after his assassination in 1965, saying, “While we did not always see eye to eye on methods to solve the race problem, I always had a deep aﬀection for Malcolm and felt that he had the great ability to put his ﬁnger on the existence and root of the problem.”

Some of us believe religion (attending church or a synagogue, Mosque, etc.) or spirituality is the way to achieve equity, equality, and freedom for Black people. Some believe that civic engagement (voting, registering people to vote, being elected to public office, passing legislation) is the way. Some considered protesting, marching, demonstrating, and civil unrest as the answer to our plight. And some believe that working hard, getting good grades in school, going to college, and having a reliable, high demand, seemingly highly influential career is the way. All these are important and necessary to blunt or minimize the effects of racism and oppression. However, none of them erases racism’s deep seeded impact on our lives.

We all have thoughts day Griot, reminding us that the tradition of people of African descent is an oral tradition. I was certainly rooting for Zero, for her quest for freedom, her courage, and ultimately getting her essence back. Roots Four Zero is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and his website, jdarnell johnson.com. Thank you once again, J. Darnell, for your wordsmith and storytelling skills. Our descendants richly beneﬁt from them. and ideas about how to best address the problems Black people face, and we should be able to discuss our various opinions, whatever they may be, without the need to destroy each other while working towards the same goal.

However, our diﬀerences are consequential to how we see and treat one another -good or bad. Whatever philosophies, strategies, or methods we believe to be correct, we should do vociferously and powerfully. We must resist the tendency to condemn and publicly scrutinize the way others of us do things. Again, I am talking to those who are not harming our people.

There is a diversity of opinions among us, and we will always have differences. No -oneblack leader knows what all black people want. But all Black leaders must work towards the best interest of all Black people. We are interconnected. If we think about what it looks like to realize we are connected and that all strategies for addressing our issues have value, our differences won’t seem so different?

Kwame Ture (fka Stokley Carmichael) of SNCC

“The major enemy is not your brother, ﬂesh of your ﬂesh and blood of your blood.......

Whenever anybody prepares for revolutionary warfare, they concentrate on the major enemy.

We are not strong enough to ﬁght each other and ﬁght him.”

Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.

“Certainly, we will continue to disagree, but we must disagree without being violently disagreeable.”

Here are some of the Black men and women leaders in Minnesota that have aﬀected my life since moving here. They are not in any speciﬁc order. Some are now ancestors, but their spirit still lives among us. Any omission of anyone is purely unintentional.

Earl Craig, Sharon

Sayles Belton, Rev. Clarance

Hightower, Robert Baily, Peter

Bell, Matthew Little, David

Petiford, MN State Rep. Richard

Jeﬀerson, Rev. Randy Staten Sr, Pastor Curtis Herron, Pastor Brian

Herron, Apostle Rufus

Thibodeaux, Pastor Diane

Thibodeaux, Attorney General

Keith Ellison, Chris Nissan, Gary

Sudduth, Spike Moss, Bernadette

Anderson, Tyrone Terrell, Lester

Collins, Roger Banks, Clarissa

Walker, Neva Walker, Jim Cook, Judge Pamela Alexander, Rev.

Jerry McAfee, Nekima Leve Armstrong, Chris Stewart, Sondra Samuels, Don Samuels, Louis King, Garry Cunningham, Stella Whitney-West, Dr. Rose Brewer, Dr. Keith Maze, Professor Mahmoud El-Kati, Elder Atum Azir, Bobby Hickman, Robin Hickman, Kedar Hickman, Peter Hayden, Jeﬀ Hayden, Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, Louis King, Eric Mahmoud, Ella Mahmoud, Bill Wilson, Willie Mae Willson, Paul Williams, Corey Byrd, Nathaniel Khaliq, Edward McDonald, Sam Grant, Walter “Q Bear” Banks, Ramsey County Commissioner Rena Moran, Sam Cooke, Theresa Charles, Al McFarlane, Tracey Williams-Dillard, Mel Reeves, Sheri Pugh, Lorraine Smaller, Alfred Babington-Johnson, Wesley Walker, Lance Knuckes, Natalie Johnson-Lee, James Mohamed, Bill English, Lissa Jones, Corey Day, Ron Edwards, Russell Ballenger, Paul Bauknight, Nick Muhammad, Mary K. Boyd, Shane Price, Dr. Verna Cornelia Price, Resmaa Menakem, Melvin Carter Jr, Toni Carter, Tenè Wells, Ferome Brown, Sheronda Orrage, Titilayo Bediako, Veronoca Burt, Marcus Harcus, Sina Black, Gayle Smaller, Nekia Gogshell, Brian Smith, DeVon Nolan, Michael Chaney, Pastor Andre Dukes.