Book Summary and Reviews of The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

Liz

the history we never learned in school
The book is divided into topics each written by an expert in the subject being explored. The writing is concise and spares no details. As the book progresses many connections are made between the underlying economics of slavery, fear and humankind 's need for power and basic distrust of "otherness".

The 1619 Project made me aware of my limited knowledge of the history of race relations and how much that history has impacted our present-day social issues.
I appreciated the photos, the poems, and excerpts from essays pertinent to a specific incident in US history.

A grand undertaking and a must-read.

Susan

Wow
Provocative and well researched. Although I assumed I had enlightened racial views, I was challenged with each essay. An absolute must read for every American.

Carmel B

A Case for Raparation - Or Not
Enlightening, shocking and profound. Jones rivets the reader’s attention to her "New Origin Story" and sheds light on America's darkest hours, her early struggles for independence and the shameful hypocrisy of her politicians and citizens relative to the enslaved. Furthermore, readers are forced to face America’s slow, lumbering march toward equality for all, while carrying its burdens of prejudice and blindness. This tome will undoubtedly become a powerful educational tool in the arsenal of black / white history and culture where readers can broaden their knowledge and understanding of enslavement beyond what they have gleaned from Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr. and even George Floyd. The poems and prose at the beginning of the chapters are heart wrenching and poignant, and the essays that follow seem to be well-researched and factual. The lingering question is not whether reparation is warranted, but whether it is possible. Kudos to the New York Times for recognizing the importance and potential impact of this exceptional collaborative enterprise, its creator and contributors.

Arthur M.

Compelling, eye-opening review of scholarship
Though each chapter is followed by literary reflections and a photo introduces each chapter, it is the documented scholarship marshaled to make each of the cases that stands strongest in the book‘s impact. Remarkable research has yielded new insights into the short life expectancy of enslaved and post-enslaved sugar cane workers in Louisiana. Genetic records show that enslaved women’s DNA is found much more broadly than for enslaved men. This reflects enslavers’ use of these women whose children were ruled slaves as well to expand their chattel wealth. Discussed too is the fear among whites of enslaved groups rebelling, from colonial days through the second amendment to the Constitution, that addendum at odds with the preamble’s call for “domestic tranquility.” In the present the lawlessness among the formerly enslaved in 2020-21 threatens a new backlash in federal elections in 2022 and 2024. The chapter on progress, really the lack of it, contradicts Obama’s message of hope. If reflected in the recent unrest, its impact will be disturbing. The brilliant work is long on diagnosis, while offering little constructive direction forward. But truth telling is the purpose of this book. It seems leave it to the rest of us to find solutions to problems and a path forward—community by community as well as within the nation. But leadership like Obama’s or Dr. King’s is needed to win both former enslaved and enslaver descendant minds to make effective change. Why no chapter by Obama? Not a scholar, though an author much respected, too.

Susan

Read This Book
Put away your preconceptions and read this book. Consisting of essays by different authors, it offers an alternative way to look at US history. This book challenged me in each essay even though I considered myself a progressive thinker.