Thread by @reveal

1/ Before and after slavery was abolished, black Americans fought to make this country’s ideals a reality.

This week, host @al_letson sat down with @nhannahjones to discuss the @nytimes’ #1619Project.

A bit from their conversation … revealnews.org/episodes/year-…

2/ First, @nhannahjones explains how a childhood infatuation with history sharpened in high school, during a Black Studies class.

3/ The Founding Fathers knew the people they were entrapping within slavery were human beings, she writes in the lead essay of the @NYTimes’ #1619Project, but the system the Founders created ensured they wouldn’t be treated as such.

Read the essay: nytimes.com/interactive/20…

4/ “If you're not ashamed of something you don't hide it,” she says. So our Founding Fathers developed a constitution that protected the institution of slavery. Yet the word itself remained conspicuously absent.

5/ You can check out @nytimes’ full #1619Project here: nytimes.com/interactive/20…

6/ Also in the episode: @pritheworld’s @rupashenoy visits Ghana to understand how the country is dealing with its complicated relationship to slavery's history.

Her work:

pri.org/stories/2019-0…

pri.org/stories/2019-0…

pri.org/stories/2019-0…

7/ Finally, host @al_letson reflects on a trip he took to Malawi as a playwright tasked with telling the story of the country’s transition from dictatorship to democracy.

He didn’t think of it as a homecoming – at first. revealnews.org/episodes/year-…

8/ If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our newsletter: revealnews.org/newsletter