The 1619 Project takes its name from the moment in August 1619 when a ship appeared off Point Comfort, a coastal port in the English colony of Virginia, carrying more than 20 enslaved people from the African nations of Ndongo and Kongo. These people were sold to the colonists, marking the beginning of the system of chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years. America was not yet America, but this was the moment it began.

The 1619 Project was introduced in August 2019, with a special issue of the magazine featuring an ambitious collection of journalism and historical inquiry that examined the many aspects of contemporary American society that can be traced back to slavery. It was spearheaded by Nikole Hannah-Jones, a Times journalist, with contributions from Black authors, essayists, poets, playwrights, scholars and novelists. Nikole was honored for her work on the project with the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

This shirt was designed at The Times with the help of editors and designers who initiated the 1619 Project. While your purchase is not tax deductible, The Times will donate 50% of the sale price of each shirt to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States to preserve historic sites and stories of Black history. To learn more, visit www.savingplaces.org.

The shirt is made in America of 100% recycled cotton by Los Angeles-based Everybody.World, the maker of thoughtful, eco-friendly goods and a champion of garment workers' rights. It is printed by Philadelphia Printworks, a social justice heritage brand and screen-printing workshop.

Our women’s shirt has a looser fit than our men’s tee, with a straight body that hits around the hips, a wider neck and slightly cropped sleeves. The fabric is 100% recycled cotton. The heavyweight jersey is made from American-grown cotton industry byproduct that would otherwise be thrown away, and is thicker than most tees out there. It is vintage soft with a slightly textured hand feel, preshrunk and ready to wear.