NYACP Racial Equity Media Club Book Discussion

"1619 Project" by Nicole Hannah Jones

~ NOTE NEW TIME AND DAY~
Thursday, September 26, 2024
12:00-1:00pm
via Zoom

RSVP for 9/26/2024

As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting racial equity and addressing systemic racism, the NYACP Racial Equity Media Club is thrilled to be starting our new year with the book "1619 Project" by Nicole Hannah Jones.

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story is a 2021 anthology of essays and poetry, published by One World on November 16, 2021. 

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of twenty to thirty people stolen from Africa. Their arrival led to the barbaric and unprecedented system of American chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. This is sometimes referred to as the country’s original sin, but it is more than that: It is the source of so much that still defines the United States.

The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning 1619 Project issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This book substantially expands on that work, weaving together eighteen essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with thirty-six poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance. The essays show how the inheritance of 1619 reaches into every part of contemporary American society, from politics, music, diet, traffic, and citizenship to capitalism, religion, and our democracy itself.

This book that speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction—and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.

You can purchase the book on Amazon HERE.

We encourage you to read the book before the discussion to ensure an engaging and insightful conversation. 

Join us as we come together to learn, grow, and advocate for racial equity in our work as collaborative professionals. Together, we can foster positive change and address systemic racism within our communities.

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." –Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution

For some time, the NYACP has been engaged in ongoing conversations about how to support anti-racist work and broaden knowledge and representation within our membership. In 2023, we launched the Racial Equity Committee to facilitate different avenues to increase awareness on issues surrounding racial equity and justice. 

Aside from providing ongoing training programs and discussions for the NYACP membership, the Racial Equity Media Club was created. Every other month there will be a video or book that Club members will view or read a specific selection and then discuss as a group at a Club meeting. Eblasts will go out for each meeting and registration to each meeting will be required. Registration links are below.

There are also suggestions on the website HERE to read, view, and listen to regarding racial equity for your own personal reference.

If you would like more information about the Racial Equity Committee, please contact the NYACP Office.

Both the NYACP Media Club and the media resource list below are intended to encourage engagement with materials and subjects that may be normally overlooked, and to engage our members to be open to different perspectives and experiences.

Log in information will be sent to you in a confirmation email. 

These meetings are for NYACP Members Only.  

Future Meetings: Please mark your calendars!

Film -11/21 -12 Years a Slave

Book - 1/23 - The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

February Field Trip - Date and Location TBD

Film: 3/27 - Just Mercy

Book 5/22 Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

June Field Trip- Date and Location TBD