Stamped Discussion Questions and Stamped Remix Review written by the Ent. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read Stamped Remix
Book: Stamped: Remix (Youth Edition of Stamped from the Beginning)
Author: Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
Genre: Non-Fiction Historical
Pages: 321
Published: March 10th, 2020
Age Suggestion: 12 and up
Topic: History of racism and slavery
Warnings: As this book deals with the history of slavery and racism, this can be a sensitive subject for those who have been exposed to traumatic racism. Other than that, this book could be handled by most teenagers and older adults.
Stamped Quick Summary:
This is on our MUST READ list! It was really engaging, entertaining, important and educational. Jason Reynolds has taken the original book Stamped from the beginning written by Ibram X. Kendi and adapted it for a younger audience. They discuss the history of slavery and racism in America and how that continues to impact society today. It was shocking to dive into how pop culture has played into this so much!
Stamped Review:
–Why Read It-
The historical context this book provides to today’s society is absolutely incredible. When people (especially white people) are told the history of America, we tend to only get the portion of history that deals with white people and the occasional exceptionally talented minority. This book does an amazing job at interweaving the history you know with the realities of the time. This includes people not brought up often in history as well as the racial under and overtones involved in the lives of popular historical figures. Stamped is such an important book to simply educate people (not just youth), about the history of slavery to provide the larger context of American history.
-Structure-
Stamped is written with a very concise and effective timeline in mind. There are 5 sections that are broken down by year (we break the sections in the Stamped Discussion Questions portion below). This is especially effective for reference and simply makes for a nice, linear read.
-Content-
A book discussing the history of racism and slavery in America has such a high possibility of feeling heavy and dark throughout the entire book. With that said, Reynolds and Kendi do an amazing job at interweaving humor (mostly in form of snark and sarcasm) into their writing. This is a very helpful way to introduce such heavy topics, especially to a younger audience.
Besides the style of the book, the actual meat of the book is very rich. They mention several times within the book that this is a “not history history book.” I think the history shown within this book is important to show how slavery and racism still affects people today. There is also a large reference section for further readings. (you can see our year of learning chart here as well, which we are working through ourselves).
Stamped Discussion Questions:
Section 1: 1415-1728
- What from this section did you find most surprising or what is a piece of history that you hadn’t previously known?
- How did the actions and attitude of Gomes Eanes de Zurara lead to racism and slavery?
- Why do you think the word “Race” has become such a hot button word in today’s society?
Section 2: 1743-1826
- What from this section did you find most surprising or what is a piece of history that you hadn’t previously known?
- How is Thomas Jefferson shown as such a contradictory person and leader?
- How do you see Uplift Suasion being shown in today’s culture?
Section 3: 1826-1879
- What from this section did you find most surprising or what is a piece of history that you hadn’t previously known?
- What actions lead to the civil war?
- How did literature play a big role with how slaves and black people were viewed by society?
Section 4: 1868-1963
- What from this section did you find most surprising or what is a piece of history that you hadn’t previously known?
- How did World War II effect the views on how black people would think they would be viewed in society? How did it actually happen?
- Is there any other form of media (movie, tv show, literature, etc) that you have had to rethink about through the context of race due to reading this section?
Section 5: 1963- Today
- What from this section did you find most surprising or what is a piece of history that you hadn’t previously known?
- What terms have you heard throughout your life that has been re-contextualized after reading this section?
- After reading the book, what action items can you think of in order to support others in your community?
Final Thoughts:
This book is filled with history that has gone without focus for far too long. It is an important book for anyone who is looking to see how society has been affected by American History. Ultimately, we highly recommend this book, but we also highly encourage teenagers read this books alongside a trusted adult to discuss and process it with them.
What Next?:
If you enjoyed our Stamped Discussion Questions and Review, check out these extra resources from the authors and some of our other posts:
–A Year of Antiracist learning
–Becoming Brave Review
–Talking your Teens Through Just Mercy Discussion Guide (and FREE Curriculum)
–The Hate U Give Review (And Curriculum)
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