# The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story is a 2021 anthology of essays and poetry, published by One World (an imprint of Random House) 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

| Section | Writer | Genre |
| Preface: "Origins" | Nikole Hannah-Jones | Nonfiction |
| "The White Lion" | Claudia Rankine | Poem |
| Chapter 1: "Democracy" | Nikole Hannah-Jones | Nonfiction |
| "Daughters of Azimuth" | Nikky Finney | Poem |
| "Loving Me" | Vievee Francis | Poem |
| Chapter 2: "Race" | Dorothy Roberts | Nonfiction |
| "Conjured" | Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | Poem |
| "A Ghazalled Sentence After 'My People...Hold On' by Eddie Kendricks and the Negro Act of 1740", | Terrance Hayes | Poem |
| Chapter 3: "Sugar" | Khalil Gibran Muhammad | Nonfiction |
| "First to Rise" | Yusef Komunyakaa | Poem |
| "proof [dear Phillis]" | Eve L. Ewing | Poem |
| Chapter 4: "Fear" | Leslie Alexander and Michelle Alexander | Nonfiction |
| "Freedom Is Not for Myself Alone" | Robert Jones Jr. | Fiction |
| "Other Persons" | Reginald Dwayne Betts | Poem |
| Chapter 5: "Dispossession" | Tiya Miles | Nonfiction |
| "Trouble the Water" | Barry Jenkins | Fiction |
| "Sold South" | Jesmyn Ward | Fiction |
| Chapter 6: "Capitalism" | Matthew Desmond | Nonfiction |
| "Fort Mose" | Tyehimba Jess | Poem |
| "Before His Execution" | Tim Seibles | Poem |
| Chapter 7: "Politics" | Jamelle Bouie | Nonfiction |
| "We as People" | Cornelius Eady | Poem |
| "A Letter to Harriet Hayden" | Lynn Nottage | Monologue |
| Chapter 8: "Citizenship" | Martha S. Jones | Nonfiction |
| "The Camp" | Darryl Pinckney | Fiction |
| "An Absolute Massacre" | ZZ Packer | Fiction |
| Chapter 9: "Self-defense" | Carol Anderson | Nonfiction |
| "Like to the Rushing of a Mighty Wind" | Tracy K. Smith | Poem |
| "no car for colored [+] ladies (or, miss wells goes off [on] the rails)" | Evie Shockley | Poem |
| Chapter 10: "Punishment" | Bryan Stevenson | Nonfiction |
| "Race Riot" | Forrest Hamer | Poem |
| "Greenwood" | Jasmine Mans | Poem |
| Chapter 11: "Inheritance" | Trymaine Lee | Nonfiction |
| "The New Negro" | A. Van Jordan | Poem |
| "Bad Blood" | Yaa Gyasi | Fiction |
| Chapter 12: "Medicine" | Linda Villarosa | Nonfiction |
| "1955" | Danez Smith | Poem |
| "From Behind the Counter" | Terry McMillan | Fiction |
| Chapter 13: "Church" | Anthea Butler | Nonfiction |
| "Youth Sunday" | Rita Dove | Poem |
| "On 'Brevity'" | Camille T. Dungy | Poem |
| Chapter 14: "Music" | Wesley Morris | Nonfiction |
| "Quotidian" | Natasha Trethewey | Poem |
| "The Panther Is a Virtual Animal" | Joshua Bennett | Poem |
| Chapter 15: "Healthcare" | Jeneen Interlandi | Nonfiction |
| "Unbought, Unbossed, Unbothered" | Nafissa Thompson-Spires | Fiction |
| "Crazy When You Smile" | Patricia Smith | Poem |
| Chapter 16: "Traffic" | Kevin M. Kruse | Nonfiction |
| "Rainbows Aren't Real, Are They?" | Kiese Laymon | Poem |
| "A Surname to Honor Their Mother" | Gregory Pardlo | Poem |
| Chapter 17: "Progress" | Ibram X. Kendi | Nonfiction |
| "At the Superdome After the Storm Has Passed" | Clint Smith | Poem |
| "Mother and Son" | Jason Reynolds | Fiction |
| Chapter 18: "Justice" | Nikole Hannah-Jones | Nonfiction |
| "Progress Report" | Sonia Sanchez | Poem |

## Reception

The 1619 Project debuted at number one on The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list for the week ending November 20, 2021.
On Book Marks, from nine critics: six "rave", two "positive", and one "mixed". It received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Booklist included it in a list of the magazine's top 10 history books of 2021. An American Heritage survey found that The 1619 Project was one of its readership's 15 favorite books published in 2021.