How to Be an Antiracist

In Ibram X. Kendi, Ph.D.’s 2018 book Stamped From the Beginning, for which he won the National Book Award for Non-fiction (and was the youngest writer to ever do so), he explored how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society; in his brand-new book, How to Be an Antiracist, he explores what we can do about that racism.

Prof. Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science — including the story of his own awakening to antiracism — bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships (including beliefs about race and IQ and interracial social relations) and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support. How to Be an Antiracist promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.

Prof. Kendi’s concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America — but even more fundamentally, he points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Prof. Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can take an active role in building it.

NOTE: Prof. Kendi will be interviewed by Marcus Campbell, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent/Principal at Evanston Township High School.