Gather round historians and modernists, for we are taking a high-sailing trip this evening across the Ocean Blue (aka Lewisburg to Selinsgrove) guided by our beloved Captain Nikkole Hannah-Jones.
The skies are bright, and know that you can track our arrival time with the stars and the moon.
Winds appear to be high and there seems to be a forecast of light snow headed our way as we depart from Bucknell University.
Estimated arrival time is 7:00 p.m. at Susquehanna University.
We also expect there to be some turbulence with time travel as we make our way to the seventeenth century, 1619.
Attention passengers, this is the last call to board history.
All aboard!
On Wednesday, Feb. 12 at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA, Pulitzer Prize–winning creator of the 1619 Project, staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, and the Knight Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University, Nikkole Hannah-Jones, graced audiences as part of Susquehanna’s Lectureships and Speaker Series for the 2024-2025 Academic year.
Nikkole opened her talk with reference to her anthology, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, which was published in 2021. She begins with the statement that (whitewashed) history is taught as a mythology that tries to glorify the United States by minimizing the darkness of the violence, oppression, and suffering that many other groups endured in the United States vye for greatness’. Nikkole explains that the curriculum being taught to children in schools isn’t entirely accurate and this then affects how they see their peers and ultimately the world. She then gets into her inspiration for writing The 1619 Project, which stemmed from a Black studies elective course she took in one semester of her high school years. This elective was optional to students at the school, to which Nikkole highlights that Black history being taught as an elective, in comparison to the ‘standard’ common core teachings of ‘American’ history is in itself a problem. Having the history of those non-white, being offered as a ‘one time’ elective reinforces the idea that Whiteness is ‘correct’ history and a ‘default’ understanding of the world. It ostracizes and ‘others’ those who do not fit into this identity and prevents the valuable learning that could derive from a diverse curriculum.
In turn, this is widely why many people know of the Mayflower and not the White Lion as the first ship to grace the Atlantic shores lining North America. This information particularly shocked me because I’ve never heard of the White Lion, nonetheless that it was a slave ship of Dutch letters bringing the first set of enslaved Africans to New England, ultimately beginning the rupture of transatlantic slavery. For me to have learned this by coincidence at a lecture out of sheer interest, reflects the state of the American education system… After revealing this information, Nikkole prompted the audience to question how marginalized people are expected to assimilate to institutions which then excuses institutions from having to bear the reality of reckoning with their history of anti black practices dating all the way back to segregated schooling. As a Black woman, I can attest to this experience of always being expected or demanded to understand others, often, with no one making an effort to understand me or accept my Blackness. To survive at Bucknell was to assimilate in one way or the other, as is to survive in the world. That is the unfortunate fate many Black women, and other people of color face in today’s world.
Bridging her anthology to the horrors of today’s politics, Nikkole points to the Saving American History Act of 2020, introduced by President Donald Trump. This act was proposed to strip federal funding from any schools that taught The 1619 Project because “it would destroy the fabric of the country”. What fabric you may ask? Well, take a hard, long, look at the worn, white, sheets, waving winsomely atop the heads of your peers, with its well-intentioned point making those in its presence wither. The Saving American History Act shows that whoever controls ‘the narrative’ controls how society sees itself.
To combat the mission of The 1619 Project, Trump administered an Executive Order, also known as the 1776 Commission, which served to “enable a rising generation to understand the history and principles of the founding of the United States in 1776 and to strive to form a more perfect Union”. I will intentionally redirect your attention to what Nikkole said earlier about what happens when Black history, and other cultural groups, are seen as secondary to the ‘standard’ (also known as White) common core of American history.
The conversation then shifted to the Trump Administration’s advance on fighting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion). Notably, leaving out the A, which is known as Accessibility. Nikkole memorably points out the DEI is pro-integration; its entire foundation derived from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin under the clause of what appears to be ‘reverse racism’ (which does not exist because in a power structure where race reinforces that those of White-race dominate society, White people can not be subjected to racism). Nikkole explains that these anti-DEI (no A) efforts are in fact, anti-integration and instead purge racial integration to constrain the imagination of society and make marginalized people illegitimate in the eyes of the law. This war on DEI is essentially teaching power what it can get away with when infringing on civil liberties and rights of the American people and beyond our borders).
At this particular moment, Nikkole says something which captures the attention of all audience members and should be remembered as the most important part of her lecture. Nikkole reiterates the importance of solidarity amongst marginalized groups and says that all identity groups are linked because of Trumps’ initial vows to target the transgender population. In doing this during his 2020 campaign, he was ‘testing the waters’ to see what he could get away with on his mission to target other racial groups, and marginalized peoples. This correlates to his current goal to revert on birthright citizenship, which might I add is guaranteed in the 14th Amendment, where “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside”. The 14th Amendment infamously derived from the effects of slavery (as many things in history are). Due to slavery, African Americans pushed for birthright citizenship after the abolishment of slavery. These rights to citizenship meant protection under the laws of the nation and status as ‘human’. Nikkole points out that Trump attacks birthright citizenship because he believes too many Black and Brown people are gaining citizenship which changes the tide of the racial majority. White people are no longer in the majority, and without this majority their power dwindles. The country is becoming less White and this threatens the power dynamic of White supremacy. How does this correlate to solidarity? If you’re still lost…keep reading.
You, yes, you reading this, regardless of your race, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality, are able to engage with your ‘natural-born’ American rights due to the Freedom Struggle spearheaded by African Americans who were both enslaved, and the descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to America. The rights of many other groups of people and ability for those of different ethnicities and racial groups to gain citizenship and success in their pursuit of the ‘American Dream’ came in direct result from African Americans fighting relentlessly for their freedom from slavery, and then fighting yet again for their humanity in the eyes of the law. And like most things in American society, Black people were the engineers, the pioneers, the creators, and the innovators. No matter how hard history tries to rewrite it with white ink, that is a fact that can not be changed.
Thus, in today’s current state as we see companies doing away with their DEI missions, which Nikkole humorously stated “that shit lasted 8 months!”, the rights and recognition of Black people as valuable seems to be contingent on a compamys’ economic interest. It was in many companies’ best interest to promote ‘Black Lives Matter’, and advocate for diversity, reinforcing the capitalistic ties blackness has to the economy, dating, yet again, back to slavery. These companies are now renouncing their DEI initiatives as per Trumps’ newest policies, abandoning those affected by racial injustice. But, that does not mean that Black people will just ‘go away’. We can gather in our communities and rely on one another for emotional support. Call our local government offices, go out in protest, but most of all, take care of ourselves and not remain silent. The reversing of our rights and stripping of our humanity is contingent on our fear of them and our inclination to stay silent. We can’t stay quiet and we must be attentive to what is going on and strategize. Sure, we can’t do it all, and no one’s expecting you to, but find your niche and capitalize on it.
After the inspiring talk, Nikkole had a meet and greet with fans where she even signed books. I found myself particularly lucky and landed myself a copy to be personally signed. Reading The 1619 Project has been a goal of mine since its release in 2021 and I’m excited to begin, especially given the economic and political state of the world today. It’s a read I recommend for anyone interested in American history no matter their area of study. Understanding our history as a nation, as brutal as it is, is important to avoid the mistakes of the past and to move towards a state of love. Love is all we need. Truly.
–Athaliah Elvis ’26