Nikole Hannah-Jones Delivers Rachel B. Noel Address at MSU-Denver
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones is here to tell you – she’s “nerdy as hell” about history.
She is known for spearheading the 1619 Project, a series of stories that highlights the introduction of enslaved Africans to the British colonies in Early America. The editorial first ran in the New York Times in 2019. It was criticized by five prominent historians, but has since been praised as a notable social commentary.
Hannah-Jones was in Denver on Mar. 18 to give a speech as the Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She touched on history and school segregation. She also discussed having to deal with threats to her and her family members.
At 15 years old, she learned about Black contributions to history that she hadn’t previously been exposed to. The class changed how she thought about the world and led to the 1619 Project years later. The work led to a Pulitzer Prize, a book, a related children’s book and a six-part docuseries on Hulu.
“What we call history is actually memory… it’s not everything that happened; it’s what people in power want to remember about the country we have,” Hannah-Jones shared.
As a history nerd, she reminded the audience that Denver was the first city outside of the American South to face court-mandated desegregation. The landmark Supreme Court decision in the Keyes v. School District No. 1 case in 1973.
Finding Peace Within
When it comes to the publicity Hannah-Jones has received as a result of her work, she says that despite the threats she’s received since 2019, she has found peace with herself and her life.
She the Knight Chair in Race and Reporting at Howard University, a job she took in 2021, after a tumultuous process at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill which led to her turning down a similar role.
“I’m getting my revenge by living my best life,” Hannah-Jones told the crowd.
Audience member and MSU-Denver alum John Marsh said he appreciated that Hannah-Jones was straightforward in her speaking style.
“She spoke how she writes; [she’s] eye-to-eye and answers the question,” he said.
Marsh was a student of Noel’s, a civil rights leader who was the first Black American woman elected to public office in Colorado in 1965. The professorship was created in her honor in 1981.
Something to Think About
Hannah-Jones’s speech on campus culminated in two days of events in the metro area.
The renowned journalist is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship – also known as the Genius grant – a Peabody Award and two George Polk Awards. She has also won the National Magazine Award three times.
As her visit to Denver concluded, she left audiences with more than accolades or headlines. She delivered a challenge to question what we’ve been taught, seek out what’s been omitted and recognize that history is shaped by those willing to tell the full story.
Editor’s note: This article was written by a participant in the Colorado Student News Service. To learn more about the Rachel B. Noel Distinguished Visiting Professorship, visit msudenver.edu.
