Project 1619 has already reached bestseller status before publication
What a difference two years make. When New York Times and MacArthur “Genius” writer Nikole Hannah-Jones published The 1619 Project in August 2019, the heartbreaking collaborative special issue that challenged conventional American history “by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the national narrative of the United States”, she had no idea that she and her work would become the center of a national firestorm.
“Who would think that a single journalism job would become a Republican talking point, be in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, be named in legislation across the country?” Hannah-Jones asked during a recent interview with the Los Angeles Timesadding, “It’s all been very weird. But of course—and I think a lot of things have led up to where we are—1619 certainly played a role.
Controversy over her work has also found the investigative journalist and educator embroiled in a very public land battle earlier this year with her alma mater, the University of North Carolina, Hannah-Jones would finally decline UNC’s delayed tenure offer become a full professor at Howard University.
“Over the past two years I’ve become a symbol, whether it’s a symbol for people who love me and respect my work or a symbol for people who insult me and hate my work, and that’s been a very adjustment. hard for me to do,” Hannah-Jones later added. “I have to be careful about everything I say in the public sphere.”
Nevertheless, 1619 also earned Hannah-Jones a 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (more Seven consecutive pitches to The root 100), and a book and production deal with Penguin Random House and Oprah (also first announced here at The root). Now, it would have also earned it a spot on the bestseller list, ahead of the book’s debut on Tuesday, November 16.
Through HuffPost/AP:
The book “The 1619 Project” has already reached the top 100 on the bestseller lists of Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. online seller Librairie.org partnered with publisher One World, an imprint of Penguin Random House, for independent stores such as Reverie Books to donate copies to local libraries, schools, book banks and other local organizations.
The preventive success of 1619 in book form as ongoing measures to stem its distribution and teaching in the American classroom is no small feat; as HuffPost notes:
In 2021, Republican objections to the 1619 Project and critical race theory led to widespread legislative action. According to Jonathan Friedman, director of free speech and education at PEN America, dozens of bills across the country have been proposed or signed into law that call for various restrictions on books deemed immoral or unpatriotic. Two bills passed in Texas specifically mention The 1619 Project.
“When you look at the current critical race theory movement, you can see some of its origins in the struggle for The 1619 Project“, added Friedman.
Whether or not it is project materials, including the children’s picture book The 1619 Project: Born on Waterwhich will be released simultaneously on Tuesday with The 1619 Project delivered— will arrive in classrooms in right-wing states and districts remains to be debated. However, although Hannah-Jones did not originally design 1619 for children, as Jess Lifshitz, a fifth-grade literacy teacher in Chicago, explains to HuffPost/AP:
“born on water honors what children are capable of struggling with and struggling with, and I think so many books written for children underestimate what they are capable of,” says Lifshitz. “With all the tension surrounding adults, it’s sometimes hard to remember what a beautiful picture book that tells an accurate story about history can do for the kids sitting in the room.”
As for the adult compilation, readers can expect “a new origin story” from a wide range of voices and a new format including HuffPost/AP poetry reporting intervals:
Contributors range from award-winning authors on poverty and racial justice such as Matthew Desmond, Bryan Stevenson and Michelle Alexander, to Oscar-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins, “Waiting to Exhale” novelist Terry McMillan and twice-time author Jesmyn Ward. winner. National Fiction Book Award.
Along with essays on religion, music, politics, medicine, and other topics, the book includes poems by Pulitzer Laureates Tracy K. Smith, Yusef Komunyakaa, Rita Dove, and Natasha Trethewey.
Corrected: Monday 11/15/21 6:55 PM ET: An earlier version of this article stated that Hannah-Jones was on The root 100 three years in a line. She actually made our list seven consecutive yearsmaking her one of the most constant presences of The root 100.
