We kind of acknowledge that our brute labor contributedsomethingto the economy of this country.
Thats the argument that sets up the entire series.
Adds showrunner Shoshana Guy, [Its] this idea of America, the land of the free.
The New York Times
But who is actually fighting for that freedom?
Williams sought out Hannah-Jones to collaborate on the documentary adaptation.
I had readThe 1619 Projectand was just moved on so many levels, Williams tells Deadline.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of ‘The 1619 Project,’ speaks in Los Angeles in 2022.Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images
And I was determined to be a part of it.
But I had to get to Nikole.
And I owe it to my family.
Its just been an incredible, incredible journey to make.
And what of the Great Emancipator, Abraham Lincoln?
Frederick Douglass and other prominent African Americans firmly rejected such an idea.
And yet we also share a common destiny.
Thats why when people say, Who is this project for?
we say its for all Americans that its true our fates have always been intertwined, Hannah-Jones says.
Theyve been intertwined since 1619.
And until we face up to our past, it seems were destined to struggle.
The publication ofThe 1619 Projectmet with a tremendous backlash from conservatives.
President Trump, in office when the series came out, reacted with outrage.
Florida and Texas have led the way to control what aspects of American history can be taught and how.
Its always confusing to me that folks consider something radical thats just what happened.
Its actually not that radical, Guy, the showrunner, observes.
I hope that this series can be used as a tool to continue to teach.
If they didnt care, then we havent done our jobs.
So, the fact that theyaretalking about it means theyre afraid.
And what that is about, is about power.
