This analysis contains two items: An article entitled The African Past and a movie entitled Roots. Both titles suggest that the works will be about a historical event or a discussion about origin with regards to the African-American community. The article is authored by Lerone Bennett Jr, an African-American scholar, social historian and a renowned author while the movie is directed by Marvin J. Chomsky, a prominent American film director. Both fall within the areas of expertise of the author and producer. However, in the case of Marvin Chomsky, this level of expertise is defined in the sense of his career and the accompanying prowess. It is unclear if his educational background and life experience support this work, which undoubtedly leaves a question on the credibility and reliability of the film. The African Past was published in 1972 while Roots, the miniseries was produced in 1977. Evidently, both the article and the film come from the same historical era, therefore, the similarity in terms of content and issue being addressed. The fact that both the book and the movie are based on history makes them up-to-date despite their production dates based on the fact that history has no expiry date- it is related both with the present and the future. However, the film is still obsolete in a contemporary context. It focuses on slavery which no longer exists in its pure form as addressed by the film. In the same vein, whereas it is easier to note that the article is a written source, it may be challenging to categorise the movie since it is neither oral, written, nor an Artifact. However, both works can be classified as secondary sources as they are both interpretations of primary material. The movie alludes to actual instances of slavery and discriminative encounters of the Black community in the 1970s.
The major thesis of the article is to examine or recount the African Past as implied by Bennett (1) and through the title, while the movie majors on Slavery which, in some way, is a focal point of the history of Africa, thus, the two sources are related. On this note, it could be argued that the film is an element of the article since the article addresses general African history where slavery is a major component. The narrow picture that the film gives limits its audience since it lacks other elements of history that are present in Bennett’s article. In the article, Bennett tries to convey the message that Africa is not a dark continent (1) but the cradle of human beings as a supportive or secondary thesis. Similarly, Chomsky, by illustrating the effects of slavery in an African-American setup, aims to illustrate truths surrounding the phenomenon against the numerous misconceptions. In the full glare of facts, some researchers have refuted claims of mistreatment of African slaves based on the claim that it arose from mere racial prejudice. Instead, this group justifies their positions by hypothesising that the African slaves were mistreated since they were disloyal and disobedient to their masters. This is an example of issues on which both sources aim to present clarification. Bennet supports his argument mainly by reference to prominent people like Shakespeare (1) and places like Olduvai Gorge and the Nile Valley (4). The supportive evidence, in this case, is mainly drawn from anthropology, geography, sociology, psychology and government. The film, on the other hand, reproduces historical experiences of slavery with allusion to major events during the industrialisation era when slavery was at its peak. Both of these works are addressed to a general audience, but with reference to the Black community especially since they focus on the history of the Africans. Non-African scholars, for instance, could find these sources useful in the same way as African historians.
Given their link with history, both the article and the movie are aimed at setting the record straight about Africa and the Africans. Thus, through the works, both the author and the producer wanted to show Africa for what it actually is, as well as issues like slavery that faced the continent and its people in the past. In this manner, everyone could learn from the historical events and use them to shape both the present and the future. The article used historical timeline methodology, while the movie leans towards a cause/effect methodology. In particular, the film illustrates the causes and effects of slavery both on the African slaves and their white masters. In the same vein, both the article and the movie have credible references and documentations of the historical events on which they focus, thus, they can be considered credible. The article, for instance, references actual historical sites and events that can be verified through research. The movie, on the other hand, focus on slavery, a well-known subject and area of study whose components may not even require profound research to validate. Even so, there is a high likelihood that film production components like exaggeration may obscure the conveyance of message in the movie and lower its level of credibility. None of the authors seem allude to, or originate from, a particular school of thought.