Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant

In vascular plants, the root is the organ of a plant that typically lies below the surface of the soil. This is not always the case, however, since a root can also be aerial (growing above the ground) or aerating (growing up above the ground or especially above water). Furthermore, a stem normally occurring below ground is not exceptional either (see rhizome). So, it is better to define root as a part of a plant body that bears no leaves, and therefore also lacks nodes. There are also important internal structural differences between stems and roots.

The first root that comes from a plant is called the radicle. The four major functions of roots are 1) absorption of water and inorganic nutrients, 2) anchoring of the plant body to the ground, and supporting it, 3) storage of food and nutrients, 4) vegetative reproduction. In response to the concentration of nutrients, roots also synthesise cytokinin, which acts as a signal as to how fast the shoots can grow. Roots often function in storage of food and nutrients. The roots of most vascular plant species enter into symbiosis with certain fungi to form mycorrhizas, and a large range of other organisms including bacteria also closely associate with roots.

Anatomy[link]

When dissected, the arrangement of the cells in a root is root hair, epidermis, epiblem, cortex, endodermis, pericycle and lastly the vascular tissue in the centre of a root to transport the water absorbed by the root to other places of the plant.

Root growth[link]

Early root growth is one of the functions of the apical meristem located near the tip of the root. The meristem cells more or less continuously divide, producing more meristem, root cap cells (these are sacrificed to protect the meristem), and undifferentiated root cells. The latter become the primary tissues of the root, first undergoing elongation, a process that pushes the root tip forward in the growing medium. Gradually these cells differentiate and mature into specialized cells of the root tissues.

Roots will generally grow in any direction where the correct environment of air, mineral nutrients and water exists to meet the plant's needs. Roots will not grow in dry soil. Over time, given the right conditions, roots can crack foundations, snap water lines, and lift sidewalks. At germination, roots grow downward due to gravitropism, the growth mechanism of plants that also causes the shoot to grow upward. In some plants (such as ivy), the "root" actually clings to walls and structures.

Growth from apical meristems is known as primary growth, which encompasses all elongation. Secondary growth encompasses all growth in diameter, a major component of woody plant tissues and many nonwoody plants. For example, storage roots of sweet potato have secondary growth but are not woody. Secondary growth occurs at the lateral meristems, namely the vascular cambium and cork cambium. The former forms secondary xylem and secondary phloem, while the latter forms the periderm.

In plants with secondary growth, the vascular cambium, originating between the xylem and the phloem, forms a cylinder of tissue along the stem and root. The vascular cambium forms new cells on both the inside and outside of the cambium cylinder, with those on the inside forming secondary xylem cells, and those on the outside forming secondary phloem cells. As secondary xylem accumulates, the "girth" (lateral dimensions) of the stem and root increases. As a result, tissues beyond the secondary phloem (including the epidermis and cortex, in many cases) tend to be pushed outward and are eventually "sloughed off" (shed).

At this point, the cork cambium begins to form the periderm, consisting of protective cork cells containing suberin. In roots, the cork cambium originates in the pericycle, a component of the vascular cylinder.

The vascular cambium produces new layers of secondary xylem annually. The xylem vessels are dead at maturity but are responsible for most water transport through the vascular tissue in stems and roots.

Types of roots[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

A true root system consists of a primary root and secondary roots (or lateral roots).

• the diffuse root system: the primary root is not dominant; the whole root system is fibrous and branches in all directions. Most common in monocots. The main function of the fibrous root is to anchor the plant.

Specialized roots[link]

Aerating roots of a mangrove

The growing tip of a fine root

The stilt roots of Socratea exorrhiza

The roots, or parts of roots, of many plant species have become specialized to serve adaptive purposes besides the two primary functions described in the introduction.

• Adventitious roots arise out-of-sequence from the more usual root formation of branches of a primary root, and instead originate from the stem, branches, leaves, or old woody roots. They commonly occur in monocots and pteridophytes, but also in many dicots, such as clover (Trifolium), ivy (Hedera), strawberry (Fragaria) and willow (Salix). Most aerial roots and stilt roots are adventitious. In some conifers adventitious roots can form the largest part of the root system.
• Aerating roots (or knee root or knee or pneumatophores or Cypress knee): roots rising above the ground, especially above water such as in some mangrove genera (Avicennia, Sonneratia). In some plants like Avicennia the erect roots have a large number of breathing pores for exchange of gases.
• Aerial roots: roots entirely above the ground, such as in ivy (Hedera) or in epiphytic orchids. They function as prop roots, as in maize or anchor roots or as the trunk in strangler fig.
• Contractile roots: they pull bulbs or corms of monocots, such as hyacinth and lily, and some taproots, such as dandelion, deeper in the soil through expanding radially and contracting longitudinally. They have a wrinkled surface.
• Coarse roots: Roots that have undergone secondary thickening and have a woody structure. These roots have some ability to absorb water and nutrients, but their main function is transport and to provide a structure to connect the smaller diameter, fine roots to the rest of the plant.
• Fine roots: Primary roots usually <2 mm diameter that have the function of water and nutrient uptake. They are often heavily branched and support mycorrhizas. These roots may be short lived, but are replaced by the plant in an ongoing process of root 'turnover'.
• Haustorial roots: roots of parasitic plants that can absorb water and nutrients from another plant, such as in mistletoe (Viscum album) and dodder.
• Propagative roots: roots that form adventitious buds that develop into aboveground shoots, termed suckers, which form new plants, as in Canada thistle, cherry and many others.
• Proteoid roots or cluster roots: dense clusters of rootlets of limited growth that develop under low phosphate or low iron conditions in Proteaceae and some plants from the following families Betulaceae, Casuarinaceae, Elaeagnaceae, Moraceae, Fabaceae and Myricaceae.
• Stilt roots: these are adventitious support roots, common among mangroves. They grow down from lateral branches, branching in the soil.
• Storage roots: these roots are modified for storage of food or water, such as carrots and beets. They include some taproots and tuberous roots.
• Structural roots: large roots that have undergone considerable secondary thickening and provide mechanical support to woody plants and trees.
• Surface roots: These proliferate close below the soil surface, exploiting water and easily available nutrients. Where conditions are close to optimum in the surface layers of soil, the growth of surface roots is encouraged and they commonly become the dominant roots.
• Tuberous roots: A portion of a root swells for food or water storage, e.g. sweet potato. A type of storage root distinct from taproot.

Rooting depths[link]

Cross section of a mango tree

The distribution of vascular plant roots within soil depends on plant form, the spatial and temporal availability of water and nutrients, and the physical properties of the soil. The deepest roots are generally found in deserts and temperate coniferous forests; the shallowest in tundra, boreal forest and temperate grasslands. The deepest observed living root, at least 60 m below the ground surface, was observed during the excavation of an open-pit mine in Arizona, USA. Some roots can grow as deep as the tree is high. The majority of roots on most plants are however found relatively close to the surface where nutrient availability and aeration are more favourable for growth. Rooting depth may be physically restricted by rock or compacted soil close below the surface, or by anaerobic soil conditions.

Rooting depth records[link]

Ficus Tree with very tall roots

Root architecture[link]

Tree roots at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

The pattern of development of a root system is termed root architecture, and is important in providing a plant with a secure supply of nutrients and water as well as anchorage and support. The architecture of a root system can be considered in a similar way to above-ground architecture of a plant—i.e. in terms of the size, branching and distribution of the component parts. In roots, the architecture of fine roots and coarse roots can both be described by variation in topology and distribution of biomass within and between roots. Having a balanced architecture allows fine roots to exploit soil efficiently around a plant, but the plastic nature of root growth allows the plant to then concentrate its resources where nutrients and water are more easily available. A balanced coarse root architecture, with roots distributed relatively evenly around the stem base, is necessary to provide support to larger plants and trees.

Tree roots normally grow outward to about three times the branch spread. Only half of a tree's root system occurs between the trunk and the circumference of its canopy. Roots on one side of a tree normally supply the foliage on that same side of the tree. Thus when roots on one side of a tree are injured, the branches and leaves on that same side of the tree may die or wilt. For some trees however, such as the maple family, the effect of a root injury may show itself anywhere in the tree canopy.

Evolutionary history[link]

The fossil record of roots – or rather, infilled voids where roots rotted after death – spans back to the late Silurian,^[3] but their identification is difficult, because casts and molds of roots are so similar in appearance to animal burrows – although they can be discriminated on the basis of a range of features.^[4]

Economic importance[link]

Roots can also protect the environment by holding the soil to prevent soil erosion

The term root crops refers to any edible underground plant structure, but many root crops are actually stems, such as potato tubers. Edible roots include cassava, sweet potato, beet, carrot, rutabaga, turnip, parsnip, radish, yam and horseradish. Spices obtained from roots include sassafras, angelica, sarsaparilla and licorice.

Sugar beet is an important source of sugar. Yam roots are a source of estrogen compounds used in birth control pills. The fish poison and insecticide rotenone is obtained from roots of Lonchocarpus spp. Important medicines from roots are ginseng, aconite, ipecac, gentian and reserpine. Several legumes that have nitrogen-fixing root nodules are used as green manure crops, which provide nitrogen fertilizer for other crops when plowed under. Specialized bald cypress roots, termed knees, are sold as souvenirs, lamp bases and carved into folk art. Native Americans used the flexible roots of white spruce for basketry.

Tree roots can heave and destroy concrete sidewalks and crush or clog buried pipes. The aerial roots of strangler fig have damaged ancient Mayan temples in Central America and the temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Vegetative propagation of plants via cuttings depends on adventitious root formation. Hundreds of millions of plants are propagated via cuttings annually including chrysanthemum, poinsettia, carnation, ornamental shrubs and many houseplants.

Roots can also protect the environment by holding the soil to prevent soil erosion. This is especially important in areas such as sand dunes.

Roots on onion bulbs

See also[link]

• Rooting Powder
• Fibrous root system
• Mycorrhiza – root symbiosis in which individual hyphae extending from the mycelium of a fungus colonize the roots of a host plant.
• Rhizosphere – region of soil around the root influenced by root secretions and microorganisms present
• Root cutting
• Stolon
• Taproot
• Drought rhizogenesis
• Cypress knee

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Dennis D.Baldocchi and Liukang Xu. 2007. What limits evaporation from Mediterranean oak woodlands – The supply of moisture in the soil, physiological control by plants or the demand by the atmosphere? Vol 30, issue 10. Elsevier
• Brundrett, M. C. 2002. Coevolution of roots and mycorrhizas of land plants. New phytologist 154(2): 275–304. (Available online: DOI | Abstract | Full text (HTML) | Full text (PDF))
• Chen, R., E. Rosen, P. H. Masson. 1999. Gravitropism in Higher Plants. Plant Physiology 120 (2): 343–350. (Available online: Full text (HTML) | Full text (PDF)) – article about how the roots sense gravity.
• Clark, Lynn. 2004. Primary Root Structure and Development – lecture notes
• Coutts, M. P. 1987. Developmental processes in tree root systems. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 17: 761–767.
• Raven, J. A., D. Edwards. 2001. Roots: evolutionary origins and biogeochemical significance. Journal of Experimental Botany 52 (Suppl 1): 381–401. (Available online: Abstract | Full text (HTML) | Full text (PDF))
• Schenk, H. J., and R. B. Jackson. 2002. The global biogeography of roots. Ecological Monographs 72 (3): 311–328.
• Sutton, R. F., and R. W. Tinus. 1983. Root and root system terminology. Forest Science Monograph 24 pp 137.
• Phillips, W. S. 1963. Depth of roots in soil. Ecology 44 (2): 424.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Roots

• Botany – University of Arkansas at Little Rock
• Time-lapse photography of root growth

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Alex Haley
Haley as a young man in the U.S. Coast Guard
Born	(1921-08-11)August 11, 1921 Ithaca, New York, United States [1]
Died	February 10, 1992(1992-02-10) (aged 70) Seattle, Washington, United States
Occupation	Writer

Alexander Murray Palmer Haley (August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992)^[1] was an African-American writer. He is best known as the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family and the co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X.^[2][3][4]

Early life[link]

Haley was born in Ithaca, New York, on August 11, 1921, and was the oldest of three brothers and a sister. Haley lived with his family in Henning, Tennessee, before he returned to Ithaca with his family when he was five years old. Haley's father was a professor of agriculture at Alabama A&M University. The younger Haley always spoke proudly of his father and the obstacles of racism he had overcome. Alex Haley was enrolled at Alcorn State University at age 15. Two years later he returned to his parents to inform them of his withdrawal from college. Simon Haley felt that Alex needed discipline and growth and convinced his son to enlist in the military when he turned 18. On May 24, 1939, Alex Haley began his twenty-year enlistment with the Coast Guard.

He enlisted as a mess attendant and then became a Petty Officer Third Class in the rate of Steward, one of the few rates open to African Americans at that time. His Coast Guard service number was 212-548. It was during his service in the Pacific theater of operations that Haley taught himself the craft of writing stories. It is said that during his enlistment he was often paid by other sailors to write love letters to their girlfriends. He talked of how the greatest enemy he and his crew faced during their long sea voyages wasn't the Japanese but boredom.

Alex Haley's boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee (2007)

After World War II, Haley was able to petition the Coast Guard to allow him to transfer into the field of journalism, and by 1949 he had become a Petty Officer First Class in the rating of Journalist. He later advanced to Chief Petty Officer and held this grade until his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1959. He was the first Chief Journalist in the Coast Guard, the rating having been expressly created for him in recognition of his literary ability.^[5]

Haley's awards and decorations from the Coast Guard include the American Defense Service Medal (with "Sea" clasp), American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, Coast Guard Good Conduct Medal (with 1 silver and 1 bronze service star), Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and the Coast Guard Expert Marksmanship Medal.^[5]

Writing career[link]

After retiring from the Coast Guard, Haley began his writing career, and eventually became a senior editor for Reader's Digest.

Playboy magazine[link]

Haley conducted the first interview for Playboy magazine. The interview, with Miles Davis, appeared in the September 1962 issue. In the interview, Davis candidly spoke about his thoughts and feelings on racism and it was that interview which set the tone for what became a significant feature of the magazine. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Playboy Interview with Haley was the longest he ever granted to any publication. Throughout the 1960s, Haley was responsible for some of the magazine's most notable interviews, including an interview with American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell, who agreed to meet with Haley only after Haley, in a phone conversation, assured him that he was not Jewish. Haley remained calm and professional during the interview, even though Rockwell kept a handgun on the table throughout it. Haley also interviewed Muhammad Ali, who spoke about changing his name from Cassius Clay. Other interviews include Jack Ruby's defense attorney Melvin Belli, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jim Brown, Johnny Carson, and Quincy Jones. He completed a memoir of Malcolm X just weeks before Malcolm X was assassinated in February 1965.

[edit] The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X, published in 1965, was Haley's first book.^[6] It describes the trajectory of Malcolm X's life from street criminal to national spokesman for the Nation of Islam to his conversion to Sunni Islam. It also outlines Malcolm X's philosophy of black pride, black nationalism, and pan-Africanism. Haley wrote an epilogue to the book summarizing the end of Malcolm X's life, including his assassination in New York's Audubon Ballroom.

Haley wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X based on more than 50 in-depth interviews he conducted with Malcolm X between 1963 and the activist's February 1965 assassination.^[7] The two men first met in 1960 when Haley wrote an article about the Nation of Islam for Reader's Digest. They met again when Haley interviewed Malcolm X for Playboy.^[8]

The first interviews for the autobiography frustrated Haley. Rather than talking about his own life, Malcolm X spoke about Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Haley's reminders that the book was supposed to be about Malcolm X, not Muhammad or the Nation of Islam, angered the activist. After several meetings, Haley asked Malcolm X to tell him something about his mother. That question began the process of Malcolm X describing his life story.^[9][10]

The Autobiography of Malcolm X has been a consistent best-seller since its 1965 publication.^[11] The New York Times reported that six million copies of the book had been sold by 1977.^[3] In 1998, Time named The Autobiography of Malcolm X one of the ten most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century.^[12]

In 1966, Haley received the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

[edit] Super Fly T.N.T.

In 1973, Haley co-wrote his only screenplay, Super Fly T.N.T.. The film starred and was directed by Ron O'Neal.

[edit] Roots

In 1976, Haley published Roots: The Saga of an American Family, a novel based on his family's history, starting with the story of Kunta Kinte, kidnapped in The Gambia in 1767 and transported to the Province of Maryland to be sold as a slave. Haley claimed to be a seventh-generation descendant of Kunta Kinte, and Haley's work on the novel involved ten years of research, intercontinental travel and writing. He went to the village of Juffure, where Kunta Kinte grew up and which is still in existence, and listened to a tribal historian tell the story of Kinte's capture.^[1] Haley also traced the records of the ship, The Lord Ligonier, which he said carried his ancestor to America.

Haley has stated that the most emotional moment of his life occurred on September 29, 1967, when he stood at the site in Annapolis, Maryland where his ancestor had arrived from Africa in chains exactly 200 years before. A memorial depicting Haley reading a story to young children gathered at his feet has since been erected in the center of Annapolis.

Roots was eventually published in 37 languages, and Haley won a Special Award for the work in 1977 from the Pulitzer Board. Roots was also adapted into a popular television miniseries that year. The serial reached a record-breaking 130 million viewers. Roots emphasized that African Americans have a long history and that not all of that history is necessarily lost, as many believed. Its popularity sparked an increased public interest in genealogy, as well.

In 1979, ABC aired the sequel miniseries Roots: The Next Generations, which continued the story of Kunta Kinte's descendants, concluding with Haley's arrival in Juffure. Haley was portrayed (at various ages) by future soap opera actor Kristoff St. John, The Jeffersons actor Damon Evans, and Tony Award winner James Earl Jones.

Haley was briefly a "writer in residence" at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, where he began work on Roots. Many of the locals remember Haley fondly.^{[citation needed]} He enjoyed spending time at a local bistro called "The Savoy" in Rome, New York, where he would sometimes pass the time listening to the piano player. Today, there is a special table in honor of Haley with a painting of Alex writing "Roots" on a yellow legal tablet.

Genealogists have since disputed Haley's research and conclusions. In addition, Harold Courlander, in 1978, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charging that Alex Haley, the author of Roots, had copied 81 passages from his novel.^[13]

Courlander's pre-trial memorandum in the copyright infringement law suit stated: "Defendant Haley had access to and substantially copied from The African. Without The African, Roots would have been a very different and less successful novel, and indeed it is doubtful that Mr. Haley could have written Roots without the African.... Mr. Haley copied language, thoughts, attitudes, incidents, situations, plot and character."^[14]

In his expert witness report submitted to the federal court in support of Courlander's claim, professor of English Michael Wood of Columbia University, stated: "The evidence of copying from The African in both the novel and the television dramatization of Roots is clear and irrefutable. The copying is significant and extensive.... Roots... plainly uses The African as a model: as something to be copied at some times, and at other times to be modified, but always it seems, to be consulted... Roots takes from The African phrases, situations, ideas, aspects of style and plot. Roots finds in The African essential elements for its depiction of such things as a slave's thoughts of escape, the psychology of an old slave, the habits of mind of the hero, and the whole sense of life on an infamous slave ship. Such things are the life of a novel; and when they appear in Roots, they are the life of someone else's novel."^[15]

After a five-week trial in the federal district court, Courlander and Haley settled the case with a financial settlement and a statement that "Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from The African by Harold Courlander found their way into his book Roots."^[16]

During the trial, presiding U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Ward stated, "Copying there is, period."^[17] In a later interview with BBC Television, Judge Ward stated, "Alex Haley perpetrated a hoax on the public."^[18]

During the trial, Alex Haley had maintained that he had not read The African before writing Roots. Shortly after the trial, however, a minority studies teacher at Skidmore College, Joseph Bruchac III, came forward and swore in an affidavit that he had discussed The African with Haley in 1970 or 1971 and had, in fact, given his own personal copy of The African to Haley. This event took place a good number of years prior to the publication of Roots.^[19]

Later years[link]

Alex Haley's grave beside his boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee (2010)

USCGC Alex Haley (WMEC-39)

In the late 1970s, Haley began working on a second historical novel based on another branch of his family, traced through his grandmother Queen—the daughter of a black slave woman and her white master. Haley died in Seattle, Washington, of a heart attack and was buried beside his childhood home in Henning, Tennessee, with the story unfinished. At his request, it was finished by David Stevens and was published as Alex Haley's Queen. It was subsequently made into a movie in 1993.

Late in his life, Haley had acquired a small farm in Norris, Tennessee, adjacent to the Museum of Appalachia, with the intent of making it his home. After his death, the property was sold to the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), which calls it the "Alex Haley Farm" and uses it as a national training center and retreat site. An abandoned barn on the farm property was rebuilt as a traditional cantilevered barn, using a design by architect Maya Lin. The building now serves as a library for the CDF.^[20]

Awards and recognition[link]

The main galley at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Petaluma at Petaluma, CA is named "Haley Hall" in his honor. In 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard honored Haley by naming the cutter Alex Haley after him.

Haley was posthumously awarded the Korean War Service Medal from the government of South Korea ten years after his death. This medal, created in 1951, was not authorized to be worn by U.S. Armed Forces personnel until 1999.

The characters Alex and Haley Dunphy on Modern Family are named after him.^{[citation needed]}

Other criticism[link]

Haley claims to have spent ten years researching his heritage for his historical novel, Roots, which in 1977 was adapted as a TV miniseries, and earned him a Pulitzer Prize and the Spingarn Medal for the book. A year later, his reputation was marred by an accusation of plagiarism. In 1978, author Harold Courlander charged in federal court that Haley, the author of Roots, had copied 81 passages from his novel.^[13] After a five-week trial in federal district court, Courlander and Haley settled the case,^[21] with Haley making a financial settlement of $650,000.^[22] Haley denied plagiarism but conceded that some passages in his book had apparently come from Courlander's novel, The African.^[23] He issued a statement that "Alex Haley acknowledges and regrets that various materials from The African by Harold Courlander found their way into his book Roots."^[24]

In addition, the accuracy of those aspects of Roots which Haley claimed to be true has also been challenged.^[25] Although Haley acknowledged the novel was primarily a work of fiction, he did claim that he had identified his actual ancestor in the person of Kunta Kinte, an African taken from the village of Jufureh in what is now The Gambia. According to Haley, Kunta Kinte was sold into slavery, where he was given the name Toby, and, while in the service of a slavemaster named John Waller, went on to have a daughter named Kizzy, Haley's great-great-great grandmother. Haley also claimed to have identified the specific slave ship and the actual voyage on which Kunta Kinte was transported from Africa to North America in 1767.

Historical marker in front of Alex Haley's boyhood home in Henning, Tennessee (2007)

However, genealogist Elizabeth Shown Mills and historian Gary B. Mills, both specialists in African-American research, revisited Haley's research and concluded that those claims of Haley's were false.^[26][27] According to the Millses, the slave named Toby who was owned by John Waller could be definitively shown to have been in North America as early as 1762. They also reported, among other findings, that Toby died years prior to the supposed date of birth of his daughter Kizzy. There have also been suggestions that Kebba Kanji Fofana, the amateur griot in Jufureh, who, during Haley's visit there, confirmed the tale of the disappearance of Kunta Kinte, had been coached to relate such a story.^[28][29][30]

To date, Haley's work remains a notable exclusion from the Norton Anthology of African-American Literature, despite Haley's status as history's best-selling African-American author. Harvard University professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the anthology's general editors, has denied that the controversies surrounding Haley's works are the reason for this exclusion. Nonetheless, Dr. Gates has acknowledged the doubts surrounding Haley's claims about Roots, saying, "Most of us feel it's highly unlikely that Alex actually found the village whence his ancestors sprang. Roots is a work of the imagination rather than strict historical scholarship."^[31]

Recordings[link]

• Alex Haley Tells the Story of His Search for Roots (1977) - 2-LP recording of a two-hour lecture Haley gave at the University of Pennsylvania. Released by Warner Bros. Records (2BS 3036).

Collection of Alex Haley's personal works[link]

The University of Tennessee Libraries, in Knoxville, TN, maintains a collection of Alex Haley's personal works in its Special Collections Department. The works contain notes, outlines, bibliographies, research, and legal papers documenting Haley's Roots through 1977. Of particular interest are the items showing Harold Courlander's lawsuit against Haley, Doubleday & Company, and various affiliated groups.^[32]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alex Haley

• Alex Haley documentary biography
• Biography
• Alex Haley at the Internet Movie Database
• The Kunta Kinte - Alex Haley Foundation
• Coast Guard cutter named after Alex Haley
• Roots tribute page
• Alex Haley's Gravesite
• Alex Haley's Playboy Interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Alex Haley's Playboy Interview with Miles Davis
• Official Roots: 30th Anniversary Edition website
• Pace, Eric. "Alex Haley, 70, Author of 'Roots,' Dies," The New York Times, February 11, 1992.
• Alex Palmer Haley:A Leading African-American Novelist and Genealogist

Cody Chesnutt
Cody ChesnuTT at the 2011 Ilosaarirock festival.
Background information
Born	1968 (age 43–44)
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia
Genres	Rock and roll, R&B, soul
Occupations	Composer, musician
Associated acts	The Crosswalk

Cody Chesnutt performing at Martin Luther's Rebel Soul Fest in San Francisco, July 2008.

Cody Chesnutt (stylized as Cody ChesnuTT, born 1968^[1]) is an American R&B and neo soul musician from Atlanta, Georgia.

Biography[link]

Chesnutt's music blends elements of rock, funk, soul, hip hop, and blues. After relocating to Los Angelos, Chesnutt found work with Death Row records, writing and producing five songs for the male R&B group Six Feet Deep. Chesnutt and his former band, The Crosswalk, had a brief stint with Hollywood Records in which they were later booted from the label. The band subsequently broke up and Chesnutt released a double LP in 2002 entitled The Headphone Masterpiece, which was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder in his bedroom recording studio, which he calls "The Sonic Promiseland".

His closest brush with mainstream success came in 2002, when the hip hop group The Roots remade a song from his album, "The Seed", for their album Phrenology, as "The Seed (2.0)". Chesnutt plays guitar and sings vocals on the track, and appears in its music video, which received heavy airplay on MTV and BET. At the height of his popularity, Chesnutt's backing band consisted of drummer Craig Waters, now with the band The Bellrays, and bassist Aaron Ebensperger. In October 2003, Cody Chesnutt was nominated for the prestigious Shortlist Music Prize, and performed in the ceremony for the prize at the Wiltern Theatre in California.

In 2006, Chesnutt appeared in the music documentary Dave Chappelle's Block Party, which was originally recorded in September 2004. The same year, he recorded the track "Boils" for the 4AD records album Plague Songs. On his Myspace announced an upcoming album titled The Live Release, which he has been performing around the world but is yet to be released. In 2007, he performed at the Pop Montreal music festival as one of the headliners.

In 2010 he released an EP called Black Skin No Value. Furthermore he stated in an interview that he will publish his second big album Landing On A Hundred in 2012.^[2]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• 2002: The Headphone Masterpiece
• 2006: The Live Release (unpublished)
• 2010: Black Skin No Value (EP)
• 2012: Landing On A Hundred^[3]

Singles[link]

• 2001: Look Good in Leather ("AXE Instinct"-Werbespot (2009))
• 2002: "The World Is Coming"^[4]
• 2002: "The Seed (2.0)" (featuring The Roots) (UK #33)
• 2006: "The Last Adam"
• 2008: "Afrobama"^[5]
• 2010: "Come Back Like Spring" ^[6]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Cody Chesnutt on Myspace