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Nikole Hannah-Jones discussed racial injustice and segregation at Syracuse University and beyond during a lecture Thursday evening. 

Hannah-Jones, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, is best known for her work on The 1619 Project, a collection of stories and essays published in The New York Times Magazine that examines slavery’s legacy in the United States and highlights Black Americans’ contributions to the country.

During the hour-long Zoom event, Hannah-Jones traced her journalism career back to her first column in her high school’s newspaper, in which she investigated if Jesus Christ was Black. Hannah-Jones joined the paper because she recognized a lack of stories including Black student voices.

“The only reason I ever became a journalist was because I wanted to write about Black folks,” Hannah-Jones said. “But many of the institutions I worked for had a different idea of the kind of journalist they wanted me to be. Like many Black and brown journalists, I was told I was too biased.”

About nine years ago, Hannah-Jones almost left journalism entirely. Newsrooms regularly rejected her story ideas and told her that stories centering on Black peoples’ experiences were not newsworthy, she said.

But Hannah-Jones couldn’t envision herself pursuing anything other than journalism. If she had left the industry, Hannah-Jones said The 1619 Project, one of her most notable pieces, may have never existed.

The 1619 Project, which derives its name from the year that enslaved Black people first arrived in America, demonstrates that diversity is not about political correctness, but about producing quality work, Hannah-Jones said.

“I wanted Americans to know the date 1619,” Hannah-Jones said. “That was my most ambitious goal.”

Hannah-Jones said she was intentional in the language she used to describe racism throughout the history of the U.S. and its present. Referring to laws that upheld racism as “Jim Crow laws” instead of racial apartheid or legalized racism, for example, downplays the true nature of what Black people in the U.S. went through, Hannah-Jones said.

Through The 1619 Project, Hannah-Jones hopes to change the language people in the U.S. use to discuss racial oppression.

Hannah-Jones also addressed some of the backlash she has received for the project.

President Donald Trump has disparaged The 1619 Project and has threatened to cut funding from schools that use the project in their curriculum. Others have contended the project overlooks other aspects of Black Americans’ experiences, such as the African diaspora, Hannah-Jones said. 

“I produced the project that I wanted to create,” Hannah-Jones said. “It was never going to be everything to everyone.”

When asked about the #NotAgainSU movement’s protests against racism at SU, Hannah-Jones, who’s been to Syracuse and SU’s campus several times, described the city and campus as “extremely segregated.” #NotAgainSU, a movement led by Black students, protested SU’s response to a slew of racist incidents reported in the fall and spring of last academic year.

It’s up to U.S. institutions, including universities, to make the reparations necessary to address segregation and the lasting impact of slavery, Hannah-Jones said. 

The 1619 Project will expand next year. Two book versions of the project — an adult version and a children’s book — will be released next fall. Hannah-Jones has also partnered with Oprah and Lionsgate to turn the project into a TV documentary series. 

Published on October 9, 2020 at 12:03 pm

Contact Sarah: scalessa@syr.edu | @sarahalessan