In February, the Capitol Hill Village antiracist reading group will begin a several-month examination of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, the acclaimed—and in some quarters controversial—book published last November. The book is an extended and revised version of The New York Times Magazine article from  2019, which ignited a controversy with its claim that “the full origin story of the United States begins not with the arrival of the Mayflower in 1620, but with that of the White Lion vessel and its cargo of captive Africans in Virginia the year before.” The Times reviewer, Adam Hochschild, calls it a “landmark summary of the Black experience in America: searing, rich in unfamiliar detail, exploring every aspect of slavery and its continuing legacy, in which being White or Black affects everything from how you fare in courts and hospitals and schools to the odds that your neighborhood will be bulldozed for a freeway.”

Since there is much to absorb in The 1619 Project, the reading group will read it over several months in order to fully digest and discuss it. The group invites newcomers to join them for the first virtual discussion on Zoom on Thursday, February 17, from 1:30- 3:00 p.m. The attendee number will be limited to 15 people. (If the registration is filled, add your name to the waiting list.)