QUOTE OF THE DAY: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Influential Person
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ selection as one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2021 earned the New York Times reporter a glowing profile in the magazine.
THE QUOTE
“In considering Nikole, my mind drifts to images of James Baldwin and Nina Simone smoking and smiling in an overly bright den,” wrote film director Barry Jenkins in his tribute to Hannah-Jones for Time, published last week.
- “My mind goes here because like Nikole, Mr. Baldwin and Ms. Simone also wielded light and made plain a truth Nikole has lived — in shining her powerful and painful light in the preservation of Blackness, this wonderful woman is proof and testament to the unshakable spirit of Blackness,” he added.
- Jenkins further characterized Hannah-Jones — the creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1619 Project — as “the most emphatic laugh, the consummate ally, the staunchest critic” and compared her to her Twitter namesake, “the trailblazing journalist Ida B. Wells.”
THE CONTROVERSY
Hannah-Jones’ shoddy historiography, militant racial politics and combative approach to critics have helped make her a target of conservative ire and mockery.
- Meanwhile, the 1619 Project’s critical race theory-tinged rereading of history is now being taught at more than 4,500 schools nationwide.