1619 Project

I was a Republican for a few years, but now that all the insurrecting destruction has taken hold of them,  I have reverted to just being a plain old American. E Pluribus Unum.

In the last year or so, the party of Trump/Jordan had been tossing around this “woke” term, which I didn’t quite understand, although the general drift of the so-called woke term seemed to indicate that there was something wrong about the “woke” movement.

 After a while, I noticed that the “woke” term was somehow associated with something called the 1619 project. 

Then I figured out, a few days ago, that I could discover more about what this 1619 project actually is, by watching the documentary that Nicole Hannah-Jones had made. So I watched it on Hulu, and learned a lot about the experience of growing up black in a country that is—truth be told— dominated by white people.

I did learn a lot.

Having spent nine years of my 1950’s childhood in Jackson, Mississippi, I did have, from an early age, a perspective on these controversies. Now that I have watched Nicole’s historical opus, I know more than I did before, so I can attest that her labor of love does indeed present educational—and even redemptive—value.

Reflecting now on what has happened in my lifetime, and in the lifetime of this nation, I must say that, while we white folks did indeed have an obvious emphasis on 1620, we seem to have overlooked the 1619 aspect of American history.

So Nicole has covered that for us, with her 1619 Project, right from its start:

She has prepared quite the educational documentary. Giving an early nod to Alex Haley’s Roots,

 she raises some definitive historical issues with respect to the plight to of black folks and their tribulations, since their arrival here in 1619, a year before our honky brethren arrived at Plymouth in 1620.

It’s definitely something to think about. Live and learn, no matter what hurdles and obstructions may be encountered. 

I mean, for instance,  look what Berry Gordy did up there in Detroit, with Motown. 

Although, there’s a lot more to black history than Motown, or even Memphis or Atlanta or Chicago or Harlem or Birmingham or Bessemer. For instance, Nicole concludes her epic documentary with an emphasis on the plight of workers at Amazon, which is, in some ways, an extension of what those 19th-century black folk were dealing with back on the plantation.

Bottom line, I surely hope those Amazon workers are well-paid and not overworked, while they’re preparing my novels, Glass half-Full, Glass Chimera, Smoke, and King of Soul , and shipping them out to the world.

Check it out, Nicole’s 1619 Project on Hulu. It is, indeed, an education, especially if you have  yet to be woke up. Arise, all ye honky sleepers!

Glass half-Full