This is one of the most important books I will ever read. This sat unread on my shelf for over a year because I was intimidated by the size and the content. But I am so so glad I finally picked it up. I read this with a (white) friend, and it made the experience that much more impactful. I feel like I got more out of it being able to discuss the different ways slavery and racism still impact our society today and how we have benefitted from white privilege.

I highly recommend reading this book. I knew that what I learned in school was not completely accurate, but I did not realize HOW inaccurate. This book taught me so much, but also made me realize how much more learning I have to do. I never doubted systemic racism was still ingrained in America today, but this book showed me so much of where our racist laws, regulations, policies, and systems came from and how they are able to continue to persist.

One of the biggest takeaways that I had from reading The 1619 Project was that African Americans and Black Americans built this nation and have fought so hard and contributed so much to make it what it is today, but this country continually treats them as less than. That despite being enslaved and being threaten terribly, Black people in the early days of America wanted to be a part of this country and experience the freedom they deserved. The stories of resilience in this book really stood out to me.

Again, I can’t recommend this book enough. I am so thankful to Nikole and all of the authors that contributed to this book. In between each chapter, there are poems, short stories, and photos that really add to painting a picture of the history of our country. This book really shows how much perspective affects our interpretations and teaching of history.