The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story
# The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story is a 2021 anthology of essays and poetry, published by Random House's One World imprint on November 16, 2021. It is a book-length expansion of the essays presented in the 1619 Project issue of The New York Times Magazine in August 2019. The book was created by Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine, and is edited by Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman and Jake Silverstein.

On January 26, 2023, The 1619 Project documentary television series based on the original project and book debuted on Hulu.

## Contents

* Preface: "Origins" by Nikole Hannah-Jones
* "The White Lion", poem by Claudia Rankine
* "Democracy" by Nikole Hannah-Jones
   * "Daughters of Azimuth", poem by Nikky Finney
   * "Loving Me", poem by Vievee Francis
* "Race" by Dorothy Roberts
   * "Conjured", poem by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
   * "A Ghazalled Sentence After "My People...Hold On" by Eddie Kendricks and the Negro Act of 1740", poem by Terrance Hayes
* "Sugar" by Khalil Gibran Muhammad
   * "First to Rise", poem by Yusef Komunyakaa
   * "proof [dear Phillis]", poem by Eve L. Ewing
* "Fear" by Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander
   * "Freedom Is Not for Myself Alone", fiction by Robert Jones, Jr.
   * "Other Persons", poem by Reginald Dwayne Betts
* "Dispossession" by Tiya Miles
   * "Trouble the Water", fiction by Barry Jenkins
   * "Sold South", fiction by Jesmyn Ward
* "Capitalism" by Matthew Desmond
   * "Fort Mose", poem by Tyehimba Jess
   * "Before His Execution", poem by Tim Seibles
* "Politics" by Jamelle Bouie
   * "We as People", poem by Cornelius Eady
   * "A Letter to Harriet Hayden", monologue by Lynn Nottage
* "Citizenship" by Martha S. Jones
   * "The Camp", fiction by Darryl Pinckney
   * "An Absolute Massacre", fiction by ZZ Packer
* "Self-defense" by Carol Anderson
   * "Like to the Rushing of a Mighty Wind", poem by Tracy K. Smith
   * "no car for colored [+] ladies (or, miss wells goes off [on] the rails)", poem by Evie Shockley
* "Punishment" by Bryan Stevenson
   * "Race Riot", poem by Forrest Hamer
   * "Greenwood", poem by Jasmine Mans
* "Inheritance" by Trymaine Lee
   * "The New Negro", poem by A. Van Jordan
   * "Bad Blood", fiction by Yaa Gyasi
* "Medicine" by Linda Villarosa
   * "1955", poem by Danez Smith
   * "From Behind the Counter", fiction by Terry McMillan
* "Church" by Anthea Butler
   * "Youth Sunday", poem by Rita Dove
   * "On "Brevity"", poem by Camille T. Dungy
* "Music" by Wesley Morris
   * "Quotidian", poem by Natasha Trethewey
   * "The Panther Is a Virtual Animal", poem by Joshua Bennett
* "Healthcare" by Jeneen Interlandi
   * "Unbought, Unbossed, Unbothered", fiction by Nafissa Thompson-Spires
   * "Crazy When You Smile", poem by Patricia Smith
* "Traffic" by Kevin M. Kruse
   * "Rainbows Aren't Real, Are They?", fiction by Kiese Laymon
   * "A Surname to Honor Their Mother", poem by Gregory Pardlo
* "Progress" by Ibram X. Kendi
   * "At the Superdome After the Storm Has Passed", poem by Clint Smith
   * "Mother and Son", fiction by Jason Reynolds
* "Justice" by Nikole Hannah-Jones
   * "Progress Report", poem by Sonia Sanchez

## Reception

Numerous historians criticized the book for factual and historical inaccuracies, inconsistency, or exaggeration. The most frequent issue historians take issue with is that Hannah-Jones claims "...that the patriots fought the American Revolution in large part to preserve slavery in North America."; a claim that is contested by historians as not holding up to a review of the historical record.

The book debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending November 20, 2021.

