The 1619 Project

Brought to you by Penguin.

A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New American Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of Virginia bearing a cargo of 20 to 30 enslaved people 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 new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 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 is a 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.

Featuring contributions from:

• Leslie Alexander
• Michelle Alexander
• Carol Anderson
• Joshua Bennett
• Reginald Dwayne Betts
• Jamelle Bouie
• Anthea Butler
• Matthew Desmond
• Rita Dove
• Camille Dungy
• Cornelius Eady
• Eve L. Ewing
• Nikky Finney
• Vievee Francis
• Yaa Gyasi
• Forrest Hamer
• Terrance Hayes
• Kimberly Annece Henderson
• Jeneen Interlandi
• Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
• Barry Jenkins
• Tyehimba Jess
• Martha S. Jones
• Robert Jones, Jr.
• A. Van Jordan
• Ibram X. Kendi
• Eddie Kendricks
• Yusef Komunyakaa
• Kevin Kruse
• Kiese Laymon
• Trymaine Lee
• Jasmine Mans
• Terry McMillan
• Tiya Miles
• Wesley Morris
• Khalil Gibran Muhammad
• Lynn Nottage
• ZZ Packer
• Gregory Pardlo
• Darryl Pinckney
• Claudia Rankine
• Jason Reynolds
• Dorothy Roberts
• Sonia Sanchez
• Tim Seibles
• Evie Shockley
• Clint Smith
• Danez Smith
• Patricia Smith
• Tracy K. Smith
• Bryan Stevenson
• Nafissa Thompson-Spires
• Natasha Trethewey
• Linda Villarosa
• Jesmyn Ward