Welcome to Litsy!

#realhistory Erasure of stories & history is becoming a real & scary thing in the US. There are many people in our society that have made significant contributions, not just white men. It‘s important to keep pushing back on this new narrative. Diversity makes us better, Equity makes us better, Inclusion makes us better.

Time I get to this one . @Librarybelle suggested the tag #RealHistory @dabbe suggested #HonestHistory Remembering the sanitary history of my school days , I remember thinking, is this all there is? Doesn‘t seem some people, stories are left out ? Over the years there are more options available. Older ones below.

Fair warning…this may be a bit political. Though, as @TheBookHippie recently posted, reading is political.

I am beyond angry. Today‘s loss of IMLS, and the recent news of the future changes at the Smithsonian, are terrifying. Imagine a world without the services you rely on at the library or visiting a museum that provides a sanitized, incorrect history. In the US, that‘s what we will soon see.

So, I plan to read one nonfiction title a month ⬇️

Finally getting my reading mojo back. Having this collection of essays to dip in and out of helped. A lot has already been said about this book and I don‘t have anything to add to the conversation except to say that it was an interesting and powerful read and I am glad I finally pulled it off my shelves. #24in2024

A must-read. I enjoyed the audiobook narration by several contributors, authors, poets.

This book is about the founding of the United States through slavery and its current ramifications. It is very powerful. Dozens of incredible historians and writers poured their heart and soul into it.

If we want change, we must acknowledge suffering and admit that the past ties into the present.
My knowledge has grown.

Glad I finally got to this! Really good listen for Black History Month.

Thoroughly researched and I loved the essay format!

Thought-provoking and informative.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#history #sociology

My #weekendreads. I have to go be social tonight, but I‘m hoping for a few good hours of reading tomorrow. Enjoying all of these so far.

Unexpected #bookmail from a librarian friend. 🥰

I don't know what to say that will do justice to the work involved in this book, especially not in the short space of a review blurb. This should be required material for all US students, whether it's the original NYT mag work, the book/audiobook production, or the Hulu docuseries. I opted for audiobook and it did not disappoint.

Took advantage of Target‘s book sale. 😁 I like how this book is organized with essays on a variety of issues. It will make it easy to dip in and out of, despite its length.

“They‘ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed. I to am America.”

-Langston Hughes

Listening to the full cast audio, which is excellent.
I have to say, I can see why some people have had a hard time with the book, and why they're fighting so hard against the truth of history. The language does not coddle the reader as we are used to. James Madison's home is referred to as a slave- labor camp, which, you know, it was. But pretending it wasn't, or glossing over the horrors of chattel slavery doesn't erase the facts.

“The fights over the 1619 project like mist fights over history at their essence are about power.

“ Nations need to control national memory because nations keep their shape by shaping their citizens understanding of the past.”

Epic, an immersive reading experience — the audio features amazing performances, music, and essays written by historians, scholars, novelists. Feels like I‘ve taken a college course.
I listened to a large part of this yesterday during Martin Luther King Jr Day, which felt very fitting. 1619 goes deeper into many of the concepts and realities of racism and the history of America that I‘ve only brushed the surface of.

Fascinating. Devastating.

The use of language was soul-shakingly effective. I found myself gasping in places, not because of the subject matter (although that happened too) but because of the subversive descriptions that challenged history as I had learned it.

Excellent book full of great information and well worth the time.
The information in this book is important and it should be required reading and learning.

#upnext
Not sure how another dense information intensive book is going to go. This may end up being one I really need to have in my hands to appreciate.

#2022ReadingBracket @chasjjlee

Fascinating history thus far.

Words cannot encompass what this book is, if more people actually read this maybe the critical race theory bullshit would go away. It‘s a wonderful and well researched book that shows what our country is and also what it needs to be. We need to be better

I started this earlier in the year with #The1619Project but my health got in the way of me reading and I put it aside for a few months. I‘m so glad I was able to come back to this, it‘s one of the most powerful books I‘ve read! I‘d recommend it to everyone, and I think it should definitely be required reading for all American adults.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#littenswanttoknow

Non-fiction edition

1) 1619 Project
2) Empire of Pain
3) Ace

I‘d been sitting on this for a while. So glad I finally got to it. Will definitely revisit certain sections again. Excellent book.

#nonfiction

I finally got through this one, after falling off the buddy read wagon months ago. What an amazing undertaking! I‘m going to have to revisit sections of this, and delve into the contributors‘ other work, for years to come. Hannah-Jones mentioned this being the beginning of an ongoing project, and I certainly hope that‘s the case. I also need to find out more about the educators‘ resources, and see what I can use for homeschooling.

Current audiobook. Been waiting for a copy to become available for a while.

I‘ve been listening to it while doing a jigsaw puzzle so I guess this means that I‘m well and truly on my way to turning 40 this year.

I cannot even begin to express how happy I am that I listened to the 1619 project. An extremely well-researched work that reframes the history of the United States, I learned a lot and was able to bring this research to others in my life. I also felt like this work answered questions about USA history that didn't always make sense to me. I 100% recommend that you read this book, especially when so many people in the USA don't want you to.

On today‘s episode of books and brews The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones has me all in my feelings and wanting to move right out of Virginia. The history that I have absorbed this morning is not only hard to process but digest as well. I started this book a while back and had to put it down but my ancestors stirred my spirit this morning and here I am learning so that I may pour OUR history into OUR scholars.

#kindledaily
Have been really interested in peoples posts about this one, so grabbed the 99p bargain 😁

This essay is the mic drop 🎤 moment in the book for me. I don't know if it is because she made the best case I've read for reparations or if the power of the essay comes from acting as the culmination of the other pieces, or maybe both, but either way, it packed a punch.
Feel free to comment on the final essay or the book as a whole in this thread. As I said in my review, I want to put this book in everyone's hands. #1619GroupRead

It‘s difficult to capture the gravity of these essays in a review, especially a short one. Suffice it to say, this book is a must read for everyone. Plow through it or take it small bites. Whatever works. Just do it.

And many thanks to @4thhouseontheleft and @staci.reads for their ongoing discussion topics here. I didn‘t always stay on target, but it helped to see others on the path with me. 💙

Full review https://www.TheBibliophage.com

I've been sitting on this one for a couple days trying to figure out an appropriate a way to review it. All I can come up with is, Wow.
I want to put this in the hands every person I know. I am glad to have read this doing a slow read for the #1619GroupRead so I could digest and process it all. It's a master class in under 600 pages.

#1619GroupRead Ibram Kendi pushes our discomfort in powerful ways in this essay. He strips away the crutch of pointing to "evidence" of racial progress as proof our nation is moving in the right way.
Sorry for the delayed post. Was celebrating Mother's Day and moving my son to his first apartment ?

#1619GroupRead Another short essay this week, but feel free to also reflect on the supplemental pieces "Rainbows Aren't Real, Are They?" Kiese Laymon's short memoir on hearing Jesse Jackson speak of The Rainbow Coalition, and Gregory Pardlo's poem about the 1985 bombing of the MOVE rowhouse in Philadelphia. Only two chapters left to reach the end of this powerful book.

Fantastic book - recommended to all.

Whew. This audiobook was like taking a whole college semester course on CRT. I will say it was extremely well done! I don‘t usually buy books but I‘m going to pick this up at a black owned book store in Baltimore in the near future and read through the chapters/essays/stories at a slower pace. So much to take in.

This stuck with me most out of this entire book of short essays, poems and historical contexts. There‘s a lot to digest here. This is not an “alternative history”, but a history that‘s been buried so deep. Very eye-opening. Wide expanse of information through many well known themes (religion, democracy, etc.) that take you through 400s yr since slavery (actually) came to America. Through many varying views. Required college read
#1619GroupRead

A short essay this week with ties to a few previous essays. #1619GroupRead we're down to three more essay after this week. It's been a powerful journey, and I'm looking forward to seeing which essays close it out.

1. I miss my book club we fell apart during covid.
2. I really don't do this 🤷‍♀️
3. Tagged as well as Saving Justice and Fascism
Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView and @Kshakal
@Eggs #wondrouswednesday

#1619GroupRead

I‘m so glad I read this, and it should be required of every American. It provides a perspective on the history of America and the integral part Black people played in the founding ideals of this country and how we still fall short on extending them equality. I recommend not reading more than an essay or two a week to give each the reflection they deserve. 5⭐️

PS I locked myself out while taking this picture. 🤦🏻‍♀️

#1619GroupRead This chapter took a look at the importance of Black churches in the struggle against oppression. Butler says "The style of the Black church that developed following the Great Awakening and in the antebellum period as one of prophetic witness to the moral outrage of racism in America. It was the rhetoric of dissent..." Butler also shows how this has historically made Black churches targets for violence.

Engaging history told through historical vignettes, poems, short fiction, and personal and scholarly essays. I didn‘t realize how much I didn‘t know about this period of American history, and I learned so much about how it has impacted not only US history, but also current events.

✊🏼

#1619GroupRead
Lots to unpack in this short essay. Also interesting to read at the same time I was reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - so many connections.

“The education of his children and the success of his thrift seem to be the sole offence of the Negro,” Governor Dorsey said…Today Black Americans far removed from slavery and Jim Crow continue to be handed the economic misfortune of their forebears.

#1619GroupRead Another powerful essay showing the long reach of history.