The AP Interview: Nikole Hannah-Jones' warning on democracy

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NEW YORK – Following a twelvemonth of nonrecreational milestones calved of her enactment connected America’s past of slavery, Pulitzer Prize-winning Black writer Nikole Hannah-Jones said she is clear-eyed astir her ngo to unit a reckoning astir the nation’s self-image.

The New York Times Magazine writer began this twelvemonth successful a protracted tenure fight with her alma mater successful North Carolina — the quality ended erstwhile she announced successful July that she’d instrumentality her talents to a historically Black assemblage — and is closing it arsenic a nationalist best-selling author.

“I’ve gone from being conscionable a writer to becoming immoderate benignant of awesome for radical who either emotion maine and my enactment oregon revile maine and my work,” she said.

Hannah-Jones precocious spoke to The Associated Press successful an exclusive interrogation astir the ongoing contention implicit The 1619 Project, a groundbreaking postulation of essays connected contention that archetypal appeared successful a peculiar contented of The New York Times Magazine successful 2019. Now successful publication form, the task has go a touchstone for America’s reckoning implicit slavery and the reverberations for Black Americans.

“The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story,” and “Born connected the Water,” a representation storybook collaboration with co-writer Renée Watson and illustrator Nikkolas Smith, each person spent consecutive weeks atop the Times bestseller database since their Nov. 16 release. A TV documentary connected the enactment is owed retired aboriginal successful 2022.

Still, Hannah-Jones said the backlash to her enactment is grounds that the U.S. is approaching a make-or-break crossroads connected its planetary lasting arsenic a democracy.

“I deliberation that we are successful a precise frightening time,” she said successful the interrogation astatine AP’s New York City headquarters.

“People who are much, overmuch smarter than me, who person studied this much, overmuch longer than I person are ringing the alarm,” Hannah-Jones said. “I deliberation we person to inquire ourselves … the narrators, the storytellers, the journalists: Are we ringing the alarm successful the close way? Are we doing our jobs to effort to uphold our democracy?”

The interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

AP: If anything, what did this twelvemonth thatch you astir wherever we are successful our state currently, erstwhile it comes to radical justness and our reckoning with history?

HANNAH-JONES: This year, to me, is conscionable reflective of what I’ve ever understood astir this country. And that is that steps forward, steps towards radical progress, are ever met with an intensive backlash. That we are a nine that willfully does not privation to woody with the anti-Blackness that is astatine the halfway of truthful galore of our institutions and truly our nine itself.

AP: Can you constituent to immoderate advancement successful however the sermon has developed oregon evolved?

HANNAH-JONES: Certainly the information that precise almighty radical are truthful acrophobic astir a enactment of journalism called The 1619 Project that they would question to discredit it, that they would question to censor it, that they would question to prohibition it from being taught, does talk to the information that determination are millions of Americans who privation a much honorable accounting of our history, who privation to amended recognize the state that we’re in, who are unfastened to caller narratives.

AP: Do you deliberation this state is poised to marque immoderate advancement connected issues of radical justice, and particularly astir education?

HANNAH-JONES: Many successful mainstream media got caught up successful the Republican propaganda campaign, which tried to conflate the teaching of a much close history, the teaching of structural racism, with trying to marque achromatic children consciousness severely astir themselves oregon guilty. And truthful overmuch of the sum was driven by that. … I anticipation that there’s going to beryllium immoderate superior introspection of the relation that we arsenic media played (in) truly putting distant and legitimizing what was a propaganda campaign.

AP: The 1619 Project is present a book. For radical who don’t understand, however is it antithetic from what was published successful The New York Times Magazine?

HANNAH-JONES: We each cognize that determination has been a tremendous magnitude of scrutiny of the 1619 Project. … I deliberation those who had questions tin present spell and really spot the root material, tin spot the historiography that undergirds the work. For anyone who comes to it with an unfastened mind, it is going to beryllium profoundly surprising. They’re going to larn truthful overmuch astir some the past of their country, but besides the past that shapes truthful overmuch of modern American life.

AP: Some radical would accidental that this is each an agenda-driven portion of work.

HANNAH-JONES: And they’d beryllium right.

AP: Why are they right?

HANNAH-JONES: Because it is. The docket is to unit a reckoning with who we are arsenic a country. The docket is to instrumentality the communicative of Black Americans successful slavery, from being an asterisk to being marginal to being cardinal to however we recognize our country. When radical accidental that, though, I cognize that they’re saying it successful disparaging ways. I’m conscionable being honorable astir the quality of this work. … We’ve been taught the past of a state that does not exist. We’ve been taught the past of a state that renders america incapable of knowing however we get an insurrection successful the top ideology connected Jan. 6.

AP: What issues bash you spot arsenic dominating our authorities successful 2022?

HANNAH-JONES: I effort to ne'er foretell the future. And I’m besides not a governmental reporter. … We, arsenic Americans, are going to beryllium severely tested successful the adjacent twelvemonth oregon 2 to decide, what are we consenting to sacrifice to beryllium the state that we judge that we are? And whose rights bash we clasp arsenic cardinal successful this country? And are each Americans worthy of having those aforesaid rights? I don’t deliberation we cognize the reply to that. But I deliberation what is important for america to cognize is we decide.

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AP Race and Ethnicity writer Aaron Morrison is simply a member, trainer and mentor for the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, which Hannah-Jones co-founded. Follow Morrison connected Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.

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