08 Aug The goal of The 1619 Project, a major initiative from The New York Times
1619 Project: Episode 1
“The goal of The 1619 Project, a major initiative from The New York Times that this issue of the magazine inaugurates, is to reframe U.S. history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year. Doing so requires us to place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country.”
Listen here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/23/podcasts/1619-slavery-anniversary.html (Links to an external site.)
When I first published this assignment in 2019, the Trump Administration, had issued a document asking for a full “defunding” of this material. (The article is attached here) I maintain academic freedom as a licensed professor at Valencia; don’t worry your ears won’t burn for listening to the podcast, your eyes won’t fall out for reading it (attached here too). The Trump Administration cannot dictate core curriculum, Valencia does, as mandated via the Board of Trustees through the office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs & Planning.
So…now I ask the following: 1. Why? Why this attack on journalism, what are consequences on BOTH sides of this material for all involved?
2. Other personal thoughts?
(Just need to listen to episode 1 but feel free to listen on your own to all)
4-02-academic-freedom.pdf 
Download 4-02-academic-freedom.pdf
M-20-34 DJT letter.pdf Download M-20-34 DJT letter.pdf
