Pricey readers, I’m so excited I can hardly include myself. A few of it’s possible you’ll know that “The 1619 Mission: A New Origin Mission” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah Jones is coming to our tv screens. On January 26, we are able to watch the newest iteration of Jones’s efforts on Hulu as a part of a six-part restricted docu-series.
A blurb within the New York Occasions in regards to the upcoming movie mentioned, “In step with the unique undertaking, the collection seeks to reframe the nation’s historical past by inserting the results of slavery and the contributions of Black Individuals on the very middle of our nationwide narrative. The episodes — ‘Democracy,’ ‘Race,’ ‘Music,’ ‘Capitalism,’ ‘Worry’ and ‘Justice’ — are tailored from essays from The New York Occasions No. 1 best-selling ‘The 1619 Mission: A New Origin Story’and look at how the legacy of slavery shapes totally different features of up to date American life.”
Jones’s 1619 Mission first appeared within the New York Occasions roughly two years in the past. The articles had been met essential acclaim and a podcast adopted swimsuit. Public boards and lesson plans for faculties had been additionally a part of the bigger dialog about this essential undertaking. As Jones and her colleagues laid out naked truths in regards to the origins and realities of the “American experiment,” their work articulated details that had been plain. Nonetheless, that is America, so detractors invented theories and baseless complaints in regards to the info introduced within the 1619 Mission—and Jones addressed and rebutted every criticism with a surgeon’s precision.
This new visible undertaking will additional assist Individuals perceive the essence of the 1619 Mission. As I argue in my grio.com podcast The Blackest Questions every week, Black historical past is American historical past. Jones makes it abundantly clear that we can not perceive this nation with out first understanding the interconnected methods of politics and capitalism…previous and current. The 1619 Mission tackles all the pieces from migration to music to mass incarceration.
I’m excited to see how Jones and her group carry these essential points to the display. Many people bear in mind watching docu-series like “Eyes on the Prize” to assist us perceive race and racism in America. This Twenty first-century evaluation will assist new generations of Black and non-Black individuals higher perceive this nation.
When you have not carried out so already, make sure you buy The 1619 Mission out of your native bookseller. You may as well learn excerpts on www.pulitzercenter.org and seek for “The 1619 Mission.” And don’t overlook to tune into the docu-series on Hulu starting January 26. We should assist this essential work and unfold the phrase to our communities. We can not let individuals try and erase the realities of the brutal beginnings of this nation. By studying and watching the 1619 Mission, we’re contributing to a collective and essential truth-telling undertaking.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an affiliate professor at Fordham College; writer of Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream; and co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.
