I continue to read, reflect, and shine a spotlight on the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. Typically I rely on the titles as a kind of summary for the essays, and I pull out a quote or two that resonated with me. That won’t work for today’s readings, which were poems and stories by 16 writers… 16 rockstar writers, I might add.
On the upside, when I posted the link here, it gave me a snapshot below, so you can see how the Times wishes to describe this section, plus their image (given the gravity of this topic, I have mostly avoided including any images in my blog posts about this project).
I am hesitant to quote specific lines, first because the words deserve to be read and absorbed in context as an artistic whole. And of course, second because my goal is not to step on their work, but support it.
So instead, I want to provide a full list of the authors of these poems and stories, which could serve as a kind of TBR for me in the future:
Clint Smith
Yusef Komunyakaa
Eve L. Ewing
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Barry Jenkins
Jesmyn Ward
Tyehimba Jess
Darryl Pinckney
ZZ Packer
Yaa Gyasi
Jacqueline Woodson
Rita Dove
Camille T Dungy
Joshua Bennett
Lynn Nottage
Kiese Laymon
Just surveying this list makes my eyes pop out, and I think everyone should drop whatever they are doing to read this special series, or at least this collection of poetry and prose. It’s almost odd to me that this is all published in a multimedia form online, which somehow feels so temporary to me, when this is work that should be preserved. But perhaps that reveals my age. I have to remind myself that print books don’t necessarily last longer than digital publications.
The selections walk through many key moments of history, often touching the wounds of tragedies and making visible the way these moments connect to events today. Not all respond to tragic events, such as one on hip-hop music or one of my favorites (okay, they are all my favorite) on the Black Panthers. Many pay homage to a painful mix of hard-won victories and unimaginable losses (which speaks to the bravery of these writers to attempt to imagine and depict them).
My advice: read them!
reader. writer. 