Page 11 - 1619 Project Curriculum

19.

regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year. Doing so requires us to all original compositions by contemporary black writers who were

place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black asked to choose events on a timeline of the past 400 years. The

Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about poetry and fiction they created is arranged chronologically through-

who we are as a country. out the issue, and each work is introduced by the history to which

Perhaps you need some persuading. The issue contains essays on the author is responding.
different aspects of contemporary American life, from mass incar- A word of warning: There is gruesome material in these pages,

ceration to rush-hour traffic, that have their roots in slavery and its material that readers will find disturbing. That is, unfortunately, as

aftermath. Each essay takes up a modern phenomenon, familiar to it must be. American history cannot be told truthfully without a clear

all, and reveals its history. The first, by the staff writer Nikole Hannah- vision of how inhuman and immoral the treatment of black Americans

Jones (from whose mind this project sprang), provides the intellectual has been. By acknowledging this shameful history, by trying hard to

framework for the project and can be read as an introduction. understand its powerful influence on the present, perhaps we can

Alongside the essays, you will find 17 literary works that bring prepare ourselves for a more just future.

African-American history. These works are
to life key moments in That is the hope of this project.
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