The 1619 Project and Articulations of Why Black Lives Matter
The 1619 Project and Articulations of Why Black Lives Matter
A UCI Collaboration
With Distinguished Guests
Thursday, October 8, 2020
5:00 p.m.
Online
The 1619 Project in 2020
The 1619 Project, published by the New York Times, retells the history of the U.S. by foregrounding the arrival 401 years ago of enslaved Africans to Virginia. Through a series of essays, photos, and podcasts, The 1619 Project charts the impact of slavery on the country’s founding principles, economy, health care system, racial segregation of neighborhoods, and popular music. Conversations around The 1619 Project have served as a flashpoint for intensive ideological debates about its content and impact. It has been both widely lauded and subjected to critiques from academics, journalists, pundits and policymakers who challenge its accuracy and its interpretation of history. Conservative politicians even seek to defund schools that teach the project. What is the power of The 1619 Project to reframe our understanding of U.S. history and our contemporary society? How might we go beyond The 1619 Project to develop an even fuller understanding of the centrality of slavery and race in the U.S. and in the broader Atlantic world? Join us for a month-long exploration of The 1619 Project, which culminates in the visit of Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of the project.
- Co-sponsored by UCI Humanities Center; UCI Illuminations; the UCI Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture & Inclusion; School of Humanities; Claire Trevor School of Arts; School of Education; School of Law; School of Social Sciences; UCI Libraries; Academic English; Composition; Center for Latin American Studies; Center for Medical Humanities; Literary Journalism and Center for Storytelling; International Center for Writing and Translation; Office of Inclusive Excellence; Student Affairs; Staff Assembly; AAPI Womxn in Leadership; and Academic Professional Women of UCI
Program will last for 60 minutes with an optional 30 minute discussion afterwards
This event kicks off a month-long exploration of The 1619 Project. Join us as we learn from UCI scholars.
Moderator
Sandra Harvey (African American Studies)
Panelists
Jessica Millward (History)
Davin Phoenix (Political Science)
Kaaryn Gustafson (Law)
Zachary Price (Drama)
Free admission with RSVP
Suggested Podcast/Readings
• The 1619 Podcast 1: “The Fight for a True Democracy”
• Jake Silverstein, Editor’s Note and Table of Contents, pp. 4-7
• 1619 Contributors, pp. 10-11
• Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Our Democracy’s founding ideals were false when they were written. Black Americans have fought to make them true,” pp. 14-22
• Tiya Miles, “Chained Migration: How Slavery Made its Way West,” pp. 22-26
• Jamelle Bouie, “American democracy has never shed an undemocratic assumption present at its founding: that some people are inherently entitled to more power than others,” pp. 50-55
• Shadow of the Past, p. 98