Stamped from the Beginning

The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

By: Ibram X. Kendi

Narrated by: Christopher Dontrell Piper

Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2016

• Winner of the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction• A New York Times best-seller in race and civil rights• Finalist for the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction• "The most ambitious book of 2016" (Washington Post) • A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016• A Washington Post Notable Book of 2016• A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016• A Root Best Book of 2016• A BuzzFeed Best Nonfiction Book of 2016• A Bustle Best Book of 2016• Nominated for 2016 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work of Nonfiction• Finalist for the 2017 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Nonfiction• A Kirkus Best History Book of 2016• A Kirkus Best Book of 2016 to explain current politics• A Kirkus Best Heartrending Nonfiction Book of 2016• An Entropy Best Nonfiction Book of 2016• The Washington Post 2016 summer reading list

Some Americans cling desperately to the myth that we are living in a post-racial society, that the election of the first Black president spelled the doom of racism. In fact, racist thought is alive and well in America - more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, if we have any hope of grappling with this stark reality, we must first understand how racist ideas were developed, disseminated, and enshrined in American society.

In this deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals - Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis. - to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists.

©2016 Ibram X. Kendi (P)2017 Novel Audio

Essential Reading, Poor Listening

I've really struggled with how to review this. It is an important book. Essential reading on white supremacy in America. And yet the narrator is awful, which makes listening difficult. He simply can't pronounce words. And, I don't mean that there are dialectical distinctions. I mean, there are commonly understood words he can't pronounce. I kept thinking, "Who is this narrator? Kendi's cousin who just graduated form college?" So, buy the book, which I ultimately did. Kendi is brilliant. But don't bother to listen. It's maddening.

Reader reads too quickly for the depth of content

This book requires time to digest, and the pace the narrator uses is too fast. I ended up returning the book and reading it instead.

fantastic!

A must read. One that I will read again for sure. It's compelling and challenging. It quickly puts into context the depth of racism in our political and societal systems. Christopher Dontrell Piper's reading is engaging and I think fantastic.

Thank you

This book needs to be taught in every high school in America. Thank you for the knowledge I did not get growing up.

Must Read

Amazing travel through history; Raw, informative, thought provoking, while frustrating; Direct and honest, while supported by historical facts.

Excellent Survey of Racism in the USA

Wonderful insight here into the history of racism in America. It's thorough and well-researched but never boring. There is a small error in the recording during the last chapter. It seems to skip ahead. As I don't have the physical book, I'm not sure how much gets skipped, but this is a very minor issue. Substantively, the book is top notch.

insightful presentation

A bit academic in presentation. Succumbing to the exceptional black trap. Informative to trace the history of racism in North America, northern Europe and Central America. Did not address same bigotry in near middle and far East.
Disappointing not to have an alternative to an assimilation solution. Remedy appeared to be; remove existing power structure in government and private companies, legislate non-racial policies (without providing examples), and educate the nation to see the pie is not finite rather by elevating black, brown & native Americans all can benifite.
I fear history will repeat itself, progress will erratic, injustice, chaotic & with luck successful.
As illustrated in this book, racism (economic power) has existing for millenia & will take time to eliminate.

Good history, left me wanting.

The periodic topics covered in each chapter are notable & important.

This was my first real introduction into the history of racism in America, and for this I am grateful. I listened to the closing remarks several times as I truly want to know how I can help.
I also came away with the deepest heartbreak of how Americans have dealt such an ugly blow to any and all races that are not white.

I do not relish being critical about important material like this. However the monotonous and monotonic delivery left me impatient. The narrator was off cadence too much and put the emphasis on the wrong words far too often. The production was spliced together so much that the audio quality was just not consistent.

Yes I recommend the book, the audio delivery maybe not so much.

Audible needs quality control

I’ve already read the hard copy of this book. It is a magnificent book. Do not miss it. Get the audio. There are several spots, however, where it is clear that the production/direction was not proof listened, and that is too bad. It is an issue with production and not the reading or the reader. I expect better quality from Audible and Amazon.

Dispelling whitewashed history and identifying the roots of racism

The American history I was taught in school conveniently left out so much of the ugliest words, actions, and ideas that have shaped our current situation: this book lays these bare.

It also traces the history of the 3 responses to anti-Black racism from their early development until now and their effects and effectiveness.

A thorough and articulate examination of history.