A review by kurtwombat
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones

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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