11/19: Building Matters Ann Arbor: Black Histories + Our Built Environment

1729 Plymouth Road,Ann Arbor MI 48105

19 November, 2021

Description

To celebrate The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, this conversation explores Black histories in Ann Arbor. To celebrate the release of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones, we invite teens and adults to gather at Booksweet on Friday, November 19 from 7:30-9 pm for a conversation exploring Black histories in Ann Arbor through the lens of our city’s built environment. Centering co-liberation, lived experience, and histories, this conversation serves to localize the themes of Hannah-Jones’ book. Together, we’ll build shared understandings of Ann Arbor and foster/deepen relationships that can aid us in making change in our community. Featuring: Jessica Letaw, Executive Director of Building Matters Ann ArborBeverly Willis, Administrator of the Washtenaw County Historical Society and Board Member of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County About the 1619 Project: The 1619 Project is Nikole Hannah-Jones’ ongoing journalistic work for the New York Times, reframing our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. The book, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, offers a dramatic expansion of this work of journalism, inviting readers to recenter their understandings of our nation’s past and present on slavery and its continuing legacy. Through eighteen essays and thirty-six poems, Hannah-Jones shows how the inheritance of 1619 -- the year enslaved Africans were first brought to American shores in the colony of Virginia -- reaches into every aspect of contemporary American society. Health and safety protocols @ Booksweet: This after-hours event will take place indoors, so masks are required, regardless of vaccination status. Proof of vaccination status is needed at the door for entry. Tickets are limited and RSVPs are required. Pre-order your copy of 1619 + Support the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County!  When you pre-order your copy of The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story from Booksweet, we’ll contribute 10% of the book sale to the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. Offer valid 10/18-11/15.