The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-JonesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
No book or project could ever be comprehensive when it comes to exploring and capturing the history and legacy that began in 1619, when enslaved Africans set foot on the shores of North America, a year prior to the arrival of the Mayflower. The book is an enlargement of Hannah-Jones's foundational The 1619 Project, published in the New York Times Magazine. However, as a reclamation of American History, this book is a chronicle, a celebration of poetry, art, and writing, and a call for understanding and moving forward. "A truly great country does not ignore or excuse its sins, it confronts them and then works to make them right," Hannah-Jones says in closing.
The contributors to the book are many and varied, with some of the most profoundly powerful and influential voices of our time: Claudia Rankine, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Michelle Alexander, Ibram X. Kendi, Henry Louis Gates, Terry McMillan, and so many more.
In the audiobook, some readers are more compelling than others, but the words are potent, well-researched, and a true call for understanding how conventional narratives of American history have been whitewashed. Turning points, such as Abraham Lincoln's assassination, are reframed so that we understand that when Andrew Johnson took over the presidency for a brief two-month period, he tried to rescind wartime Order No. 15 (known as "Forty Acres and a Mule") and that these original reparations never truly materialized in a way that provided widespread and sustained land ownership to Black Americans. The connection of this (and preceding events) to the current wealth gap between Black and white Americans is made clear.
Ibram X. Kendi's truth-telling is particularly powerful, especially as it targets and demolishes narratives of "post-racial" America. The criticisms may be hard to hear for some, but the cycle of attempts to declare any and all "wins" as progress has largely clouded the narrative in its failure to recognize the persistence of neglect and abuse toward Black Americans, and the systemic infrastructure that perpetuates it.
It is not an easy book to read/listen to -- nor should it be. There is deep and painful beauty expressed in the poems. Few facets of modern life are left un-addressed, whether it is healthcare or mass-incarceration. The book can be (and has been) excerpted to great effect, but sitting with it from start to finish has its own benefits. As a white American, it was invaluable to be reminded of the things I have learned, to be invited to de-center white historical narratives, and to critically consider how much we truly owe to the legacy of Black Americans and how we have failed (and continue to fail) to honor it and fight for it. There has been a lot of backlash and vitriol aimed at the project. I recommend engaging with the book instead of allowing the controversies to subsume the content.
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