Stamped From The Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America
A striking graphic novel edition of the National Book Award-winning history of how racist ideas have shaped American life—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist.
Racism has persisted throughout history—but so have antiracist efforts to dismantle it. Through deep research and a gripping narrative that illuminates the lives of five key American figures, preeminent historian Ibram X. Kendi reveals how understanding and improving the world cannot happen without identifying and facing the racist forces that shape it.
In collaboration with award-winning historian and comic artist Joel Christian Gill, this stunningly illustrated graphic-novel adaptation of Dr. Kendi’s groundbreaking Stamped from the Beginning explores, with vivid clarity and dimensionality, the living history of America, and how we can learn from the past to work toward a more equitable, antiracist future.
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“This is an unvarnished, unapologetic, unflinching, and appropriately snarky tale of the mess we are in.”
“A book that educates and entertains in a way that makes it an indispensable teaching tool, while simultaneously establishing Gill is a master of this medium.”
“Engaging, educational, and wryly funny at times, this graphic adaptation of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped from the Beginning provides a heartfelt and hard-hitting look at American history that works as a primer for younger readers without underestimating their experience with racism or their capacity to make the world a better place. Joel Christian Gill’s illustrations make the past feel more concrete and give readers of all ages a new way to connect to the material.”
“Buckle up. Joel Christian Gill and Ibram X. Kendi are absolutely unapologetic. Together, they deliver the facts and will transform everything you thought you already knew about race and racism. This is the one that will provoke the conversations so desperately needed at home, at school, and at work. A masterpiece that can help us grapple with hard truths.”
“Joel Christian Gill’s adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s seminal book is spirited, freshly contemporary, and wholly unique. Engaging and comprehensive, it promises to be a useful tool in combating destructive, false, and stubbornly held beliefs that have plagued us for far too long. A must for lovers of graphic non-fiction and American History.”
“An essential new approach to understanding centuries of systemic power dynamics throughout our society, from our shared history to possible futures.”
“This essential adaptation gives the visual learner something to hold onto while being flown through centuries of history and the ideas that helped shape them. The notion that IDEAS can shape history was so hard for me to grasp as a young person; a book that helps people see how racist ideas have shaped our past and present is vital for writing a new direction for humanity’s future.”
“Educational and entertaining, Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America is a tour de force by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi and Joel Christian Gill. This graphic novel takes full advantage of the medium by offering visuals that clarify and complicate an antiracist view of history.”
“If knowledge is power, this extraordinary illustrated overview of America’s racist history is a whole star. Shedding light on where we’ve come from and how we might grow beyond it, Dr. Kendi’s work asks us to imagine a wholeness we’ve only caught glimpses of, and to reach for it with smarter policies and braver hearts.”
“The graphic novel adaptation of Stamped from the Beginning is an index of two rhetorical masters at the top of their game. The original publication is arguably one of the most important books of the last fifty years and Joel Christian Gill’s wondrous acumen as a cartoonist and historian fuses with the brilliance of Ibram X. Kendi’s prose to create a powerful visual artifact that will move readers and inspire change for generations to come.”