Racism is a concept that has never made sense to me. Even as a kid, it really bothered me. How can someone hate someone else just based on how they look? Even worse, how could people enslave others? As I’ve gotten older, I’ve heard the sorry excuses and I still don’t understand. But I’ve been working hard at learning all I can from all sides through conversations, lectures and webinars, and books.

I have so many ABAR and #OwnVoices books on my reading list that sometimes it is hard for me to choose the next read. I honestly picked this one because on that day, it was the cheapest of the top 10. I also chose this one over the original Stamped From the Beginning because I was curious about the remix idea and this is the most current version. (But I am definitely going to read the original and the version for kids.)

I am really glad I chose this one to start. It is written with the teen and young adult in mind, more of a conversation than a history lesson. And author Jason Reynolds keeps emphasizing how this is not a history book, but rather a story. And he’s right.

It is the story of how the racism we see today came to be and the thinking that helps perpetuate it still. While I still don’t fully understand it – and never will as a white woman – I do feel like I have a better grasp of the roots. That knowledge can only serve toe benefit me as I continue to do my own personal ABAR work and strive to do better in the education realm as well.

I encourage all of you to also at least pick up this version of the story. Give it a read to challenge your knowledge of history in our nation. Challenge how you interpret this history and your own feelings and even prejudices. It’s going to change a lot of things for you and hopefully provoke a lot of good conversations to come.

Read my book review at Andi’s Young Adult Books.

Get your copy of Stamped on Amazon. (affiliate link)