The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story builds on The New York Times Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize winning “1619 Project,” which seeks to reframe American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of the national narrative. This book substantially expands on the original "1619 Project," 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 argue that the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and democracy itself. This legacy can be seen in the way we tell stories, the way we teach children, and the way we remember. Together, the elements of the book reveal a new origin story for the United States, one that helps explain not only the persistence of anti-Black racism and inequality in American life today, but also the roots of what makes the country unique. A New York Times best seller and named as one of the Best Books of 2021 by multiple sources.
1. Preface: Origins by Nikole Hannah-Jones, 1619, The White Lion, poem by Claudia Rankine, Chapter 1: Democracy by Nikole Hannah-Jones, 1662, Daughters of Azimuth, poem by Nikky Finney, 1682, Loving Me, poem by Vievee Francis, Chapter 2: Race by Dorothy Roberts, 1731, Conjured, poem by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, 1740, A Ghazalled Sentence After "My People...Hold on" by Eddie Kendricks and the Negro Act of 1740, poem by Terrance Hayes, (pages 1-71.)
2. Chapter 3: Sugar by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, 1770, First to Rise, poem by Yusef Komunyakaa, 1773, Proof [dear Phillis], poem by Eve L. Ewing, Chapter 4: Fear by Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander, 1775, Freedom Is Not for Myself Alone, fiction by Robert Jones, Jr., 1791, Other Persons, poem by Reginald Dwayne Betts, (pages 71-135.)
3. Chapter 5: Dispossession by Tiya Miles, 1800, Trouble the Water, fiction by Barry Jenkins, 1808, Solid South, fiction by Jesmyn Ward, Chapter 6: Capitalism by Matthew Desmond, 1816, Fort Mose, poem by Tyehimba Jess,1822, Before His Execution, poem by Tim Seibles, Chapter 7: Politics by Jamelle Bouie, (pages 135-208.)
4. 1830, We as People, poem by Cornelius Eady, 1850, A Letter to Harriet Hayden, monologue by Lynn Nottage, Chapter 8: Citizenship by Martha S. Jones, 1863, The Camp, fiction by Darryl Pinckney, 1866, An Absolute Massacre, fiction by ZZ Packer, Chapter 9: Self-Defense by Carol Anderson, 1870, Like to the Rushing of a Mighty Wind, poem by Tracy K. Smith, 1883, no car for colored [+] ladies (or, miss wells goes of [on] the rails), poem by Evie Shackley, Chapter 10: Punishment by Bryan Stevenson, (page 208-283.)
5. 1898, Race Riot, poem by Forrest Hamer, 1921, Greenwood, poem by Jasmine Mans, Chapter 11: Inheritance by Trymaine Lee, 1925, The New Negro, poem by A. Van Jordan, 1932, Bad Blood, fiction by Yaa Gyasi, Chapter 12: Medicine by Linda Villarosa, 1955, 1955, poem by Danez Smith, 1960, From Behind the Counter, fiction by Terry McMillan, (page 283-359.)
6. Chapter 13: Church by Anthea Butler, 1963, Youth Sunday, poem by Rita Dove, On "Brevity", poem by Camille T. Dungy, Chapter 14: Music by Wesley Morris, 1965, Quotidian, poem. 1966, The Panther Is a Virtual Animal, poem by Joshua Bennett, Chapter 15: Healthcare by Jeneen Interlandi, 1972, Unbought Unbossed, Unbothered fiction by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, 1974, Crazy When You Smile, poem by Patricia Smith, Chapter 16: Traffic by Kevin M. Kruse, 1984, Rainbows Aren't Real, Are They?, fiction by Kiese Laymon, 1985, A Surname to Honor Their Mother, poem by Gregory Pardlo, (pages 359-421.)
7. Chapter 17: Progress by Ibram X. Kendi, 2005, At the Superdome After the Storm Has Passed, poem by Clint Smith, 2008, Mother and Son, fiction by Jason Reynolds, Chapter 18: Justice by Nikole Hannah-Jones, 2020, Progress Report, poem by Sonia Sanchez, (pages 421-480.)
Nikole Hannah-Jones (Ed.), The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, One World, 2021.