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Title details for The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones - Available

The 1619 Project

A New Origin Story

by Nikole Hannah-Jones
The New York Times Magazine
Audiobook
3 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 3 copies available
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty people stolen from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself.
This is a book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.
Cover image: Lorna Simpson Beclouded, 2018 © Lorna Simpson. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth.
Read by a full cast, including:
Nikole Hannah-Jones, January LaVoy, Claudia Rankine, Nikky Finney, Janina Edwards, Dorothy Roberts, Shayna Small, Terrance Hayes, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Yusef Komunyakaa, Eve L. Ewing, Karen Chilton, Aaron Goodson, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Erin Miles, Dominic Hoffman, Adenrele Ojo, Matthew Desmond, Tyehimba Jess, Tim Seibles, Jamelle Bouie, Cornelius Eady, Minka Wiltz, Martha S. Jones, Darryl Pinckney, ZZ Packer, Carol Anderson, Tracy K. Smith, Evie Shockley, Bryan Stevenson, William DeMeritt, Jasmine Mans, Trymaine Lee, A. Van Jordan, Yaa Gyasi, Linda Villarosa, Danez Smith, Terry McMillan, Anthea Butler, Rita Dove, Camille T. Dungy, Wesley Morris, Natasha Trethewey, Joshua Bennett, Chanté McCormick, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Ron Butler, Kevin M. Kruse, Bahni Turpin, Gregory Pardlo, Ibram X. Kendi, JD Jackson, Jason Reynolds, and Sonia Sanchez

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    November 16, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593452295
      • File size: 545789 KB
      • Duration: 18:57:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 860
    • Text Difficulty: 4-5

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Nikole Hannah-Jones, herself a persuasive narrator, has brought together a remarkable mosaic of voices, stories, and poems that tell the story of America through the lens of slavery. So much inspired writing and outstanding narrating in this audiobook make it difficult to select only a few to single out. The chapters by Bryan Stevenson, Ibram X. Kendi, Jamelle Bouie, and Hannah-Jones stay in mind. And the creative interludes from Rita Dove, Natasha Trethewey, and ZZ Packer are especially moving. This indelible compendium of history, journalism, and creative takes on the Black-American experience expands on the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE version and brings the listener a riveting and revealing audiobook. The variety of voices and views deepens listeners' understanding of U.S. history and how it has been presented. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Poet and narrator Nikole Hannah-Jones recounts the history and consequences of slavery on Black Americans in this audiobook. With soothing and unobtrusive sound effects, she details the culture and traditions of West Africans before they were enslaved. Her narration is joyful while celebrating the origins of Black Americans and the resilient people they descend from. Her tone becomes appropriately sharp as she reminds listeners that Black Americans did not descend from immigrants but from kidnapped peoples. Her lovingly delivered author's note at the end touches on her hope that Black American children "come away empowered by the knowledge that there is no shame in descending from American slavery." A.K.R. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from October 11, 2021
      When a Black child, this story’s narrator, feels shame surrounding a family tree assignment (“I can only count back three generations, here, in this country”), their parents and grandparents offer what an author’s note calls “a proud origin story.” In meticulous, forthright poems by Newbery Honoree Watson and 1619 Project founder Hannah-Jones, the family reaches back to the Kingdom of Ndongo, where their ancestors “had a home, a place, a land,/ a beginning.” Subsequent spreads describe the child’s West Central African forbears, who spoke Kimbundu (“had their own words/ for love/ for friend/ for family”), were good with their hands and minds, excelled at math and science, “and they danced.” When the lines recount how, in 1619, those ancestors were shackled and ferried across the Atlantic to Virginia on the White Lion, the authors clearly but non-graphically confront the horror of chattel slavery, emphasizing the resilience of the enslaved people who survived this impossible journey. Alternating between realistic and surreal images, Smith (World Cup Women) works in a saturated palette to create emotionally evocative scenes: dark, mostly monochrome tableaus convey tragedy or violence; brightly lit, multicolor palettes illustrate scenes of peace and joy. While detailing the specifics of an often-obscured history and its effects, this volume powerfully emphasizes that Black history is not merely a story of slavery and suffering but one of perseverance and hope. Ages 7–10.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:860
  • Text Difficulty:4-5

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