Dear readers, I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. Some of you may know that “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Project” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah Jones is coming to our television screens. On January 26, we can watch the latest iteration of Jones’s efforts on Hulu as part of a six-part limited docu-series.
A blurb in the New York Times about the upcoming film said, “In keeping with the original project, the series seeks to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans at the very center of our national narrative. The episodes — ‘Democracy,’ ‘Race,’ ‘Music,’ ‘Capitalism,’ ‘Fear’ and ‘Justice’ — are adapted from essays from The New York Times No. 1 best-selling ‘The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story’and examine how the legacy of slavery shapes different aspects of contemporary American life.”
Jones’s 1619 Project first appeared in the New York Times roughly two years ago. The articles were met critical acclaim and a podcast followed suit. Public forums and lesson plans for schools were also part of the larger conversation about this important project. As Jones and her colleagues laid out bare truths about the origins and realities of the “American experiment,” their work articulated facts that were undeniable. However, this is America, so detractors invented theories and baseless complaints about the information presented in the 1619 Project—and Jones addressed and rebutted each complaint with a surgeon’s precision.
This new visual project will further help Americans understand the essence of the 1619 Project. As I argue in my grio.com podcast The Blackest Questions each week, Black history is American history. Jones makes it abundantly clear that we cannot understand this nation without first understanding the interconnected ways of politics and capitalism…past and present. The 1619 Project tackles everything from migration to music to mass incarceration.
I am excited to see how Jones and her team bring these important issues to the screen. Many of us remember watching docu-series like “Eyes on the Prize” to help us understand race and racism in America. This 21st-century analysis will help new generations of Black and non-Black people better understand this nation.
If you have not done so already, be sure to purchase The 1619 Project from your local bookseller. You can also read excerpts on www.pulitzercenter.org and search for “The 1619 Project.” And don’t forget to tune into the docu-series on Hulu beginning January 26. We must support this important work and spread the word to our communities. We cannot let people attempt to erase the realities of the brutal beginnings of this country. By reading and watching the 1619 Project, we are contributing to a collective and necessary truth-telling project.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an associate professor at Fordham University; author of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.