1619 Project Lesson Plan

Why does Barry Jenkins strike out Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner’s last names?

It may take students a few moments and maybe some discussion to suss this out. One sentence to point students to is: “Gabriel Prosser was executed Oct. 10, 1800. Eighteen hundred; the year Denmark Vesey bought his freedom, the year of John Brown’s and Nat Turner’s births” (46). In this sentence, Jenkins crosses out Prosser, Vesey, and Turner. Malcolm X changed his last name because he, like most descendants of slaves, got his last name from the slave owner who enslaved his people. Barry Jenkins likely used a similar logic when he decided to cross out Gabriel Prosser and Nat Turner’s last names....