Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book…

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited. ~Amazon

Wow. This book is a great read for anyone and everyone. It condenses a bunch of history of racism and nationwide issues in an interesting way. Racism is obviously something that is a huge issue and every single person should be enlightened about the reality of these issues. This book touches on things like drugs, political power, and systematic oppression. I would recommend this book to everyone going through the American system. It is important that students and teachers are aware of how the system works and why things work the way they do. It also offers tons of insight on different ideologies that most people may have not agreed with or thought of. This would be a great book for a history class, a cultural class, or even an English class. ( )

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You is a really good starter book for antiracism. It takes you into the injustices and lightly touches on hate crimes or important figures, but doesn’t get into too much detail. Stamped is more of a … conversation starter on antiracism. But I’d still recommend it.

This book may not be a great fit if you’re already super well-read on the topic – it’s likely to be redundant. But if your exposure to antiracism and how racist the United States truly is historically is centered around news headlines and instagram reposts, then Stamped is a great way to learn a little more about the terminology and figures as a jumping-off point to learn more.

I think Jason Reynolds did a great job with the adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From the Beginning – he not only gathered the central facts but he also presented them in a very easy to digest way. Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You feels like a friendly conversation rather than a heavy book or a university lecture. The design is so smart, because it’s accessible enough to draw in audiences how may be otherwise intimidated by a larger, denser book. It’s so important that material like this reach as many people as possible, so even though I believe this adaptation was intended to bring in younger voices, I think Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You is also a great recommendation for anyone new to the topic, or for non-readers who may be otherwise intimidated by some of the more heavy books.

Also worth noting – Jason Reynolds reads the audiobook edition and does a marvelous job. Probably one of the best narrators I’ve listened to, especially when it comes to non-fiction.

This book is by no means an end-all guide. It’s a brief summary, a spark of enlightenment. I believe readers should absorb every spark of information in Stamped, then dig deeper into the topics. Kendi’s intelligence and passion shines through, and Reynolds makes it as accessible as possible. I think this book was wonderful and recommend to everyone (except those already well-read, in which case I say, read Stamped from the Beginning instead). ( )

Jason Reynolds has reframed Ibram Kendi's scholarly work on racism and anti-racism in a teen-friendly format. ( )

I am an old, white man; Jason Reynolds did not write this book for me, and it took an act of will to be the person Reynolds is talking to, to let his breezy, effusively friendly narrator get close, stay close, and show me the panorama of history strung along a single thread. But it's worth it. Look for these three perspectives, this book advises: segregation, assimilation, and antiracism. The result is mind-bending. There aren't answers here, but there is a way of seeing, and I'm left hopeful that we can use that to see a way forward. ( )