Page 133 - 1619 Project Curriculum

Create an infographic that visualizes racial inequity in the U.S. and its links to slavery. In
addition to data, you can include quotes from the reporting, photography, and/or graphics. Click

here for examples of infographics designed to engage students in different literary concepts.
Need help finding an essay to explore? Select one from the following list:

• “The Idea of America” by Nikole Hannah-Jones (pages 14–26)
• “Traffic” by Kevin M. Kruse (pages 48–49)
• Sidebars by Mehrsa Baradaran in “Capitalism” by Matthew Desmond (pages 35–36)

• “Mass Incarceration” by Bryan Stevenson (pages 80–81)
• “Sugar” by Khalil Gibran Muhammad (pages 70–77)
5. Mapping Your Community’s Connections to Slavery

Step 1. For context on how U.S. geography was shaped by the institution of slavery, read

“Chained Migration: How Slavery Made Its Way West” by Tiya Miles (page 22) and/or “The

Idea of America” by Nikole Hannah-Jones (pages 14–26).
Step 2. Research your own state or community in order to answer the following questions:

• To whom did your state or community’s land belong before it was colonized by the
U.S., or what would become the U.S.?
• Why did the U.S. want to own this land?
• What industries were developed on this land after the U.S. acquired it? Whose labor
fueled those industries?

• How is your community shaped by the institution of slavery today?

Step 3. Choose a creative format in which to present your research findings. You might
develop a presentation including discussion questions and deliver it to your class or school;
write an essay modeled on the essay(s) you read in step 1; create a poster incorporating

primary source documents to show your research; or conduct a photography/visual art

project in which you show your community’s historical and present-day connections to
slavery.

6. Analyze, Connect, Write: Bringing The 1619 Project Home

These writing activities ask students to analyze an article in The 1619 Project, extrapolate a
theme from that article, and apply it to a deeper dive into racial justice in their own
communities.

Suggested articles for these activities:

• “A Broken Health Care System” by Jeneen Interlandi (pages 44–45)
• “Traffic” by Kevin M. Kruse (pages 48–49)

• “Mass Incarceration” by Bryan Stevenson (pages 80–81)
• “The Wealth Gap” by Trymaine Lee (pages 82–83)
• “Sugar” by Khalil Gibran Muhammad (pages 70–77)

• “Medical Inequality” by Linda Villarosa (page 56–57)
Option 1: Write a News Pitch