The 1619 Project {The New York Times Magazine, August 18, 2019}

I printed the entire website out as a PDF and read it like a book. I don’t have a whole lot to say about this compilation of essays other than I learned so much and reading it gave me an incredible amount of information and opinions to ruminate on. My mind is reeling a bit from reading this and also at the same time from many of the recent news items related to George Floyd in Minneapolis and Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, GA.

But there is also, of course, the usual detractors for this compilation with noted historians that wrote the NYT of inaccuracies in her journalism. Some of the most noted websites I read about this compilation are:

These Black Scholars and Leaders Rebuke 1619 Project’s Narrative of Victimhood
What Libertarian show more Overreactions to the 1619 Project Say About America
Slavery In America Did Not Begin In 1619, And Other Things The New York Times Gets Wrong

There is also a podcast on the same topic that I haven’t listened to yet but it’s on my queue. show less

The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience by Nikole Hannah-Jones offers, through the visuals accompanying the insightful text, an experience that at times is even more impactful than the original book.

I would hesitate to rate one way of telling the history better than the other. I happen to like pictures and artifacts with my history, it makes it feel completer and more whole to me. But that is personal preference. If you like to have something to visually engage you then I think you will enjoy this book a great deal. Frankly, I would recommend all of the work incorporated in the larger project. So much history has been either ignored, erased, or sugar-coated that we need to have different perspectives on what we know as well as the many show more things we never learned.

This will certainly appeal to anyone truly interested in history and how that history impacts our current society. Just look at the 1-star comments to see the types of people who are afraid of history unless it suits them. This is also the kind of work that offers a great opportunity for parents to discuss both the history itself (yes, in conjunction with some of the slanted histories) as well as how in every aspect of life we need to consider who is telling any story. We all tend to tell the parts we prefer, though many of us try to be as fair as possible to ideas and events we don't agree with. Teach how to listen to everyone's stories, but listen critically and then seek storytellers who might offer a different perspective.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

This was well researched and presented.
I'd go further than this author and say the modern western world exists as a result of West African chattel slavery.
Colonialism can't be removed from it.
It starts before 1492, about 50 yrs before and also can't ever be removed from capitalism.
Ethical capitalism is like ethical slavery, a myth. So any semi positive references to capitalism are a reflection that this project doesn't go back far enough

Slavery in the United States and its continuing impact on American society is the focus of this collection of essays. It’s supplemented and reinforced by poetic, literary, and artistic reflections by African American artists. While what happened before is the starting point for these insights, the emphasis is on how it is still shaping the way we do business and relate to each other. It accounts for how we live now, including racism, mass incarceration, poor dietary habits and traffic jams. It’s a sobering reflection on American History and our current civic life.

NYT magazine
August 19, 2019