Try free for 30 days

1 credit a month to use on any title, yours to keep (you’ll use your first credit on this title).
Stream or download thousands of included titles.
Access to exclusive deals and discounts.
$16.45 a month after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
Stamped from the Beginning cover art

Stamped from the Beginning

By: Ibram X. Kendi
Narrated by: Christopher Dontrell Piper
Try for $0.00

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $33.99

Buy Now for $33.99

Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.

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

What listeners say about Stamped from the Beginning

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    16
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An essential read

Thorough and critical thought provoking for the US and all colonised nations. A analysis of how we construct, repeat and internalise narratives of power and oppression

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A book everybody needs to hear

A full history...provides a full picture of the way forward to recognise and end racist ideas.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book is important...and has truly changed my life

This book is important, for the understanding, to help us all contextualise why the wound is so incredibly deep and perhaps why it remains unhealed....Brilliant from start to finish.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So much history that has been missed

It hurts my heart to see the hatred and discrimination that has been perpetuated through so many avenues in a country I am proud to hail from. The fact that government policies have been used to repress people because of the colour of their skin is absolutely reprehensible.

There is so much history that has been glazed over and painted in a different way to show how the US no longer has racism. I am very appreciative of the extensive research and time that has gone into this book. The fact that outwardly racist organisations are still allowed to exist is a disgrace.

Change does need to happen. And I hope that love can prevail. Every human being deserves a chance to make their way in life without being beat down, literally or figuratively. I hope educating people on the differences between viewpoints can make a more equitable move toward anti-racist for everyone and from everyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Essential reading for everyone

Essential reading for everyone. It shines a floodlight on the narratives of history benefiting only the victors, the powerful and the elite

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.