The 1619 Project And The Legacy Of Slavery In America

As Americans we all learn some foundational dates: 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue; 1776, the Declaration of Independence; 1969, moon landing

We learn these dates because we believe the events made us who we are today.

Now a group of historians and journalists want to add a new foundational date to that list: 1619.

It's the year enslaved Africans were brought to North America and sold into slavery — and its 400th anniversary is being re-examined in a new series of articles and essays in the New York Times Magazine.

Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race, and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. He Tweets @KhalilGMuhammad.

Kellie Carter Jackson, assistant professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She Tweets @kcarterjackson.