We invite you to join with communities of faith across Iowa in faithful conversations about The 1619 Project. Slavery in the United States has been referenced as our “original sin.” Given that context and the fact that many communities of faith justified enslavement and benefited materially from it, or, on the flipside, worked for its elimination, it is critical the faith community intentionally study slavery and its lasting impact on the generations during and after.
The New York Times’ The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones et al. is a valuable vehicle to begin a conversation within the context of faith. The Pulitzer Center and its excellent resources provide tools that enhance the original project and community conversations. Faith leaders in the Faithful Voices for Racial Justice project of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa took on the task of designing a series to pull together the pieces for community conversation, intentionally layering in questions regarding one’s faith and how it might inform our approach to the issues raised by The 1619 Project.
CLICK HERE for the Faithful Conversations about The 1619 Project PDF
RESOURCES
For our weekly study and conversations, The 1619 Project is divided into five sections. The entirety of The 1619 Project can be accessed through the New York Times or the Pulitzer Center links below. Also included are excellent reading guides from the Pulitzer Center.
— The New York Times’ The 1619 Project
— The New York Times’ Broadsheet Resources (from the Pulitzer Center)
— Full Issue of The 1619 Project (pdf)
WEEK 1
Readings for Week 1
— None
Faith Leader Discussion (click here to watch)— Laying the Groundwork: Intention. Comfort vs. Discomfort. Expectations.
• Build trust, and openness.
• Uncomfortableness is real, and necessary.
• Set expectations. Challenge your thinking.
Lead with respect.
Group Covenant
— Discussion and agreement by group members. (sample covenant)
Opening Question
— When and how did you first become aware of racial and ethnic differences, and that people are treated differently?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
WEEK 2
Readings for Week 2
— Section 1: “The Idea of America” by Nikole Hannah-Jones (pg 14-26)
— Section 2: “Chained Migration” by Tiya Miles (pg 22)
Faith Leader Discussion (online)
Reading of the Group Covenant
— We recommend the group read the covenant aloud and together.
Opening Questions
— What surprised you about the history in these readings?
— Is some of this history familiar to you? How does it fit with and how does it contradict history as you have previously understood it?
Faith Question
— What does what you are learning affirm, stretch, or challenge your faith and your faith tradition?
Pulitzer Discussion Questions
— How have laws, policies, and systems developed to enforce the enslavement of Black Americans before the Civil War influenced laws, policies, and systems in years since?
— How was the expansion of the U.S. shaped and made possible by slave labor?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
WEEK 3
Readings for Week 3
— Section 3: “Capitalism” by Matthew Desmond (pg 30-40)
— Section 4: “Mortgaging the Future” by Mehrsa Baradaran (pg 32)
— Section 5: “Good as Gold” by Mehrsa Baradaran (pg 35)
— Section 6: “Fabric of Modernity” by Mehrsa Baradaran (pg 36)
— Section 7: “Municipal Bonds” by Tiya Miles (pg 40)
Faith Leader Discussion (online)
Reading of the Group Covenant
— We recommend the group read the covenant aloud and together.
Opening Questions
— What surprised you about the history in these readings?
— Is some of this history familiar to you? How does it fit with and how does it contradict history as you have previously understood it?
Faith Question
— What does what you are learning affirm, stretch, or challenge your faith and your faith tradition?
Pulitzer Discussion Questions
— What current financial systems reflect practices developed to support industries built on the work of enslaved people?
— How have the laws and contracts developed before the Civil War to support the cotton industry influenced the financial documents we use today?
— How did enslaved people contribute to the construction of northeastern cities like New York City?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
WEEK 4
Readings for Week 4
— Section 8: “Broken Health Care System” by Jeneen Interlandi (pg 44-45)
— Section 9: “Traffic” by Kevin M. Kruse (pg 48-49)
— Section 10: “Undemocratic Democracy” by Jamelle Bouie (pg 50-55)
— Section 11: “Medical Inequality” by Linda Villarosa (pg 56-57)
Faith Leader Discussion (online)
Reading of the Group Covenant
— We recommend the group read the covenant aloud and together.
Opening Questions
— What surprised you about the history in these readings?
— Is some of this history familiar to you? How does it fit with and how does it contradict history as you have previously understood it?
Faith Question
— What does what you are learning affirm, stretch, or challenge your faith and your faith tradition?
Pulitzer Discussion Questions
— According to the author, what factors help diseases to spread in a community?
— What policies contributed to neighborhood segregation in the U.S.?
— How have racist medical practices and attitudes influenced the medical treatment that Black Americans have received throughout history, and continue to receive today?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
WEEK 5
Readings for Week 5
— Section 12: “American Popular Music” by Wesley Morris (pg 60-67)
— Section 13: “Sugar” by Khalil Gibran Muhammad (pg 70-77)
— Section 14: “Pecan Pioneer” by Tiya Miles (pg 76)
— Section 15: “The Wealth Gap” by Trymaine Lee (pg 82-83)
Faith Leader Discussion (online)
Reading of the Group Covenant
— We recommend the group read the covenant aloud and together.
Opening Questions
— What surprised you about the history in these readings?
— Is some of this history familiar to you? How does it fit with and how does it contradict history as you have previously understood it?
Faith Question
— What does what you are learning affirm, stretch, or challenge your faith and your faith tradition?
Pulitzer Discussion Questions
— How does the author describe black music and blackness in music?
— How has sugar production changed, and how have policies continued to limit who has access to the wealth earned from producing sugar?
— How have policy and exclusion from government wealth-building programs limited Black Americans’ opportunities to accumulate wealth?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
WEEK 6
Readings for Week 6
— Section 16: “Mass Incarceration” by Bryan Stevenson (pg 80-81)
— Section 17: “Hope” by Djeneba Aduayom, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Wadzanai Mhute (pg 86-93)
— Section 18: “Shadow of the Past” by Anne C. Bailey and Dannielle Bowman (pg 98)
— Section 19: Broadsheet from the newspaper “Why Can’t We Teach This?” by Nikita Stewart (Broadsheet: pg 3)
— Section 20: OPTIONAL: Broadsheet from the newspaper by Mary Elliott, Jazmine Hughes, and Erica Deeman (Broadsheet: pg 4-14)
Faith Leader Discussion (online)
Reading of the Group Covenant
— We recommend the group read the covenant aloud and together.
Opening Questions
— What surprised you about the history in these readings?
— Is some of this history familiar to you? How does it fit with and how does it contradict history as you have previously understood it?
Faith Question
— What does what you are learning affirm, stretch, or challenge your faith and your faith tradition?
Pulitzer Discussion Questions
— How does Stevenson argue that the modern-day prison system acts as a continuation of slavery?
— Why do students infrequently learn a full history of slavery in school?
— What are some suggestions that appear in Stewart’s essay for improving education on slavery?
Closing Prayer/Meditation
— See options below.
OPTIONS FOR CLOSING PRAYER OR MEDITATION
We encourage groups to close with the same prayer or meditation each week, speaking the words aloud and together.
A Prayer adapted from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Creator of all sight, when our eyes do not see the gravity of racial justice,
Shake us from our slumber and open our eyes.
Maker of all courage and wisdom, when out of fear we are frozen into inaction,
Give us a spirit of bravery.
When we try our best but say the wrong things,
Give us a spirit of humility.
Divine light who birthed us all, when the chaos of this dies down,
Give us a lasting spirit of solidarity, O Lord.
When it becomes easier to point fingers outwards,
Help us to examine our own hearts.
Racism breaks your heart,
break our hearts for what breaks yours.
You called us to be in relationship with one another and promised to dwell within and among us.
In our community, we are many different people; we come from many different places, have many different cultures.
Open our hearts that we may be bold in finding the riches of inclusion and the treasures of diversity among us.
We pray in faith.
A prayer for the beginning of difficult conversations
O Great Spirit, from whom all life flows and all creation is fed,
heal the brokenness among us.
May your steady waters trickle into hard hearts,
cracking them open to let love trickle in,
From your clear waters, give us vision —
a willingness to unlearn what we thought we knew
and see with clarity the Truth,
Bringing forth a clear path toward reconciliation.
Come among us now, bringing peace to our hearts and homes,
That from there your Divine love rushes forth
Creating our world anew.