The 1619 Project triggered rapid nationwide popular demand and grassroots engagement.

Evidence

On Sunday, August 18, the day we published the magazine in print, tweets and Instagram posts and videos began popping up all over the country. People were telling stories of going to store after store in search of it only to find all the copies of the Sunday New York Times sold out. A man in North Carolina posted a video of himself looking giddy, his fingers wrapped around the magazine, saying he’d driven miles but he’d finally snagged a copy. Parents stashed copies away to pass on to their children. Incarcerated people wrote to me, seeking the issue. Over the coming weeks, readers started holding 1619 reading clubs, and the #1619 hashtag on Instagram showed teachers decorating their classrooms with 1619 Project art and families baking 1619 Project cookies. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 40