The 1619 Project facts for kids

Quick facts for kids "The 1619 Project"
The 1619 Project logo
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Long-form journalism
Publisher	The New York Times
Publication date	August 2019

The 1619 Project is a long-form journalism project developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, writers from The New York Times, and The New York Times Magazine which "aims to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of the United States' national narrative".

The project was first published in The New York Times Magazine in August 2019 for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colony of Virginia. The project later included a broadsheet article, live events, and a podcast.

The project has sparked criticism and debate among prominent historians and political commentators.

On May 4, 2020, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced the award of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary to project creator Nikole Hannah-Jones for her introductory essay to the 1619 Project.

In September 2020, renewed controversy arose over edits that had been made to the project without accompanying editorial notes, which critics—including Bret Stephens of the Times—claimed showed the New York Times was backing away from some of the project's more controversial claims. The Times defended its practices.

Background

A 1901 illustration of the landing of the first Africans in Virginia. The White Lion is seen anchored in the background.

The 1619 Project was launched in August 2019 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans arriving in colonial Virginia. In 1619, a group of "twenty and odd" captive Africans arrived in the Virginia Colony. A Dutch-operated privateer, White Lion, carried 20–30 Africans who had been captured by a joint African-Portuguese raid against the Kingdom of Ndongo in modern-day Angola, making its landing at Point Comfort in the English colony of Virginia.

Although the Project places this moment in the context of slavery in the colonial history of the United States, some have taken issue with this, questioning whether those 1619 arrivals became slaves, calling attention to intermingling with English and native people and the creation of a community of people of African descent. Others have pointed out that the first enslaved Africans arrived in North America in 1526, and that European slavery in the New World is documented as far back as Columbus in 1494, possibly as early as 1493.

Project

The project dedicated an issue of the magazine to a re-examination of the legacy of slavery in the United States, at the anniversary of the 1619 arrival of the first slaves to Virginia, challenging the notion that the history of the United States began in 1776 or with the arrival of the Pilgrims. The initiative quickly grew into a larger project. The project encompasses multiple issues of the magazine, with related materials in multiple other publications of the Times as well as a project curriculum developed in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, for use in schools. The project employed a panel of historians and had support from the Smithsonian, for fact-checking, research and development. The project was envisioned with the condition that almost all of the contributions would be from African-American contributors, deeming the perspective of black writers an essential element of the story to be told.

August 14, 2019 magazine issue

The first edition, which appeared in The New York Times Magazine on August 14, 2019, published in 100 pages with ten essays, a photo essay, and a collection of poems and fiction by an additional 16 writers and an introduction by Jake Silverstein, included the following works:

• • Clint Smith on the Middle Passage
  • Yusef Komunyakaa on Crispus Attucks
  • Eve L. Ewing on Phillis Wheatley
  • Reginald Dwayne Betts on the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793
  • Barry Jenkins on Gabriel's Rebellion
  • Jesmyn Ward on the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves
  • Tyehimba Jess on Black Seminoles
  • Darryl Pinckney on the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863
  • ZZ Packer on the New Orleans massacre of 1866
  • Jacqueline Woodson on Sgt. Isaac Woodard
  • Joshua Bennett on the Black Panther Party
  • Lynn Nottage on the birth of hip-hop
  • Kiese Laymon on the Rev. Jessie Jackson’s “rainbow coalition” speech
  • Clint Smith on the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina

One of the central claims made by Hannah-Jones is that the colonists fought the Revolutionary War in order to preserve slavery. The claim was later softened to "some of" the colonists having fought to preserve slavery. The essays further discuss details of history as well as modern American society, such as traffic jams and the American affinity for sugar, and their connections to slavery and segregation.

Matthew Desmond's essay argues that slavery has shaped modern capitalism and workplace norms.

Jamelle Bouie's essay draws parallels between pro-slavery politics and the modern right-wing politics. Bouie argues that the United States still has not let go of the assumption that some people inherently deserve more power than others.

Accompanying material and activities

The magazine issue was accompanied by a special section in the Sunday newspaper, in partnership with the Smithsonian, examining the beginnings of the transatlantic slave trade, written by Mary Elliott and Jazmine Hughes. Beginning on August 20, a multi-episode audio series titled "1619" began, published by The Daily, the morning news podcast of the Times. The Sunday sports section had an essay about slavery's impact on professional sports in the United States: "Is Slavery's Legacy in the Power Dynamics of Sports?". The Times plans to take the project to schools, with the 1619 Project Curriculum developed in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center. Hundreds of thousands of extra copies of the magazine issue were printed for distribution to schools, museums and libraries.

The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting has made available free online lesson plans, is collecting further lesson plans from teachers, and helps arrange for speakers to visit classes. The Center considers most of the lessons usable by all grades from elementary school through college.

See also

In Spanish: The 1619 Project para niños