#VelshiBannedBookClub: Revisiting “The 1619 Project” with Nikole Hannah-Jones

“The 1619 Project”, named for the year the first enslaved African people arrived on the shores of Virginia, began as an editorial franchise for the New York Times. It has since grown to include the best-selling book, a children’s picture book, class curriculum, a podcast, and now, a new Hulu documentary series. The body of work asks us to reexamine and reframe what we know to be true of U.S. history. “The books that have stuck with me most in my life are the ones that have unsettled me,” says Nikole Hannah-Jones. Since its inception, “The 1619 Project” has faced a relentless firestorm of calls for its ban -- from school libraries, state senates, and even the Trump White House. “Countries do great things, and countries do terrible things, and we have to deal with it all,” says Hannah-Jones. Being exposed to new ideas and information is in fact, “the purpose of an education.”