Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Battle for the Soul of America

Video Description

History is never neutral. It is written, rewritten, and sometimes erased entirely. At a time when the very foundations of American democracy are under pressure and the past is being recast to serve political ends, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of The 1619 Project Nikole Hannah-Jones returns to the John Adams Institute for an urgent conversation on the role of art and historical memory in the fight for freedom and justice. This event draws inspiration from the bold and evocative work of painter Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000), whose vibrant visual storytelling chronicled Black life, struggle, and movement in America. His legacy, revived in a major exhibition at Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort, reminds us that artists have long been historians of the people, countering silence with color, and absence with action. Across the United States, the past is being weaponized to serve the ambitions of the present. After his return to power, President Donald Trump has named himself honorary chair of the Kennedy Center, reshaped the National Endowment for the Humanities, and forced the Smithsonian to promote a vision of the nation that sidelines complexities and erases injustices. This is not simply a debate over textbooks or museums. It is a struggle over national identity, over who belongs, and whose stories get told. In this battle, art and historical truth are not luxuries—they are battlegrounds, and the effects will echo in America for generations. Recorded on 27 September, 2025 at the Dominicuskerk in Amsterdam.