Reviews tagging 'Death'

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

12 reviews

infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Deportation

overbooked207's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation, and Pandemic/Epidemic

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This is a very dense book. It will need to be reread many times because the first read was like a primer. I took as many notes as I could. I gave myself a little affirming wink whenever I saw a book referenced that I’d already read and jotted down others that are more on my TBR list. Of all the books I’ve read by this author, this one was the heaviest. This one will ground me, whereas the others activate me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, War, and Classism

asainspace's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Comprehensive, useful, readable history of anti-Black racism in America.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, and Police brutality

Moderate: Genocide and Trafficking

Minor: Islamophobia and War

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.5

This was a lot. Was it a very important read and worth it yes. Did I sometimes feel dumb reading this yes. Most of the topics discussed are horrible so trigger warning. This book made me mad and sad. I do think people should read this, but it is basically a history book so I don’t know how assessable this would be for everyone. I do understand why it went through the whole history of slavery, but I don’t know as much about that so it was harder to I guess understand, but when we got more in the current day I was able to understand and like connect the dots more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War

meganpbennett's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Stamped from the Beginning is one of those books that you need to read, but you don't necessarily want to read. It's a slow, hard read, and it encourages (White) readers to look at their own thoughts, their own biases, to see what racist ideas they might fall into, whether or not they realize that the ideas or thoughts are racist. It makes people think about being antiracist, as opposed to simply being not racist, and yes, there is a difference. The book also looks at intersectionality and how multiple types and levels of oppression can 'intersect' and cause problems, and how the intersection of oppression can lead to more oppression of various groups.

My only complaint about Stamped is how Kendi introduces the reader to people. He will describe the person, saying where they were from, maybe what job they held, and why they are important in the moment they are mentioned. Only then will he name the person. Most of those paragraphs would have been much more powerful had the person in question been identified in the first sentence, instead of in the second or third sentence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia

nytephoenyx's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Stamped From the Beginning is a hard-hitting account of racist ideas in America, starting with colonization and working forward through the Obama administration.  Kendi discusses the different approaches to racial equality – segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists.  He also picks apart famous historical figures and shows the complexity of them – that the good ones had racist thoughts too.

I thought Stamped From the Beginning was an enlightening account of our history in this country.  It’s not the story we’re told in high school history courses, but it should be.  This three-dimensional painting of America’s racist ideas reveals a country that is deeply flawed and toxic, but still has the opportunity to change.  America is an extremely patriotic country and most people have difficulty seeing its flaws. However, the only way we are going to be able to grow is to see those flaws and address them appropriately.

Kendi takes the reader chronologically through the years.  I particularly enjoyed the parts on Abraham Lincoln (the white savior if you ever saw one, and not quite as pure-hearted as he is typically represented) and Angela Davis.  Stamped From the Beginning addresses both male and female experiences, and even digs a little into the corrupt prison system.

While there is some intersectionality in this conversation, there is very little.  Kendi discusses the male and female experience, but there was no conversation about the experiences of the Black LGBTQIAP+ community or the Black disabled community.  There’s room to expand Stamped From the Beginning to be inclusive of these experiences as well.

As a professor and a historian, the things Kendi does present are extremely well-written and approachable to the average reader.  Stamped From the Beginning should be taught in AP History classes in high schools at the very least, because it’s important for our education system to be more inclusive if we as a country are going to affect change in any venue.  His cadence in the book is steady, the narrative is direct, and the pacing is good.  I was never bored, and I learned things every time I listened to the audiobook.

I picked up Stamped From the Beginning because I read Jason Reynold’s remix of the book, Stamped, earlier this year, and I’m glad I did.  While Stamped makes these facts more accessible to younger readers, you really don’t get the full picture unless you read the original text.  I recommend both depending the reader, but Stamped From the Beginning truly paints a broader picture of the unpleasant truth of American history.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, and Slavery

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual assault

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

anigoose's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

I have both the audiobook and ebook, and I just wanted to share that I struggled a little with the audiobook. It was edited a little patchily and there would be audible (lol) differences between sound quality for sometimes just a word inserted into a sentence, or for a sentence in a paragraph. There are also occasional mouth sounds in the recording. If you are ND and have sensory issues this might be a problem for you. I could only listen with binaural beats in the background and whilst doing something like knitting. 

It's not a knock on those who made it, or even a complaint, just a head's up for other folks with sensory processing issues!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Trafficking

Moderate: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, and Medical content