Be Bold: 1619 Creator Nikole Hannah-Jones on Reframing History
Public Narrative President Jhmira Lattice Alexander (l); Nikole Hannah-Jones (center), award winner, and Cheryl Corley of NPR, emcee of the event.
“This shows what happens when you tell the most difficult stories without fear,” says Nikole Hannah-Jones, accepting The Ripple Effect Award at the 25th annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards from Public Narrative in Chicago.
““This shows what happens when you tell the most difficult stories without fear,” says @nhannahjones, accepting The Ripple Effect Award at the 25th annual Studs Terkel Community Media Awards. #Terkel2019”
The New York Times columnist who created the 1619 Project of “print, audio podcasts, school curriculum, essays, stories, poetry and historic reframing” defining the context of 400 years of slavery in America, has received accolades and awards across the country for her effort. The goal is to tell the untold stories of slavery on the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship arriving in America.
“@Nytimes columnist @Nhannahjones created the #1619Project with the goal to tell the untold stories of slavery on the 400th anniversary of the first slave ship arriving in America. #WomenInJournalism”
The reception of 1619 that debuted in August 2019 is unprecedented with two print runs, a 30,000 person waiting list and adoption into school curriculum around the country. Hannah-Jones spearheaded a fundraising campaign to print an additional 200,000 copies to be distributed for free.
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All the contributors were persons of color. Hannah-Jones says, “Diversity is not just tokenism or feeling good. You do not just have to hire people, but empower them.”
“All the contributors were persons of color. @Nhannahjones says, “Diversity is not just tokenism or feeling good. You do not just have to hire people, but #empower them.” ”
Hannah-Jones, who was recently named for the fifth time to The Root 100, celebrating 100 of the most influential African Americans ages 25-45, demonstrates that a bold idea can create change—no matter the industry.
“@Nhannahjones, recently named for the fifth time to The Root 100 which celebrates 100 of the most influential African Americans ages 25-45, demonstrates that a bold idea can create #change. #BlackAchievement ”
“I pitched this radical reframing, saying 1619 is as important as 1776 to who we are as Americans,” Hannah-Jones says. “Those considered to be the least American were the most American of all.”
““I pitched this radical reframing, saying 1619 is as important as 1776 to who we are as Americans,” @nhannahjones says. #1619Project”
And with her idea that grew across platforms, she says she received from her editors and colleagues, “Not a second, not a bit of pushback on the entire issue.”
Hannah-Jones recently told PBS, “My grandmother died when I was still in college, and she would be astounded to see what I became. And I think that that's an important part of this story. We hear all the time what people consider the problems of the quote-unquote "black community" and people like to point out statistics that they think are indicative of black failure. But when we think that, as I point out in the magazine, I'm part of the first generation of black Americans in the history of this country who was born into a country where it was not legal to discriminate against me just because I descended from people from Africa. We've made tremendous progress in a very short period of time.”
Growing up in Waterloo, Iowa, whose family was part of The Great Migration, Hannah-Jones says, “My people were so country they got off the train a little early.”
She adds, “Any children can grow up with a sense of feeling empowered and not ashamed.”
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For Hannah-Jones, a multi-award-winning journalist and former MacArthur Fellow, it was in high school that the idea for 1619 was forming. “I became obsessed with 1619 in high school. In one history book, two paragraphs explored the Civil War. I felt empowered for the first time in my life. We had been there before the Mayflower.”
After graduating from University of Notre Dame in 1998, and earning a masters degree in 2003 at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Journalism and Mass Communication she began her journalism career at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C..
In 2006, she worked as a reporter at The Oregonian for six years and joined ProPublica as an investigative reporter in 2011, before joining the New York Times in 2015.
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In 2016, Nikole Hannah-Jones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a training and mentorship organization dedicated to increasing the ranks of investigative reporters of color.
“In 2016, @nhannahjones co-founded the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a training and #mentorship organization dedicated to increasing the ranks of investigative reporters of color.”
Accolades for her work are mounting, as she recently was a Gwen Ifill Award winner from the International Women’s Media Foundation, and is slated to receive the Front Page Award for Journalist of The Year from Newswomen’s Club of New York. Her latest book, The Problem We All Live With, is out in 2020.
The idea for 1619 was “to tell stories in a way that is truthful, and from that the project grew and grew,” Hannah Jones says. “I aged in presidential years.”
“The idea for #1619 was “to tell stories in a way that is truthful, and from that the project grew and grew,” @nhannahjones says. “I aged in presidential years.””
Hannah-Jones, author of the 2012 book, Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law, says telling the truth in stories is a driving force.
“My hope is that with 1619, this work will make it easier for the next journalists of color to do something radical and big. I didn’t know this would be the most important work of my life. I hope I have made our ancestors proud.”
“@Nhannahjones says, “My hope is that with #1619, this work will make it easier for the next journalists of color to do something radical and big.” #WOCJournalism ”
