Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi is a comprehensive history of racist ideas in America, structured around the lives of five significant figures: Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis. Kendi explores the development and impact of racist thought across various disciplines and political movements, challenging misconceptions about the origins of racist policies and ideas. The book addresses sensitive topics such as racism, classism, sexism, and homophobia.

Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking exploration of racist ideas in America. Praised for its thorough research and engaging narrative, some critics find the text dense and occasionally repetitive. Overall, it is celebrated for its educational value and insightful critique of systemic racism.

Readers who appreciate Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi are likely interested in racial history, social justice, and critical race theory. They may have enjoyed The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander or Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This book appeals to those who seek a comprehensive analysis of racism in America.

Informative / Challenging / Contemplative / Emotional

- Stamped from the Beginning is the winner of the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction, making Ibram X. Kendi one of the youngest-ever winners of this honor at the age of 34.
- Kendi's book challenges traditional narratives by tracing the evolution of racist ideas throughout the history of the United States, an approach that has sparked much discussion and re-evaluation of American historical events and figures.
- Through its exploration of history, the book introduces the concept of "assimilationist" and "segregationist" ideas, encouraging a deeper understanding of persistent racial inequality and their impact on contemporary society.

**Cotton Mather**  
A New England Puritan clergyman and writer who was the first primary character, known for his philosophical and scientific interests, and his role in defining dominant 18th-century thought on race and assimilation.

**Thomas Jefferson**  
An influential American statesman and thinker noted for his contradictory writings on race; he both fought against British rule and enslaved people, while maintaining complex racial ideologies.

**William Lloyd Garrison**  
A passionate abolitionist whose advocacy influenced U.S. policy, initially viewing abolitionism as apolitical but later connecting it closely to politics, especially around the time of the Civil War.

**W. E. B. Du Bois**  
A scholar and activist who evolved from an assimilationist to a radical antiracist thinker, influencing civil rights movements with his critical views on respectability and race.

**Angela Davis**  
A prominent antiracist thinker, known for founding the black feminist movement and advocating against the prison-industrial complex, who was deeply influenced by Black Power ideologies.

**Benjamin Rush**  
An abolitionist who coined the idea that slavery caused black inferiority, and was notable for exhibiting educated black people and using medical practices learned from them.

**Benjamin Franklin**  
An influential American intellectual who connected various historical figures, noted for his pragmatic view of slavery as uneconomical, and his secular influence on Cotton Mather.

**Sarah Baartman**  
A Khoi woman from South Africa exhibited in England due to her physical appearance, subject to scientific scrutiny posthumously which reflects racial exploitation and objectification of her time.

**Phyllis Wheatley**  
A prodigious poet and enslaved African woman who faced skepticism about her literary abilities, having to travel abroad to find a publisher willing to promote her work.

**Harriet Beecher Stowe**  
An abolitionist famous for writing Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which influenced public perceptions of slavery while receiving both praise and criticism from different sections of society.

**Sojourner Truth**  
An intersectional black feminist known for advocating for black women's rights in suffragist movements, challenging sexist attitudes from black men in these conversations.

**John C. Calhoun**  
A Southern politician instrumental in the push for secession, who coined the concept of southern slavery as a "positive good."

**Abraham Lincoln**  
The 16th President of the United States recognized for signing the Emancipation Proclamation and his efforts to reunite the nation during and after the Civil War.

**Frederick Douglass**  
A former enslaved man who became a prominent abolitionist leader, known for his dual role in supporting assimilationist ideas while advocating for black men's rights.

**Booker T. Washington**  
A segregationist leader and educator who publicly supported separate but unequal policies but privately harbored different views, drawing criticism from various racial ideologies.

**Marcus Garvey**  
A Jamaican immigrant and racial separatist who promoted black nationalism and positive identification with Blackness, establishing a foundation for future separatist movements.

**James Baldwin**  
An American author and antiracist who challenged assimilationist narratives and critiqued mainstream racial discourse through his writings and public statements.

**Stokely Carmichael**  
A civil rights leader and one of the founders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, known for popularizing the term "Black Power" and redefining its significance.

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Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

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