#79 ROOTS

To be extraordinary, it’s the extra that produces the results one desires.  

The writer, Alex Haley, knew this and captured the significance of “extra,” in his quest to become a world renowned writer, while making the book, Roots.

Simply writing the novel was not enough.  Haley wanted to bring the emotion(s) of the true character, Kunta Kinte, (who was kidnapped from Gambia and transported to the United States to be sold as a slave) through the pages and into the readers hearts. In order for him to convey the proper message, he took a voyage by ship back to the country of Gambia to internalize the mindset the slave (Kunta) must have felt in his sojourn to the unknown.  

Nevertheless, by going the extra, Roots became published in 37 languages, adapted in a television miniseries and reached a record-breaking 130 million viewers, impacting multitudes to spark an interest in his or her heritage.

Today, I am watching 4 handfuls of players taking their “extra” step to become a professional basketball player, by transporting themselves across the Atlantic, seeking the space Alex absorbed.

Whether it leads them into global status or not, the extra has been planted;  the harvest will be.