infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.25


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overbooked207's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0


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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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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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crybabybea's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.75


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stephmcoakley's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

3.75


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asainspace's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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4.0

 “The principal function of racist ideas in American history has been the suppression of resistance to racial discrimination and its resulting racial disparities. The beneficiaries of slavery, segregation, and mass incarceration have produced racist ideas of Black people being best suited for or deserving of the confines of slavery, segregation, or the jail cell. Consumers of these racist ideas have been led to believe there is something wrong with Black people, and not the policies that have enslaved, oppressed, and confined so many Black people.”

Stamped is a comprehensible history about race and racism in America! I read the version retold by Jason Reynolds and wasn’t satisfied with how it modernized and left out important aspects of history. Therefore I was planning on reading the original version by Ibram X. Kendi, as it dives much deeper into the historical background and important key figures of the different eras! I enjoyed listening to the audiobook and learning more about the topic, though there was a lot of information and things I’d have to reread in the future to fully take them in! 

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brookey8888's review against another edition

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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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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

This book takes us from our nation’s inception through the presidency of Barack Obama. It highlights three main race ideologies and explicates about each one over the decades. Segregationists, those who believe Black folx are genetically inferior and don’t believe in equality; assimilationists, who believe that Black people need to try harder to become better people (aka more white); and antiracists, who believe that systems of inequality and discrimination have always been the culprit of inequity in American society. This book points out that both segregationists and assimilationists are racist, even if the latter would try to have you believe otherwise. I learned a lot about our country’s history, policies, and leaders that will help inform my continued efforts to be antiracist moving forward and will help me focus on Black freedom in this country and beyond.

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meganpbennett's review against another edition

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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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