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Opening Salon on January 16 features Nikole Hannah-Jones, DC historians, Step Afrika!, and Go-Go
As the nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary, the DC Public Library will open its three-part exhibition “FREEDOM and RESISTANCE” with “The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience.”
The New York Times’s groundbreaking project argued that the year 1619, when the first Africans were sold into slavery in Virginia, was as much a founding moment for America as the year 1776. Against the backdrop of a Capitol built by enslaved people, and in a city where Black residents have created a vibrant, resilient community, the exhibition seeks to complicate America’s origin myths by asking what it means to be a nation founded on both the ideas of freedom and the practice of slavery. The exhibition, which will take place at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, launches with an Opening Salon on January 16.
Nikole Hannah-Jones will launch the Opening Salon with a talk titled “1619 | 1776 & The Idea of America,” drawn from her Pulitzer Prize-winning “The 1619 Project” essay on democracy. The salon will feature an exhibition of the original artworks commissioned for “The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience,” along with a curated party that will include lighting talks, spoken word, live music, dance, an exhibition of original art produced by District students, and a chance to meet several of the artists whose works appear in the book.
Attendees will be able to choose from a selection of expert talks and experiences, including a live hair braiding as Madam C.J. Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles, tells the story of hair as history; a discussion of Georgetown’s cemeteries by Lisa Fager, poetry by The 1619 Project contributor Jasmine Mans, an Atlantic soundscape curated by Adrian Loving, and a listen to the voices of those who recounted their experiences of slavery for the federal WPA project. Attendees can shop with local vendors, and the evening will close with a very special Step Afrika! Performance of “The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence,” followed by live Go-Go concert from Sirius & Company.
“FREEDOM and RESISTANCE” is produced in collaboration with Nikole Hannah-Jones and The New York Times Magazine; Fareed Mostoufi of the Pulitzer Center; and historians Dominique Hazzard and Adrienne Gaither. The exhibition's second section, “Echoes of 1619 in Washington, D.C.,” curated by Hazzard, is organized around three themes: Origins, Resistance and Freedom. Historic artifacts, documents and images will illuminate these histories.
The exhibition title and themes come directly from chapters in “The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience,” the illustrated edition of Hannah-Jones' landmark work. The artworks on display were commissioned specifically for the book where artists were asked to produce works to the themes of resistance and freedom that are central to the project's reframing of history that places Black Americans at the center of the America constituted in 1776.
The “FREEDOM and RESISTANCE” exhibition is open to the public during regular Library hours through March 15, 2026. To learn more, click here.