The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience

by Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine

An illustrated edition of The 1619 Project, with newly commissioned artwork and archival images, The New York Times Magazine's award-winning reframing of the American founding and its contemporary echoes, placing slavery and resistance at the center of the American story.

Here, in these pages, Black art provides refuge. 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. --Nikole Hannah-Jones, from the Preface

Curated by the editors of The New York Times Magazine, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, this illustrated edition of The 1619 Project features seven chapters from the original book that lend themselves to beautiful, engaging visuals, deepening the experience of the content. The 1619 A Visual Experience offers the same revolutionary idea as the original book, an argument for a new national origin story that begins in late August of 1619, when a cargo ship of enslaved people from Africa arrived on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia. Only by reckoning with this difficult history and understanding its powerful influence on our present can we prepare ourselves for a more just future. 

Filled with original art by thirteen Black artists like Carrie Mae Weems, Calida Rawles, Vitus Shell, Xaviera Simmons, on the themes of resistance and freedom, a brand-new photo essay about slave auction sites, vivid photos of Black Americans celebrating their own forms of patriotism, and a collection of archival images of Black families by Black photographers, this gorgeous volume offers readers a dynamic new way of experiencing the impact of The 1619 Project.

Complete with many of the powerful essays and vignettes from the original edition, written by some of the most brilliant journalists, scholars, and thinkers of our time, The 1619 A Visual Experience brings to life a fuller, more comprehensive understanding of American history and culture.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Art, Social Justice, Race, Politics, American

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 22, 2024

About the author

Nikole Hannah-Jones is an American investigative journalist known for her coverage of civil rights in the United States. In April 2015, she became a staff writer for The New York Times.

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

The images were beautiful, haunting, powerful, and moving. The book contains a few chapters from the previous book, published in 2021, which I have already read. I enjoyed seeing some of the never-before-seen photos and artwork inspired by Black history. A great addition to the 1619 Project catalog.

[Phyllis | Mocha Drop · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Emilie · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.”

[Natalie Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

The images in the book are stunning and tell the story in a different way than the original book. They inform, show beauty and devastation, and bring forth different emotions and feelings in a way the pictures can only do.

[Jennifer Worrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the history lesson I didn't know I needed. It's naturally on banned book lists, but as usual, this is one that should be taught rather than avoided. The photography only enriches the experience.

Though this one would be better suited to 8th grade and above, there is a picture book that touches on the basic themes that's wholly suitable for young children.

[Kelly Hodgkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I read this version instead of the first "non-visual" book, but I'll get around to it at some point. This will count as a banned book for my 2025 reading challenge.

This is a collection of linked essays by different writers interspaced with illustrations and art chapters, each chapter corresponding to specific themes. The art chapters are gorgeous and thoughtfully curated. Like most collections with many authors, the essays vary wildly in quality, but the first two in particular shine, focusing on themes Democracy and then Race, explaining the exactly what 1619 means and focusing on the history of democracy as it truly applied to actual people and the history of the concept of race in America. I was frequently distracted by the illustrations in Race in particular, stopping frequently to see if I could find more about the people in the documents reproduced.

It's mostly a great, heavy read with illustrations that generally add the message. I'll definitely pick up the original book later this year to see what I'm missing, but I'm not sorry to start with this one.

[Daniel Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recall already writing a review for this book because it is my favorite of all the 1619 project books (including children's books and the original). I appreciated how the photos brought history (recent and much less recent) into view so it's more than just words on a page.
I went through it twice- first, just looking at the photos, their captions, and anything on the nearby pages that caught my attention. After I finished that (the same day I got the book), I took my time going through it in more depth. If you're someone who only likes to look at photos/captions, you can still learn a LOT.

[Scott Satterwhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent companion to the original "1619 Project," both the book and the docuseries. The images are powerful, strong, tragic, and sometimes heartwarming, and work well with the text. In this book, Hannah-Jones makes the argument that these stories need to be told in connection with American history classes as this is an American story, and maybe the most honest of American stories. Thank you to Nikole Hannah-Jones for sparking this conversation and braving the fiercest backlash I've ever seen on a book to continue to tell these stories. Bravo.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Though I received this book through a giveaway, all opinions are my own****

I truly wish I could articulate my feelings and thoughts properly for this amazing book and collection of photography. (I'll update this review if I can find the proper words!) It hits hard and stays with you. I've been told it's been added to the 'banned book' list, which is predictable considering the country we're dealing with. Please(!) give this book a try. It's worth it.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really well done expansion of the initial work. I definitely think make this a "visual experience" adds to the essays and information provided as well as supporting artists of colour when making works to suit certian themes. I'm very glad I read this and feel much more informed than I previously did.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

[Diane Rembert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book educates the readers on historical events beginning in the year 1619. Many believe our history began in 1776, which Christopher Columbus bumped into what we now know is the United States.

What makes this edition different is the visual effects. I recommend it for households that include young adults, who are eager to learn the actual story of our roots.

[Katerine Maher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moving

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and perfectly curated to pair images that kept making me go back to read the text again. This is a book to pick up and take in small pieces so that I can come back to it over and over.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful addition to the original

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book!!

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book

[Jeremy Enfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely the most beautiful book I ever received

[Peter Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fake, gay, and thoroughly debunked.

[Betsy Starks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, The 1619: A Visual Experience, is a graphic history of slavery in America. It is passionate. The insightful text is accompanied by beautiful, yet sometimes terrifying photographs. Every school should teach this history, but of course, that seldom is the case. Therefore, every American should read this book. I am old enough to have lived through some of this history and seen some progress, but not enough. My only complaint is that the book is too heavy to hold.
I appreciate having received this book from Goodreads and the promise to review it honestly.