Reviews with content warning for Violence - Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

This was a short but incredibly informative not history history book! 95% of what I read was new to me.

The chapters were fast paced but some of them ended up making for dense reading. There were some parts where I wish the authors had gone into more depth. For example, I was a little disappointed by the chapter on W. E. B. Du Bois. I loved Du Bois' writing on double consciousness and the authors of Stamped overgeneralized the concept by implying that it's assimilationist thought and that it's simply about "a self that is Black and a self that is American." It's fair to have that opinion, but since I believe it's an unpopular one (double consciousness is a topic discussed frequently to this day), it deserved more than a paragraph.

Also, there were times when the authors' tone clashed with the book's content. I understand that Jason Reynolds wanted to make this book more readable for younger audiences, but at times it was a little too much. This is a quote from chapter one: "Uh-oh. The R-word. Which for many of us still feels rated R. Or can be matched only with another R word-run. But don't. Let's all just take a deep breath. Inhale. Hold it. Exhale and breathe out: RACE." It almost feels like I'm being talked down to.

The authors tried to make an effort to include LGBT+ people and women. I would say they succeeded in being inclusive of women, but not LGBT+ people. I can count maybe two times that they were mentioned.

Regardless of those three factors-the tone, the pacing, and inclusivity-I would replace this with current school history textbooks any day. THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER than history told through a white perspective.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

5.0

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).

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marieketron's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

As i indicated during an earlier status update, I probably would have been better off having read the first book that this one is a remix of. I’m not exactly the target audience, being way past being a teenager and also not American. I do think the material being discussed is relevant and important for everyone to be aware of, but the way it was being presented here didn’t really work for me.

That being said, I am very happy to see these type of dense materials are being remixed so they’re more easily accessible for a range of audiences. The ideas on which racism is built are old and have changed a lot in their presentation but never at their core. This book helps track that development and illuminates those core ideas so that the reader can track them and identify them themselves.

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junefish's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

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