Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by New York Times Company, Nikole Hannah-Jones

18 reviews

kurtwombat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

 

This staggering work seeks to reset our understanding of slavery and its lingering aftermath—to take our limited view of history and expand it dramatically—like an empty balloon suddenly filled. It does so with a collection of essays that approach our American history and our American present from many different angles—political, economic, geographic, psychological, sociological etc. The essays are bridged by recollections and poetry and short fiction that act as palate cleansers before the plunge into the next demanding chapter.  I listened to the 18+ hour audiobook and enjoyed the different voices—especially when the bridges were performed. The spoken narration drew me out of myself and I believe I was more receptive to the information. The bridges reaffirmed what the chapters had to say or prefaced what was to come.  The essays themselves vary in quality and impact but as a collection 1619 packs quite a wallop—alternately inspiring outrage and sadness but always inspiring. I understand the desire to add this to school curriculums—and even to create entire courses around it (I think in some form or another it should be in every school until our educational system improves enough to grow beyond it)—but I would encourage close monitoring for younger readers. Some of this material, making up the fabric of our nation, covers the worst of what humanity is capable—horrific  brutality the thread of which still runs through today.  Indeed much of the impact comes from blending the intimate with the big picture—looking into the eyes of history. I see this book as kind of a solution guide. I knew there was a puzzle and I could see some of the pieces and suspected there were others but I had no idea how many or how they all fit together. If you doubt the need for such a book, take a look at a few of the one star reviews—filled with the kind of negative passion born of ignorance and fear. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Police brutality, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Racism, Slavery, and Torture

A fantastic must read by all Americans. Suggest pre-high schoolers read with parental supervision.

lmfry's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Genocide, Police brutality, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Trafficking, Slavery, Rape, Racism, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Gaslighting, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Child abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

alphawolfe13's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.0

It is an informative and enlightening book. In my opinion the writing can be a little repetitive to the point I feel like I'm reading previous chapters. I would have preferred a chronological dive into events and how they shaped history over bouncing from topic to topic. Otherwise, I'm excited to use this in my classroom in order to better help students understand the black experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, Bullying, and Slavery

Moderate: Suicide, Cursing, Torture, Racial slurs, and Racism

mentalish's review

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Slavery, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Rape, Trafficking, and Racial slurs

madamenovelist's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Torture, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Essential reading for anyone and everyone in order to understand America, American history, and present-day problems America faces.

tlaynejones's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Slavery, Medical trauma, Medical content, Murder, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Classism, Police brutality, Rape, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Gaslighting, Deportation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Violence, Sexual violence, and Torture

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

relaxing

5.0

“For generations we have believed in this country with faith it did not deserve. Black people have seen the worst in America yet somehow, we still believe in its best.”- The 1619 project 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Police brutality, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Vomit, Rape, Trafficking, and War

readandfindout's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Hate crime, Torture, War, Physical abuse, Death, Murder, Colonisation, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

lilacs_book_bower's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

This is a collection of essays that are well worth reading, and cover the many contributions made by enslaved people and later by the freed Black people to America, whether economic, medical, religious, and the arts.  It is really unfortunate that a lot of this will be new information to people due to the white washing of history that is taught in a lot of schools.  Some of the essays are very hard to read due to the content, but it is important to know what really happened with the horrible ways Black people were enslaved, punished, or killed just for "succeeding" in life, because without understanding and acknowledging that, we cannot begin to move forward in reconciliation and reparations.  The ramifications of what happened in 1619 are still echoing down through the centuries today and influencing vast aspects of American life.  Some of the early history essays covered familiar ground for me (Government BA with a lot of History classes), so I personally enjoyed more the topics on Medicine, religion, art, etc, but there are some excellent essays there for people less familiar with that early history.  And even so, I still learned from those early essays.  The only reason I don't give this a full 5 stars is that a few of the essays did feel a bit repetitive, covering essentially the same ground.  A few essays felt a bit too short and I wished they had been expanded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Slavery, Trafficking, Cultural appropriation, Classism, Grief, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual assault, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Sexual violence

mysterymom40's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Racism, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Torture, Slavery, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Police brutality, Child death, Colonisation, and Forced institutionalization