Nikole Hannah-Jones

"The animating idea of The 1619 Project is that our national narrative is more accurately told if we begin not on July 4, 1776, but in late August of 1619, when a ship arrived in Jamestown bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty enslaved people from Africa. Their arrival inaugurated a barbaric and unprecedented system of 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...

Linguist John McWhorter shares the origins of Black English. Often dismissed as slang, Black English is a uniquely sophisticated form of communication with its own nuances and complexities.

Constitutional law expert Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw explains the Reconstruction Amendments, and how white supremacists successfully resisted reform through the Supreme Court.

Nikole Hannah-Jones unravels the truth about what happened after emancipation, beginning with the Great Nadir. Black codes were introduced, Black businesses were destroyed, and Black Americans were terrorized by the practice of lynching.

Sherrilyn Ifill explains how Black Americans' civil rights were curtailed through white supremacists' reactions to the 14th Amendment. The Civil Rights Acts unraveled gains made during Reconstruction, and Jim Crow laws were enacted in the South.

Angela Davis discusses what life was like for Black women after the end of slavery, and the unique experience of Black women in blues music.

Professor Cornel West explains the significance of Black love in all its forms-art, culture, family, community, and dignity-and why, despite trauma, Black Americans continue to create freedom fighters to spread Black joy and win liberty for all.

Jelani Cobb reveals the direct relationship between African Americans in the South and voter suppression efforts after the Civil War. Black Americans did not achieve all the rights of full citizenship until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, shares how Black American resistance has historically been a major democratizing force in America, and offers insight on the complicated relationship between Black citizens and patriotism.

Black Liberation Movement icon Angela Davis speaks to the importance of thinking about enslaved people as people much like us-and not objectifying them strictly as victims of a violent, inhumane economic system.