Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in…

I finally finished Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. The book is organized around five figures in American history and weaves their biographies and philosophies with the context of their times. Each one from Thomas Jefferson to Angela Davis are shown in their complexity, how they contributed to or fought back against racist ideas but also created an environment of racist thought in the United States. Kendi does a good job teasing out the various threads of how racist ideas show up in the world and requires a level of personal examination that can be challenging.

While I was reading the book, I watched two PBS series that underscored Kendi's ideas as well as the history itself. The Long Song, a Masterpiece theater series, was set in Jamaica in the 19th century during the end of slavery. Powerful in its message and illustrating the complex relationships of slaves and former slaves to their masters. The story telling was compelling as well along with the cinematography. Highly recommended!

And, be sure to watch The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is joined by an amazing group of leaders to talk about the history and influence of the black church. It repeats many of the same themes as Kendi's book but in the context of religion and spirituality and it moves right into the present day with contemporary faith leaders discussing the challenges of meeting the needs of the current generation.

This...is horrible. Not the book — the world. This book is just so well written, and you could sense how much work was put into it. It really forced myself to check my privileges as a white person. This is no new racism that is happening today, this always has been this way, unless today there are videos of it. More people need to read this book. It will put you in front of the truth, whether you want/like it or not. I think it should be a necessary read in schools. ( )

Kendi has a very specific, deliberately ahistorical idea of what constitutes racism, or more specifically antiracism, which I don’t think works as well as he does. But the idea of tracing American theories of race from Cotton Mather to Angela Davis is interesting, and I did learn some things. ( )

If you only read one book in your life, make it this book. It's that good, that well written, that interesting, and that absolutely necessary. ( )

I am so glad I am an avid listener of the podcast, The Dollop, because I already knew a few of what I learned listening to this audiobook.

There are many amazing aspects to this audiobook, that you would obviously miss if you were just reading the book. The main part for me was hearing the pain/disgust in the narrator's voice as he had to read some of the more gruesome/disgusting parts of the African-Americans' history -- this was phenomenal because you should be disgusted reading most aspects of how African-Americans have been treated by White America throughout history I've seen it said recently that if you have never had to go to court to fight for your right to be considered human or equal, you're privileged -- this book highlights that more eloquantly by pointing out facts, both statical and in the laws written and enforced.

Adrianne ( )