African American Literature Book Club

Our selection this month is The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson, a lyrical picture book in verse that chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States.

A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders. But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived.