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Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
13 reviews
anigoose's review
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Trafficking, Hate crime, Genocide, and Misogyny
Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Medical content, and Ableism
rubybooks's review
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
5.0
I've been wanting to read this book for a while, so I placed a hold from my library for the audiobook. It finally came through this month, and I loved this so much. I've really been loving listening to non-fiction audiobooks, especially because for me it feels like someone is explaining the topic directly to me. In my opinion this worked really well for Stamped from the Beginning - it kept me engaged the whole time, and it's a long book, but I found all the information interesting and also easy to understand.
I made quite a few notes while I was reading, mainly because I was listening to the audiobook. I definitely also want to buy a physical copy so I can tab and annotate. I think this is the type of book that you should read multiple times because even though I write down some thoughts, there are probably details that I missed. And this is a long book that covers SO much! It's really hard to summarise all my thoughts into this review, but I'll talk about a few notable topics that stood out for me. I might update this review if I get a physical copy and reread it.
Stamped from the Beginning covers a huge length of time, from the colonisation of America to the present day and Obama's presidency. This is probably what I appreciated most about this book - it covered a huge amount of time, but didn't compromise on depth. I sometimes struggle with non-fiction "survey" books because they lack detail, but that was not the case with this book. Kendi discusses so many events, topics, and themes, some of which were already known to me and some weren't. Early on there is a discussion of the American civil war, the middle passage, independence, the great migration, and the history of lynching, as well as so many more things, such as an examination of famous figures like Thomas Jefferson.
I was happy that I did know a lot of what Kendi was referencing, such as the works of Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Kendi also talks about Black lesbians (and Black queer people in general), and he talks a lot about gender racism and I loved this attention on topics that have often been overlooked. After reading a few anti-racist non-fiction books I'm also getting better at remembering details about early colonial American history, as well as later events such as Ronald Reagan's war on drugs. Even then, there is so much for me to learn more about, especially as I'm not American so I didn't learn American history in school.
I really valued the discussion of multiculturalism vs assimilation vs anti-racism, which I briefly learned about in a politics class a few years ago. I hadn't properly considered how the desegregation of schools was assimilationist, as Black children were bussed to white schools and not the other way around. I also learned much more about W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X through Kendi's analysis. And even though I have read some of Angela Davis's work, I really want to read Are Prisons Obsolete? and I also have The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander borrowed because I definitely want to educate myself more on mass incarceration.
There is so much from this book that I didn't even mention here, so I would highly recommend just reading this for yourself. It's a must-read for everyone, especially if you're looking to read more non-fiction and anti-racist literature. I also own a physical copy of How to be an Antiracist, so I'm looking forward to reading more of Kendi's work. This book discusses the horrors of racism over the centuries, so be aware of content warnings for discussion of racism, slurs, lynching, rape, murder, war, mass incarceration, and drugs.
I made quite a few notes while I was reading, mainly because I was listening to the audiobook. I definitely also want to buy a physical copy so I can tab and annotate. I think this is the type of book that you should read multiple times because even though I write down some thoughts, there are probably details that I missed. And this is a long book that covers SO much! It's really hard to summarise all my thoughts into this review, but I'll talk about a few notable topics that stood out for me. I might update this review if I get a physical copy and reread it.
Stamped from the Beginning covers a huge length of time, from the colonisation of America to the present day and Obama's presidency. This is probably what I appreciated most about this book - it covered a huge amount of time, but didn't compromise on depth. I sometimes struggle with non-fiction "survey" books because they lack detail, but that was not the case with this book. Kendi discusses so many events, topics, and themes, some of which were already known to me and some weren't. Early on there is a discussion of the American civil war, the middle passage, independence, the great migration, and the history of lynching, as well as so many more things, such as an examination of famous figures like Thomas Jefferson.
I was happy that I did know a lot of what Kendi was referencing, such as the works of Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Kendi also talks about Black lesbians (and Black queer people in general), and he talks a lot about gender racism and I loved this attention on topics that have often been overlooked. After reading a few anti-racist non-fiction books I'm also getting better at remembering details about early colonial American history, as well as later events such as Ronald Reagan's war on drugs. Even then, there is so much for me to learn more about, especially as I'm not American so I didn't learn American history in school.
I really valued the discussion of multiculturalism vs assimilation vs anti-racism, which I briefly learned about in a politics class a few years ago. I hadn't properly considered how the desegregation of schools was assimilationist, as Black children were bussed to white schools and not the other way around. I also learned much more about W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X through Kendi's analysis. And even though I have read some of Angela Davis's work, I really want to read Are Prisons Obsolete? and I also have The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander borrowed because I definitely want to educate myself more on mass incarceration.
There is so much from this book that I didn't even mention here, so I would highly recommend just reading this for yourself. It's a must-read for everyone, especially if you're looking to read more non-fiction and anti-racist literature. I also own a physical copy of How to be an Antiracist, so I'm looking forward to reading more of Kendi's work. This book discusses the horrors of racism over the centuries, so be aware of content warnings for discussion of racism, slurs, lynching, rape, murder, war, mass incarceration, and drugs.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
readandfindout's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
2017 first read: 4.5 stars.
A tabbed this book up so much. Everyone needs to read this, as it examines how every side of our history here in the United States helped racist ideas to develop into what they are today. This is a must read.
2022 reread:
Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars
A tabbed this book up so much. Everyone needs to read this, as it examines how every side of our history here in the United States helped racist ideas to develop into what they are today. This is a must read.
2022 reread:
Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Police brutality, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Murder
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