1619 Project

What is the 1619 Project?

The 1619 Project is an event organized by The New York Times. The main aim of this event is to examine the provision of slavery in the United States. Furthermore, the projects timed for the 400th anniversary. The anniversary is of the arrival of the first enslaved people from West Africa in America. Also, this interactive project is held by a reporter for the New York Times, Nikole Hannah-Jones. It is done with several other contributions like the paper’s writers, poems, short fiction, and a photo essay. Subsequently, this project turned in to a full-fledged project originally just thought of as a special issue for August 20. This event got several coverages including coverage in the paper and on the website. The New York Times describes this project as a major initiative for observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American Slavery.

Background of the 1619 Project

America granted Portugal a monopoly on trade by the Vatican in West Africa and Spain in the fifteenth century. It had paved the way for the transatlantic slave trade. This trade has had a lasting impact on American history along with the socio-economic development of the country. The Portuguese ship brought and landed on Point Comfort in the British colony of Virginia. It carried the first 20 African slaves in August of 1619.

The African American citizens, the citizens that are 12% of the United States population, face institutional racism and various socio-economic and political challenges in 2019. They face it although slavery officially outlawed by the 13th amendment to the constitution that passed in the United States on the 31st of January, 1865. This happened more than 150 years since the abolition of slavery in the country and four hundred years since the first slaves landed.

Furthermore,

Hannah Jones proposed to have an issue of the magazine dedicated to the anniversary. It was to challenge the notion of American history in 1776. This quickly turned into a full-fledged project and various issues of the magazines encompassed by it. The related materials were also accompanied by other publications of the Times.

Alexandria Neason analyzed the project for the Columbia Journalism Review. He greatly praised the efforts to challenge the characterization of slavery. Fortune magazine also published a strongly positive review. They wrote that the project was unflinching and insightful along with being wide-reaching and collaborative. They also wrote that it is a dramatic and necessary approach. Also,  corrective to the fundamental lie of the original American Story.