{"id":40581,"date":"2022-01-17T22:02:43","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T02:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=40581"},"modified":"2022-01-17T22:06:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T02:06:23","slug":"the-1619-project-born-on-the-water-by-nikole-hannah-jones-and-renee-watson-illustrated-by-nikkolas-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=40581","title":{"rendered":"Review of The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ren\u00e9e Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The 1619 Project<\/p>\n

Born on the Water<\/em><\/p>\n

by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ren\u00e9e Watson
\nillustrated by Nikkolas Smith<\/p>\n

Kokila (Penguin Random House), 2021. 44 pages.
\nReview written December 27, 2021, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This book, like Your Legacy<\/em> (which is for even younger children), shows African American children that the history of their people didn’t start with slavery. The book is presented as a series of poems. The story begins with a girl asked to do a school assignment, with a family tree and telling which country her family is from. She’s upset that she can only go back three generations. Then her grandmother tells her about their people, who were born on the water.<\/p>\n

And she begins the story in Africa. There are ten lovely pages telling about their ancestors in Africa. Some bits of that:<\/p>\n

Their story does not begin
\nwith whips and chains.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They spoke Kimbundu,
\nhad their own words
\nfor love
\nfor friend
\nfor family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their hands had a knowing.
\nThey knew how to hold a baby close,
\nhow to rock the child to keep her from crying.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the white people took them away and kidnapped them.<\/p>\n

Ours is no immigration story.<\/em><\/p>\n

They did not get to pack bags stuffed
\nwith cherished things, with the doll grandmama
\nhad woven from tall grass,
\nwith the baby blanket handed down
\nfrom generation to generation all the way back,
\nso far back that it carried the scent of the ancestors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We’re told about the White Lion<\/em>, the first ship to bring slavery to America in 1619.<\/p>\n

They had no things. But they had their minds.
\nThe old ways, the harvest songs, the just-right mix of herbs
\netched in their memories.<\/p>\n

They had their bodies. Histories and bloodlines
\nand drums pulsing in their veins.
\nWith trembling fingers
\nthey braided seeds into their hair, defiantly hiding
\ntiny pieces of home
\nto plant one day
\nin new soils.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Many died on that ship, almost half, whether from despair or defiance or sickness and hunger. But those who survived resolved to live no matter what. Here’s the part that explains the title of the book:<\/p>\n

Packed in dark misery,
\nstrangers chained together
\nhead to feet, hip to hip,
\nin the bottom of a ship
\ncalled the White Lion<\/em>,
\nthey saw that these strangers —
\nmen, women, children, kidnapped, too,
\nfrom many villages —
\nthese were their people now.<\/p>\n

These many people
\nbecame one people,
\na new people.<\/p>\n

And that is why the people say,
\nWe were born on the water.
\nWe come from the people who refused to die.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The rest of the book talks about what those people born on the water accomplished, despite being enslaved. How they resisted, simply by living on. How they used their gifts and their intelligence to overcome and accomplish great things.<\/p>\n

“Never forget you come from a people
\nof great strength,” Grandma says.
\n“Be proud of our story, your story.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let me add a note that I think it’s terrible it will be controversial to get this book out in the schools where kids can read it. This book is not shaming white people. Yes, it tells the truth about what many white people did. But the point of the story is that Black children can rightly be proud in the hope and resilience and intelligence and resourcefulness of their ancestors. And it would be great for white children to also know about this heritage their classmates proudly bear.<\/p>\n

The story of African Americans does not<\/em> begin with slavery.<\/p>\n

nikolehannahjones.com<\/a>
\nreneewatson.net<\/a>
\nnikkolas.art<\/a>
\npenguin.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/born_on_the_water.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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