Who is Nikole Hannah-Jones?
Saluting Changemakers for Women’s History Month
As we continue to celebrate Women’s History Month, TV One is recognizing change-makers!
We shine a light on Black women who have broken down barriers to excel against the odds in their fields, and whose actions have made profound and lasting impacts on American culture.
Join us for the entire month of March as we reveal some of our own favorite Black women change-makers!
This spotlight is on: Nikole Hannah-Jones.
About Nikole:
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones is a staff-writer at the New York Times Magazine, the inaugural Chair of Race and Journalism at Howard University and the creator of the landmark 1619 Project.
The project, which is an ongoing initiative from NYT, aims to reframe the country’s history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative, according to its official description.
Before joining the New York Times, Nikole Hannah-Jones’s journalism experience also included ProPublica in NYC, as well as publications in Oregon and Durham, North Carolina. Taking a deep dive to report on race, class, segregation, and other important issues are not new to her.
History & Journalism:
Nikole Hannah-Jones said she has been enamored with history for as long as he could remember. According to her, learning about Ida B. Wells inspired her to take the same brave stand of speaking out to report the truth.
She said once she started studying history and specifically the history of Black people, then all of a sudden her world made sense.
“I would look around society and see the conditions that so many Black people had to live in, I would see the neighborhoods that we had to live in, the jobs that we had, and society said it was just because we somehow didn’t want better. But, when I started to study history, I saw that all of this was designed – that there were policies and policy makers and laws that created this inequality. So, I really dedicated my journalism to wanting to expose the architecture of racial inequality.”
Giving Back to the Community:
In addition to her own journalism work, Nikole Hannah-Jones is committed to lifting as she climbs. See the organizations she’s founded below.
1. Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting – trains and mentors other journalists of color.
2. Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard University – prepares new generations of investigative journalists
3. 1619 Freedom School – free after school program that teaches most behind students literacy through Black history.
Here’s to the unapologetic Black woman! Check out Nikole’s story, and let us know some of your favorite Black women change-makers!
