Stamped from the Beginning

Stamped from the Beginning was generally well-received by critics, including a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, who called the book "ambitious" and "magisterial."{{Cite web |date=2016-01-02 |title=Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ibram-x-kendi/stamped-from-the-beginning/ |access-date=2021-09-15 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}

Library Journal{{'}}s Thomas J. Davis concluded that Stamped from the Beginning "is a must for serious readers of American history, politics, or social thought."{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Thomas J. |date=2016-02-15 |title=Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/stamped-from-the-beginning-the-definitive-history-of-racist-ideas-in-america |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Library Journal}}

The Guardian{{'}}s David Olusoga called the book "brilliant and disturbing" and explained that some readers find the book disturbing "because of the author’s fearless reappraisals of the words, actions and philosophies of some of the more revered heroes of American abolitionism and civil rights – including African American heroes," including William Lloyd Garrison and W. E. B. Du Bois. He further states, "Perhaps what is most disturbing about Kendi’s work is that it shows how the same racial ideas, dressed in different period costumes, have been repeatedly used to explain away the deaths of generations of African Americans, slaves, victims of Jim Crow lynchings and, in the 21st-century, casualties of police shootings."

Also writing for The Guardian, Mark Anthony Neal writes, "I can't say whether Ibram X Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning will offend most white people (though I'm willing to bet it will offend some), but he damn sure names white supremacy for what it is."{{Cite news |last=Neal |first=Mark Anthony |author-link=Mark Anthony Neal |date=2017-08-24 |title=Stamped from the Beginning review – a timely history of racist ideas in America |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/24/stamped-from-beginning-ibram-x-kendi-review |access-date=2023-04-11 |issn=0261-3077}}

Sadiah Qureshi, writing for New Statesman, referred to the book as "a lucid, accessible survey of how 'the people' were racialised over 500 years." She further stated, "One might expect Kendi to be despondent, but he believes that eradicating discriminatory policies will consign racist ideas to the past ... an un-yielding narrative of racist ideas, violence and harm. However, the book is also a history of refusals."{{Cite web |last=Qureshi |first=Sadiah |author-link=Sadiah Qureshi |date=2017-08-14 |title=Stamped from the Beginning charts the uncomfortable history of American racism |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2017/08/stamped-beginning-charts-uncomfortable-history-american-racism |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}

Booklist's Rebecca Vnuk commented on Kendi's writing, highlighting how the book is "heavily researched yet easily readable."{{Cite web |last=Vnuk |first=Rebecca |date=2016-02-01 |title=Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Stamped-from-the-Beginning-The-Definitive-History-of-Racist-Ideas-in-America-Ibram-X-Kendi/pid=7900281 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Booklist}} She further explains, "The hope here is that by studying and remembering the lessons of history, we may be able to move forward to an equitable society."

The Washington Post{{'}}s Carlos Lozada provided a mixed review, writing, "The greatest service Kendi and provide[s] is the ruthless prosecution of American ideas about race for their tensions, contradictions and unintended consequences. And yet I have greater difficulty embracing the notion that, as Kendi argues, progress on race is inevitably stalked by the advance of racism and that, on an individual level, falling short in specific instances somehow taints the whole of a person ... The old one-drop rule for determining race was based on prejudice and pseudoscience. A one-drop rule for determining racism seems only slightly less unfair, no matter how well-intentioned."{{Cite news |last=Lozada |first=Carlos |author-link=Carlos Lozada (journalist) |date=2016-04-15 |title=The racism of good intentions |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/book-party/wp/2016/04/15/the-racism-of-good-intentions/ |access-date=2023-04-11 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein locates the book within Kendi's broader body of work, which he describes as "fatuous, almost juvenile," dependent upon "binary, wooden labels" in the absence of a critical framework, "more fashion statement than political manifesto," and frequently "bizarre."{{cite book|author=Norman Finkelstein|title=I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It|publisher=Sublation Press Book|year=2023}}

Kirkus Reviews named Stamped from the Beginning one of the best books of 2016.

{{Infobox book

| italic title =

| name = Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

| image = Stamped- Racism, Antiracism, and You.jpg

| author = Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| subject = Racism in the United States

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

| published =

| pages = 294

| external_url =

| external_host =

| awards = {{plainlist}}

• Goodreads Choice Award (2020)
• Cybils Award (2020)

{{endplainlist}}

| isbn = 978-0-3164-5369-1

| pub_date = March 10, 2020

| caption = First edition cover of Stamped

| isbn_note = Hardcover

}}

Kendi wrote Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You with Jason Reynolds, "remixing" Stamped from the Beginning for a younger audience.{{cite web|last1=Baker|first1=Jennifer|date=March 9, 2020|title=History Remixed: How Young Adult Authors Are Revisioning History|url=https://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/?detailStory=history-remixed-young-adult-nonfiction-revisioning-marginalized-people|website=School Library Journal|accessdate=10 March 2020}} The book was published March 10, 2020 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You is adapted from Stamped: From the Beginning, originally written by Kendi.{{Cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Jason|title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You|publisher=Little, Brown and Company|year=2020|isbn=9780316453677}} The first book, published in 2016, focuses on historical figures.{{Cite web|title=A History Book That Isn't: Finding A Way To Teach Racism To A New Generation|website=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/14/814630039/a-history-book-that-isnt-finding-a-way-to-teach-racism-to-a-new-generation}} However, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You follows a chronological format. Kendi reached out to Reynolds to collaborate on a chronological version after seeing success with his first book. Reynolds first declined Kendi's proposal, adamant that he was a fiction writer. It took a writing style that made Stamped "not a history book" to get Reynolds on board with the idea.

Kendi and Reynolds insist throughout the book that "it is not a history book" and writes in a casual, easy-to-understand manner, using slang and pop culture references to cater to the younger audience. There are five sections split by time periods: 1415–1728, 1743–1826, 1826–1879, 1868–1963, and 1963-today. The chapters vary in length and there are 28 in total. In these chapters, Kendi and Reynolds focus on important, often overlooked figures and events to illustrate the development of racist ideas throughout the history of the United States. Throughout the book, Kendi and Reynolds return to the themes of racists, assimilationists, and antiracists, and the book ends by encouraging readers to take what they have learned from the book and to become antiracist.

Stamped received numerous positive reviews, including starred reviews from Booklist,{{Cite web|last=Agudelo|first=Jessica|date=January 1, 2020|title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You|url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Stamped-Racism-Antiracism-and-You-/pid=9727723|access-date=2021-09-15|website=Booklist}} Kirkus Reviews,{{Cite web |date=2019-11-10 |title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jason-reynolds/stamped/ |access-date=2021-09-15 |website=Kirkus Reviews}} and Publishers Weekly.{{Cite web |date=2020-01-23 |title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning 'Stamped from the Beginning' by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X Kendi |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780316453691 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Publishers Weekly}}

Kirkus Reviews called the book "impressive and much needed."

Publishers Weekly comments on the book's writing style, stating, "Short chapters, lively phrasing..., and intentional breaks ... help maintain a brisk, compelling pace. Told impressively economically, loaded with historical details that connect clearly to current experiences, and bolstered with suggested reading and listening selected specifically for young readers, Kendi and Reynolds’s volume is essential, meaningfully accessible reading."

Booklist's Jessica Agudel wrote that the book's encouragement of readers to "emerge as critical thinkers who can decipher coded language and harmful imagery stemming from racist ideas, which still linger in modern society and popular culture, will be the most empowering result."{{Cite web |last=Agudelo |first=Jessica |date=2020-01-01 |title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Stamped-Racism-Antiracism-and-You-/pid=9727723 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Booklist}} She concludes that Stamped should be "required reading for everyone especially those invested in the future of" young people in America."

Shelf Awareness{{'}}s Siân Gaetano highlights how "Reynolds.. makes Stamped a conversation with the reader," saying, "This approach, in less capable hands, could go horribly wrong{{nbsp}}... But it is what makes Reynolds's interpretation so successful. Stamped is approachable: his tone is welcoming, helpful, easygoing and informal, even though--because--his topic is the shameful, disgusting and brutal history and present of racism."{{Cite web |last=Gaetano |first=Siân |date=2020-03-20 |title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You |url=https://www.shelf-awareness.com/readers-issue.html?issue=903 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Shelf Awareness}}

The audiobook edition, narrated by Jason Reynolds, also received a starred review from Booklist's Terry Hong, who stated, Stamped—both printed and aural—is an undeniable gift to lucky audiences; either/both must be required reading for all.{{Cite web |last=Hong |first=Terry |date=April 15, 2020 |title=Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Stamped-Racism-Antiracism-and-You-/pid=9733674 |access-date=2021-09-15 |website=Booklist}} Hong also highlighted how Reynolds "transform[ed Kendi's] illuminating words into something akin to a riveting open-mic, poetry-slam performance," stating, "Listeners’ heads will undoubtedly be bobbing in absorbed agreement." Hong's "only complaint throughout" are "the between-chapter gameshow-esque cacophonous interruptions."

Stamped was a New York Times Bestseller. Kirkus Reviews named it one of the best books of 2020.

In 2020, Stamped landed the second position on the American Library Association's list of the most commonly banned and challenged books in the United States.{{Cite web |last= |date=2013-03-26 |title=Top 10 Most Challenged Books Lists |url=http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10 |access-date=2021-05-04 |website=Office for Intellectual Freedom |publisher=American Library Association |language=en}} The book was banned, challenged, and/or restricted "because of author’s public statements, and because of claims that the book contains 'selective storytelling incidents' and does not encompass racism against all people."

{{Infobox book

| italic title =

| name = Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You

| image = Stamped (For Kids)-Racism, Antiracism, and You.jpg

| author = Sonja Cherry-Paul, Ibram X. Kendi, and Jason Reynolds

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| subject = Racism in the United States

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

| published =

| pages = 163

| external_url =

| external_host =

| awards =

| pub_date = May 11, 2021

| caption = First edition cover of Stamped (for Kids)

| illustrators = Rachelle Baker

}}

Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You was published May 11, 2021 by Little, Brown Young Readers. The book was written by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Rachelle Baker, and adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul.

Stamped (for Kids) received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews, who called the books "exhilarating, excellent, [and] necessary."{{Cite web|date=April 7, 2021|title=Stamped (for kids)|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sonja-cherry-paul/stamped-for-kids/|access-date=2021-09-15|website=Kirkus Reviews}}

Booklist's Jessica Agudelo highlighted how Cherry-Paul "skillfully carried over" the "conservational tone" created in the previous installments of the book.{{Cite web |last=Agudelo |first=Jessica |date=2021-05-21 |title=Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Stamped-for-Kids-Racism-Antiracism-and-You-/pid=9747224 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Booklist}} She also discussed the book's artistry, saying, "Baker’s gray-scale illustrations provide an effective visual language for the intended audience and are featured varyingly as spot art and full-page depictions."

Common Sense Media gave Stamped (for Kids) three out of five stars, who noted that the book's concepts and language "[seem] inaccessible to 6- to 8-year-old children at the younger end of the publisher's target audience."{{Cite web |last=Saunders |first=Barbara |title=Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You Book Review |url=https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/stamped-for-kids-racism-antiracism-and-you |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Common Sense Media |language=en}} They explain their position by stating, "The content veers between young-kid-friendly discussions ... to very adult-oriented, abstract language and concepts."

Stamped (for Kids) is a New York Times Bestseller. Kirkus Reviews named it one of the best books of 2021. In 2022, the Association for Library Service to Children included it on their "Notable Children's Books" list.{{Cite web |date=2022-03-15 |title=Notable Children's Books: 2022 |url=https://www.booklistonline.com/Notable-Children-s-Books/pid=9760612 |access-date=2023-04-11 |website=Booklist}}

{{clear}}

{{Infobox book

| italic title =

| name = Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America

| image = Stamped Graphic Novel.jpg

| author = Ibram X. Kendi, and Joel Christian Gill

| cover_artist =

| country = United States

| language = English

| subject = Racism in the United States

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = Ten Speed Press

| published =

| pages = 288

| external_url =

| external_host =

| awards =

| pub_date = June 6, 2023

| caption = First edition cover of the graphic edition of Stamped from the Beginning

| illustrators =

| isbn = 978-1-9848-5943-3

| isbn_note = First edition

}}

Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America, adapted to graphic novel form by Joel Christian Gill, was published June 6, 2023.

A documentary film by Roger Ross Williams was also submitted for Oscar consideration.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/awards/2024-oscars-shortlist-barbie-1235843930/|title=Oscar Shortlists Announced for 10 Categories: ‘Barbie’ Leads the Way |last=Davis |first=Clayton |date=21 December 2023|access-date=22 December 2023|website=Variety|language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://newbooksnetwork.com/ibram-x-kendi-stamped-from-the-beginning-the-definitive-history-of-racist-ideas-in-america-nation-books-2016/ Interview] at New Books Network
• [http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/live_at_politics/2017/08/ibram_x_kendi_discusses_his_book_stamped_from_the_beginning.html Interview] at Slate
• [https://www.c-span.org/video/?424800-7/open-phones-ibram-kendi Interview with Kendi on Stamped from the Beginning at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 11, 2017], C-SPAN
• [https://www.c-span.org/video/?429143-4/stamped-beginning Interview with Kendi on Stamped from the Beginning at Printers Row Lit Fest, June 10, 2017], C-SPAN
• [https://www.c-span.org/video/?433238-1/stamped-beginning Interview with Kendi on Stamped from the Beginning at the Busboys and Poets Bookstore, August 29, 2017], C-SPAN

{{Jason Reynolds}}

Category:2016 non-fiction books

Category:English-language non-fiction books

Category:Anti-racism in the United States

Category:Books about race and ethnicity in the United States

Category:Books by Ibram X. Kendi

Category:2020 children's books

Category:2021 children's books