The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story

by Nikole Hannah-Jones

Black people could choose either to take advantage of that freedom or to squander it, as our depictions in the media seemed to suggest so many of us were doing.

Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Smith, B. B. King, James Brown, Etta James, Inez and Charlie Foxx, Jimi Hendrix, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Ornette Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Merry Clayton, Pharoah Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Gamble & Huff, the O’Jays, Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Teddy Pendergrass, Herbie Hancock, Roberta Flack, Alice Coltrane, Minnie Riperton, George Benson, Phoebe Snow, Donny Hathaway, the Isley Brothers, Funkadelic, Charly Pride, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Nona Hendryx, Carl Anderson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, The 5th Dimension, Betty Davis, Al Green, Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Melba Moore, Nile Rodgers, Larry Levan, Buddy Guy, Lionel Richie, Sylvester, Al Jarreau, Bill Withers, Michael Jackson, David Washington, Cecil Taylor, Natalie Cole, Gwen Guthrie, Donna Summer, Phyllis Hyman, Stanley Clarke, Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly, Bad Brains, Prince, Grandmaster Flash, Millie Jackson, Cherrelle, Patti Austin, Klymaxx, Kurtis Blow, Full Force, Shirley Caesar, Luther Vandross, Stephanie Mills, Andraé Crouch, Jennifer Holliday, Bettye LaVette, Peabo Bryson, Cheryl Lynn, Fishbone, James Ingram, Anita Baker, Rick James, Eric B. and Rakim, LL Cool J, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson, the Clark Sisters, MC Lyte, Babyface, Whitney Houston, Wynton Marsalis, KRS-One, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa, Bobby McFerrin, Jody Watley, Teddy Riley, Tracy Chapman, Lenny Kravitz, Public E...

This is such a great list