It has been a month since I finished reading The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience by Nikole Hannah-Jones; The New York Times Magazine and I am still reflecting on it. I have started following a number of the artists included. It is hard to explain the impact this book has on the reader, it is heartbreaking, moving, and activating. It reminds one of what one knows factually transpired but fleshes out the long-lasting impact these historic events have had and continue to have in our day-to-day lives.

I am not American, I am South African. This is not a book that requires this story to be your history to be relatable and teaching. The visuals give new depth to this unique historical approach. It has been criticised and banned, it is also necessary and shocking. The canvas from 1619 to today is huge, it is a story of damage and hurt created by those repressing and abusing humans of a different skin tone.

Nikole Hannah-Jones closes her preface with this sentence and it sums it up perfectly “The marriage of beautiful, haunting, and profound words and imagery creates an experience for the reader, a wanting to reflect, to sit in both the discomfort and the joy, to contemplate what a nation owes a people who have contributed so much and yet received so little, and maybe even, to act.”

I cannot recommend it highly enough, it is a phenomenal body of work. The art is amazing as is the poetry. The prose is eloquent and insightful. It is a five out of five on the enJOYment scale.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Clarkson Potter/ Ten Speed Press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience by Nikole Hannah-Jones offers, through the visuals accompanying the insightful text, an experience that at times is even more impactful than the original book.

I would hesitate to rate one way of telling the history better than the other. I happen to like pictures and artifacts with my history, it makes it feel completer and more whole to me. But that is personal preference. If you like to have something to visually engage you then I think you will enjoy this book a great deal. Frankly, I would recommend all of the work incorporated in the larger project. So much history has been either ignored, erased, or sugar-coated that we need to have different perspectives on what we know as well as the many things we never learned.

This will certainly appeal to anyone truly interested in history and how that history impacts our current society. Just look at the 1-star comments to see the types of people who are afraid of history unless it suits them. This is also the kind of work that offers a great opportunity for parents to discuss both the history itself (yes, in conjunction with some of the slanted histories) as well as how in every aspect of life we need to consider who is telling any story. We all tend to tell the parts we prefer, though many of us try to be as fair as possible to ideas and events we don't agree with. Teach how to listen to everyone's stories, but listen critically and then seek storytellers who might offer a different perspective.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Insisting on 1619, the year the first enslaved Africans docked in Virginia, as a starting point, Nikole Hannah-Jones stresses that “slavery predates nearly every other institution in the United States”. From the brutal artefacts of slavery to recent photos of old auction sites, we are introduced to a contemporary American identity not tarnished by slavery or racism but grown interdependently.
She remembers a school assignment asking students to draw the flag of their ancestral lands. “Slavery had erased any connection we had to an African country, and even if we tried to claim the whole continent, there was no “African” flag.” Denied an African identity as much as an American one, Hannah-Jones illustrates the consequent evolution of African-American culture from music to names to language.
“We were told once, by virtue of our bondage, that we could never be American. But it was by virtue of our bondage that we become the most American of all.”

How do you improve The 1619 Project? By adding commissioned artwork and archival images. You will be emotional reading the book and viewing the images. I didn’t think you could make the writing more powerful, it is such an important and much needed writting, but the visuals add so much to the narrative.

Thank you NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press | Clarkson Potterto.#The1619ProjectAVisualExperience #NetGalley

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Growing up conservative, I thought theses events were LONG ago and everything is equal. As an adult, i've seen that some of these figures existed in my parents lifetime. MLK would be in his 90s today.
It's important to keep these issues talked about. It's important for us to accept these hard truths and work toward change. I live in Louisville and I know people who knew Breonna. I've seen firsthand the issues conservatives refuse to accept. Listen, learn, change.

This is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful book. It spans centuries and brings us all the way to today. These voices need to be heard and this visual experience is an incredible way to show the history. This is a powerful book and it left me needing to know even more of the truth.

As the founder of Rock 'n' Roll Highway, my journey through the musical landscapes of the South has always been about uncovering the roots of the music that shaped American culture. But nothing prepared me for the depth and intensity of The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience. This book is a profound exploration of African American history, told through a powerful blend of words and imagery that both enlightens and haunts.

From the first moment I opened this book, I was struck by its beauty. The visual experience crafted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and the editors of The New York Times Magazine is nothing short of stunning. The original artwork by thirteen Black artists and the archival images create a visceral connection to the history being told—a history that places slavery and resistance at the very heart of the American story.

For someone who has spent years celebrating the music born out of the African American experience, this book hit especially close to home. The 1619 Project doesn’t just tell the story of slavery—it reveals how that painful history is deeply intertwined with the music we celebrate today. From the brutal beginnings of “jungle music” during the time of the first enslaved Africans to the birth of jazz, blues, rock 'n' roll, and hip-hop, this book comprehensively explains how the African American struggle shaped the sounds that define our culture.

Traveling through the Delta and New Orleans, I’ve always felt a deep connection to the music that rose from these regions. But The 1619 Project deepens that connection by framing this music within the larger context of resistance and survival. The book’s essays and visuals make it impossible to separate the joy of the music from the pain of the history that created it.

This is not just a book; it’s an experience. It challenges you to sit with the discomfort of America’s past while celebrating Black Americans' resilience and creativity. It’s a book that every person interested in the history of American music should read, but it’s also much more than that. It’s a necessary reflection on what this nation owes to a people who have given so much yet received so little in return.

The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience is a must-read—five stars doesn’t even begin to capture its impact. Whether you’re a music lover, a history enthusiast, or simply want to understand America more fully, this book will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. It’s a testament to the power of art and history to reshape our understanding of the world, and I highly recommend it to everyone who cares about the story of America.

A stunning companion to the important 1619 Project text that came out previously. This book is jam-packed full of beautiful pictures, history, and culture. This would make a fantastic gift.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

For those who have already read the phenomenal work, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, this offering is a lovely complement to the original masterpiece in that it offers visuals to convey what sometimes words cannot. There’s an expression: A picture is worth a thousand words – this book is about half the size but still remains as informative and inspiring as the original. The selected photos are chosen with care and purpose -- “FUBU” vibes: taken by African American photographers, featuring African American subjects living their lives as best as they could, and includes some that are painful, but necessary to tell the entire story of the American experience(s) that touch on key topics and underlying themes such as resistance,. patriotism, and freedom.

Simply put – this is American history and should be included in school curriculums. Sadly, it isn’t, thus it should be purchased, studied, and treasured in every home.

Thanks to the publisher, Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press | Clarkson Potter, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.