More than 250 public figures and other advocates have signed a letter in support of Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of The 1619 Project who has yet to be offered tenure at the University of North Carolinas Hussman School of Journalism.

The letter was published Tuesday in The Root , a site focused on Black news and culture, and signed by numerous well-known academics, writers, athletes and other public figures, including political activist Angela Davis, author Ta-Nehisi Coates, director Ava DuVernay and former NBA star Dwyane Wade.

The letter accuses UNC of bowing to pressure from conservatives opposed to The 1619 Project, an effort Hannah-Jones helmed at The New York Times Magazine to reshape the telling and teaching of American history and examine the consequences of enslaving Black people on U.S. soil.

We, the undersigned, believe this country stands at a crucial moment that will define the democratic expression and exchange of ideas for our own and future generations. State institutions across the country are attempting to ban frank and rigorous conversation about our history in the classroom. Few single works have been threatened with more restrictions than the 1619 Project, a landmark exploration of Americas deep roots in enslavement. And now, the 1619 Projects founder, Nikole Hannah-Jones, has had her appointment as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with tenure blocked by its Board of Trustees.

You can read the entire letter here .