12/20/2025
LeVar Burton was just 19 when he opened the script for Roots. A college student with no major acting credits, he didn’t know he was about to make history.
The character’s name was Kunta Kinte — a young man stolen from his homeland, enduring unthinkable cruelty yet refusing to forget who he was. When cameras rolled in January 1977, America watched something television had never truly confronted: the human cost of slavery, told through dignity, not shame.
Over eight nights, more than 130 million people tuned in. Families cried together. Children asked questions their history books had skipped. And through it all, LeVar Burton — a teenager — carried the story of a people with grace and power far beyond his years.
He could have used that moment to chase Hollywood stardom. Instead, he turned it into purpose.
In 1983, Burton became the face of Reading Rainbow. For 23 years, he looked into the camera and said to children, “But you don’t have to take my word for it.” He didn’t talk down to kids. He treated imagination as sacred, curiosity as courage. Librarians noticed bookshelves emptying wherever Reading Rainbow aired. Children read because LeVar Burton made reading feel like freedom.
Then came Star Trek: The Next Generation. As Geordi La Forge, a blind engineer leading with brilliance and empathy, Burton once again redefined representation. To millions of kids — especially Black and disabled children — he wasn’t just a character. He was proof that the future had room for them.
Three iconic roles. One consistent message: You matter. Your mind matters. Your story matters.
Today, as books are banned and libraries threatened, Burton continues to fight — not with anger, but through education. He builds faith in stories, in learning, in questioning. When asked about his legacy, he keeps it simple: “I just want people to keep learning, keep questioning, keep reading.”
LeVar Burton didn’t chase fame. He built something stronger — a belief in the power of stories to change the world. Every child who picked up a book because of him carries a spark of that change. Every viewer who saw Kunta Kinte or Geordi La Forge saw possibility — that their life, their voice, their mind, mattered.
LeVar Burton’s gift isn’t just the characters he played. It’s the countless minds he inspired to believe, explore, and imagine. Stories, after all, aren’t just entertainment. They are freedom.
