A video of the launch event for The New York Times’ 1619 Project detailing the beginning of U.S. slavery and its impact will be shown Tuesday and Feb. 27 at two different locations.
The Columbus Human Rights Commission is hosting the free showings.
The Tuesday event will be from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus, 7850 W. Goeller Boulevard in Columbus.
The Feb. 27 event will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Red Room of the Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St. in downtown Columbus. Organizers mentioned that the showings are timely given that February is Black History Month.
The 1619 Project is an ongoing project developed by The New York Times Magazine in 2019 with the goal of re-examining the legacy of slavery in the United States and timed for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans in Virginia, according to the newspaper. The project “aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative,” according to the paper’s promotional material.
The video of the project launch from August features Nikole Hannah-Jones, lead journalist of the project. The event commemorates the first 20 African slaves arrival by ship in the United States.
Organizers also will have available about 100 copies of the project’s magazine and also a special New York Times insert.
“I think this is partly about building awareness (of history),” said Erica Schmidt, the human rights commission’s deputy director.
Local residents Shirley Trapp, Gail Platner, and Kathleen Leason have made the meetings possible. They heard Hannah-Jones speak in November at Butler University in Indianapolis and left inspired.
“We were just really impressed with her, and that had an impact on us, and we wanted to share that with the community,” Trapp said.
She added that she hoped the video could help people “become more conscious of the impact we have on one another, especially when any group in our country or in Columbus is impacted by negativity from the past.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”About the showings” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
What: Showing of the video and discussion of the launch event of The 1619 Project re-examining slavery’s impact.
When: 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbus and 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Red Room of the Bartholomew County Public Library, 536 Fifth St. in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free.
Hosted by: Columbus Human Rights Commission.
Information: Facebook page for the Columbus Human Rights Commission.
[sc:pullout-text-end]
