Thread by @ewanbirney

I found this piece on the #1619Project very moving; excellent long read writing on the African American arc of history and it’s role in American history. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

When I worked in the Mayor’s office in Baltimore, just before I started my PhD it was the start of a still on going education into African American history and culture.

It’s hard not to cry or rage as one understands the African American story; probably the most heart rending moment was when I spent two days with the adult literacy project in Baltimore. Exceptionally dedicated and patient teachers helping grown men and women learn how to read

(That the education system was so systematically biased and bad for African Americans was simply breathtakingly shocking even more so now I am older, have my own children etc)

I was assigned to a charming man, my age, who had built an elaborate story of how he was going to escape West Baltimore, make his fortune, marry a beautiful woman and have his own house with a porch in the suburbs. This story started with him learning how to read.

The teachers never quashed this fantasy but were patient and consistent in bringing him back to the everyday- that he was making progress, and that learning to read was a good thing whatever his future

This is one of a whole series of experiences that summer (I met pastors; spent time with an unmarked police unit; visited Alex Brown+Legg Mason same day as west Baltimore) that completely changed my understanding of African American life

But pieces like this #1619Project shows there is (unsurprisingly!) lots more to learn and far more depth to fundamental process of reconciliation needed across the world (America and worldwide)