Ibram X. Kendi, Author of Stamped from the Beginning, Delivers Campus Book Talk, Oct. 12
October 4, 2016
Contact: Public Affairs
Phone: 410.837.5739
Ibram X. Kendi, assistant professor of African American history at the University of Florida, will deliver a talk on his book, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, at the University of Baltimore on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Kendi will speak at 4 p.m. in Room 207 of the H. Mebane Turner Learning Commons, 1415 Maryland Ave. Afterwards, he will sign copies of the book. The event is free and open to the public.
Published earlier this year to critical acclaim, Stamped from the Beginning crushes the notion that Americans somehow are enjoying a "post-racial society." In fact, Kendi argues, the nation is currently experiencing a period of a kind of "more sophisticated and more insidious" racist climate—which he sees as being passed down by intelligent people who were determined to justify deeply discriminatory policies and attitudes. The book examines the experiences of five legendary Americans, including Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Angela Davis, to explore the tumult between the purveyors of bigotry and those who seek a reckoning on race.
"[W]hile racist ideas are easily produced and easily consumed, they can also be discredited," Kendi writes.
Stamped from the Beginning was longlisted for a National Book Award, and received widespread praise from critics across the country. It was cited as one of "37 books we've loved so far in 2016" by The Washington Post, and included in that newspaper's summer reading list.
Kendi's appearance at UB is sponsored by the History Department in the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the College of Public Affairs, the Merrick School of Business, the UB School of Law and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.