Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning

by Jason Reynolds

Other authorsIbram X. Kendi (Author)
Hardcover, 1920

Status

Available

Publication

Little Brown Books for Young Readers (2020), Edition: 1, 320 pages

Description

Multi-Cultural. Sociology. Geography. Young Adult Nonfiction. HTML: The #1 New York Times bestseller and a USAToday bestseller! A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racismâ??and antiracismâ??in America This is NOT a history book. This is a book about the here and now. A book to help us better understand why we are where we are. A book about race. The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited. Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideasâ??and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily li… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Hccpsk
As a high school librarian and educator, YA editions of books typically make me shudder; I dislike the idea of “dumbing things down” for kids. But, having read some Ibram X. Kendi and ended up feeling like I needed some help--it makes sense to see a YA version of Stamped. It was brilliant to
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ask Jason Reynolds, who seems to have his finger on the pulse of everything amazingly perfect these days, to write it. He concisely and artfully traces the history of racism in the United States in about 250 pages--down from Kendi’s 500+. He speaks the language of teens while still managing to instill all of the honesty and thoughtful anger of Kendi’s original. I can see this book easily entering the curriculum of any school trying to teach a more diverse and authentic history--and the students actually reading it. Kendi and Reynolds have a lot to say, and their message is one of education and action. As Kendi says in his intro letter, “For in order to dismantle racism, we must understand the racist ideas that we have absorbed and propagated.” And Reynold tells students in his acknowledgment, “Because it takes a whole hand--both hands--to grab hold of hatred. Not just a texting thumb and a scrolling index finger.” Hopefully, many teens--and adults--will read this book and heed the lessons.
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LibraryThing member sbenne3
A great quick read on the history of racism and anti-racism. Admittedly written for a younger audience . . . I was looking for more and will likely seek out Stamped from the Beginning to get a broader understanding of the topic. However, if you need a quick primer and are OK with casual writing,
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you will appreciate the points made.
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LibraryThing member ewyatt
A remix of Kendi's work, this book looks at the ways in which racism has been baked into the economic and political systems of the United States. It looks at specific behaviors around race - segregationists, assimilationists, and antiracists. The cyclical nature and patterns of racism throughout
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history is demonstrated again and again and again. A special spotlight is put on the work of black women
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
One of the most necessary books I have ever read. Even though this remix of the original version is written for teens, the writing style and the prose make it accessible to everyone. Powerful, searing, and eye opening; I wish everyone could read this book and open their hearts. So many ideas we
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have about race aren't ours and we've been lied to time and time again without us even knowing. It goes much deeper and farther back than we realize. We need to work hard at becoming antiracist, not just once, but every day. A punch to the gut, but absolutely necessary to wake you up to the history of racism and to the possibility of what the future could be without it.
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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian
This is the history that kids aren't getting in school. This is essential reading for all young people to begin to understand racism and anti-racism. Reynolds' "remix" of Kendi's work is told in a voice that will appeal to youth as a blunt call to action and enlightenment, with plenty of
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thought-provoking statements like "the world's first racist," Obama assimilating "under pressure," and all of Chapter 6. This merits repeat reads. In fact, don't borrow it from the library. Buy a copy to keep and refer to again. Backmatter includes source matter and a list of Further Reading.
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LibraryThing member acargile
I finished listening to Stamped a few days ago, so I hope I remember what I was feeling and thinking while listening to it.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi is definitely something people need to hear. I've read and taught various black literature over the
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years and tend to look at ideas from an academic point of view. I'm not someone to go yell at someone at all. I wish people would take a deep breath and listen. We would all be better off if we acknowledged that the unfair treatment of a group of people has always been wrong and we all have responsibility toward one another. Treat people kindly; black people have not been treated kindly. We know when we have failed as humans--or we should know. Listening and striving to be better is important. The overview of history is just that, an overview. You get a touch of history to make this opinion about history accessible to students.

I wish I had the book in my hand to see the references. When you listen and hear something along the lines of "there's no evidence," I would like to see the research notes in the back supporting that. I don't doubt the information, but I try to teach students to ALWAYS find the evidence. If you agree with someone, be able to cite valid sources so that you are standing on solid ground. Obviously, anecdotal stories are evidence because the people experienced the racism, so I would have liked to have seen those references as well.

As a white person, I obviously can't see the book from the perspective of a black person. Hence, I chose an analytical approach. I've read several black authors. No, I am not an expert. I have read different opinions from different black authors and I just want my students to not discount other authors because this book disagrees with their opinion. I'd rather they read many black texts, talk to family members, and make their own opinion about black history, racism, and their own lives. I want them to find their own path by reading from varying black authors' opinions from history and their conclusions become their personal truths to live by.
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LibraryThing member lflareads
Thank you to Libro.fm for the audiobook Stamped. Jason Reynolds presents this book after an introduction by Ibram X. Kendi. Important history surrounding racism and antiracism presented in a way that pulls readers in and keeps their interest with an engaging, relatable language for seventh graders
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and up. As stated in the book, “this is not your typical history book”. Highly recommend!
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LibraryThing member bookwren
A powerful, eye-opening, approachable adaptation. I hardly know where to begin in reviewing this momentous book. I read quickly, pulled along by Jason Reynolds' voice and by the content, but I know I didn't retain enough. It is a book I need to read again, taking notes, exploring my feelings, and
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deciding how I can best be in solidarity with Blacks and people of color. Backmatter includes a list of Further Reading (I'd like to start with "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin), Source Notes, and Index.
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LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
What an amazing book, and I wish I could have had it when I was a middle schooler. I think it’s a great read for adults too, and I’m going to try to tackle Stamped from the Beginning as well. Just having the language of assimilationist and antiracist is mind blowing.
LibraryThing member bookworm12
I know this is a remixed and shortened version of the original, but it definitely felt abridged. I felt like there were a lot of ideas but not enough going behind the scenes to explore those. I’d like to read the whole book at some point. I loved the way humor was woven into the "not history"
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book.

“There will come a time when we will love humanity, when we will gain the courage to fight for an equitable society for our beloved humanity, knowing, intelligently, that when we fight for humanity, we are fighting for ourselves.”

“A racist idea is any idea that suggests something is wrong or right, superior or inferior, better or worse about a racial group. An antiracist idea is any idea that suggests that racial groups are equals.”

“Both the segregationists and the assimilationists think there is something wrong with Black people and that’s why Black people are on the lower and dying end of racial inequity. The assimilationists believe Black people as a group can be changed for the better, and the segregationists do not. The segregationists and the assimilationists are challenged by antiracists. The antiracists say there is nothing wrong or right about Black people and everything wrong with racism. The antiracists say racism is the problem in need of changing, not Black people. The antiracists try to transform racism. The assimilationists try to transform Black people. The segregationists try to get away from Black people.”
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LibraryThing member KimMeyer
Can I give this ten stars? This will be one of my favorite books of this year, without question. This book is a powerhouse and Jason Reynolds is a treasure.
LibraryThing member rgruberhighschool
RGG: Important and revealing. However the tone, the conciseness, and the historical references may make this a very difficult read for the casual reader. Reading Interest: 13-YA.
LibraryThing member yarmando
I am an old, white man; Jason Reynolds did not write this book for me, and it took an act of will to be the person Reynolds is talking to, to let his breezy, effusively friendly narrator get close, stay close, and show me the panorama of history strung along a single thread. But it's worth it. Look
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for these three perspectives, this book advises: segregation, assimilation, and antiracism. The result is mind-bending. There aren't answers here, but there is a way of seeing, and I'm left hopeful that we can use that to see a way forward.
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LibraryThing member CarrieWuj
The author warns at the beginning that this is not a history book - it is a book about the present - where we are now on the subject of race and how we got there. Jason Reynolds re-interprets (and reads) this young reader adaptation of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning work "Stamped
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from the Beginning." This book contains history, but is more an interpretation of ideas. Kendi looks at 3 groups and responses to racism over time: Segregationists, Assimilationists, and Anti-Racists, which he succinctly summarizes as "people who want to get away from black people;" "people who want to transform black people" and "people who think there is nothing wrong or right about black people." Ultimately, Anti-Racists see the problem in the attitude of racism, independent of the people it is directed toward. Racism is the problem to be solved; not black people. In a sweeping overview of America's founding to its present day, both men examine the ideas that led to beliefs about race and how that then became action. It is a lot to take in, and I think a second read or listen would yield 5 stars...but first time through I'm left with a spinning head. This is very well-done, engaging and eye-opening. It tackles philosophical, social, and religious outlooks, anchored in historical time periods as they were influenced by key people, movements, events and cultural attitudes. It is a little like pulling apart a tangle of yarn, although they do a good job of taking a linear historical approach. In more recent times, a fascinating angle is the influence of movies, music and television. Even key black "heroes" like George Washington Carver, W.E.B. DuBois, and MLK come under scrutiny as Kendi and Reynolds examine their motivation toward promoting racial equality. It is not an easy or clear-cut undertaking, but it is an honest, earnest attempt at understanding. And it is ultimately a message of hope to this upcoming generation in the Information Age to be informed and to get involved. The Afterword encourages them to "fight against performance and lean in to participation" in the challenge to eradicate racism for good.
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LibraryThing member lilibrarian
Jason Reynolds has reframed Ibram Kendi's scholarly work on racism and anti-racism in a teen-friendly format.
LibraryThing member NClegern
In Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, Jason Reynolds 'remixes' the adult book Stamped from the Beginning making is readable and approachable for middle grad and YA readers.

"This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we
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are.
A book about race."

Reynolds doesn't shy away from letting readers know that this is a hard topic. He speaks directly to the reader, repeating things for emphasis and suggesting breaks when there are tense moments. The book reads as if your are being taught about the subject by someone that is there with you. This style plays a crucial role in making such complex and tense idea approachable.
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LibraryThing member fionaanne
Reynolds needs to write more non-fiction. It would improve the world immeasurably.
LibraryThing member ecataldi
One of the most necessary books I have ever read. Even though this remix of the original version is written for teens, the writing style and the prose make it accessible to everyone. Powerful, searing, and eye opening; I wish everyone could read this book and open their hearts. So many ideas we
Show More
have about race aren't ours and we've been lied to time and time again without us even knowing. It goes much deeper and farther back than we realize. We need to work hard at becoming antiracist, not just once, but every day. A punch to the gut, but absolutely necessary to wake you up to the history of racism and to the possibility of what the future could be without it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member CovenantPresMadison
This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the
Show More
poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jscape2000
Engaging, and conversational. The audiobook production of Stamped is a fine entry point into the challenging conversation of race in America.
LibraryThing member mjspear
Required reading for those yearning to be anti-racist (which should be everyone, I guess). Tough to swallow at times (A. Lincoln reduced to a "feather in the wind"...susceptible to every political whim of his time?) but probably above reproach from this reviewer.
LibraryThing member Anniik
I kind of checked out this book by accident (I meant to get Stamped From The Beginning) but I read it anyway. This is a powerful book for middle-school aged children and an excellent intro to anti racist history and thought. There need to be more books like this for the younger generation.
LibraryThing member GeauxGetLit
For me, I stay away from reading anything closely political related especially if the author is so one sided from their personal perspective’s…however, they rip apart other people who they have pigeonholed into one group…yet they are bitching that’s what’s happening to them.
It’s
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draining and time consuming and why must anyone have reason to stereotype one set of people is beyond me, but here we are.

This book, I thought was well done. It was more of a history lesson from the authors viewpoint and I can dig that.
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LibraryThing member bell7
"This is not a history book" begins this remix of Dr. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning, intended for a teenage audience but equally useful as an introduction to the subject for adults. Despite the disclaimer, there is quite a bit of history in the book, beginning in the 1600s and coming right up
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to the present day. Reynolds breaks down Kendi's segregationalists, assimilationists, and antiracists as the haters, the likers, and the lovers, and shows how anti-Black policies have been used to perpetuate racism even through Black thinkers such as W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington.

There is a lot to digest in this broad overview of 400 years of European and U.S. history - yeah, history, though it's certainly different from the history books I read as a kid and assumes a knowledge of the basics of U.S. history. Reynolds does a nice job of breaking things down without talking down to his audience, and listening to him read the audio version was an excellent way of reading this book for the first time. Once the text reached the time period where I was alive and aware of politics and policy, I thought the authors sometimes oversimplified some things, but I'm interested in reading the original and seeing if Dr. Kendi when into more detail. It's an engaging and provocative book sure to spark needed discussion.
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Awards

Kirkus Prize (Finalist — Young Readers' Literature — 2020)
Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Intermediate — 2022)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Grades 6-8 — 2022)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades 9-12 — 2023)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Young Adult — 2022)
Iowa Teen Award (Nominee — 2022)
Green Mountain Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
Thumbs Up! Award (Top Ten — 2021)
Blue Hen Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
South Dakota Teen Choice Book Awards (Almost Made It — 2022)
Grand Canyon Reader Award (Recommended — 2023)
Arkansas Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
Florida Teens Read Award (Nominee — 2022)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist — 2021)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Grades 6-9 — 2022)
Flicker Tale Award (Nominee — Older Readers — 2021)
Odyssey Award (Honor — 2021)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Middle School — 2022)
Isinglass Teen Read Award (Nominee — 2022)
Rhode Island Teen Book Award (Nominee — 2022)
CYBILS Awards (Winner — 2020)
Maine Student Book Award (Reading List — 2022)
Yellowhammer Book Awards (Honor Book — 2021)
James Cook Teen Book Award (Honor Book — 2021)
Read Aloud Indiana Book Award (High School — 2021)
Project LIT Book Selection (Young Adult — 2021)

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2020

ISBN

9780316453691

Local notes

Copy 1: Purchased with funding from the Ashley Grant program of the Minnesota Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Copy 2: Donated by Rev. John Fiscus
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