I am so so appreciative to have been given the opportunity to read this book. It is such a necessary and powerful text that I would recommend to everyone. I enjoyed the way it was also relevant globally and not only targeting BLM issues and society structure in one region or country.

An eye-opening, albeit slightly uncomfortable, read, which has made me realise that being 'not racist' isn't the same as being the opposite of racist, aka 'anti-racist'.

A highly recommended read.

Thought provoking especially in view of the BLM protests. This is a must read for everyone young or old.

An incredible must read for anyone trying to educate themselves on not only how to not be racist but also how to be actively antiracist.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I appreciated this book, but I was also disappointed by it. I found it to have a lot of valuable information in it, however there was a lot of personal anecdotes which took away from the educational and informative parts and made me feel as if I was reading an autobiography rather than an educational piece.

I felt that I have learnt some important things from this book, but I would have preferred it to be shorted and more concise.

Very well researched and albeit dense and a bit heavy, extremely informative and educational. I learned so much from this book.

There are some books you read and just want to highlight every single word on every page as important or something to refer back to and this was one of them. Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America through a series of topics and personal experiences that point the reader towards new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other.

Kendi asks us to think about what an anti-racist society looks like and what we can do to get there. Each chapter weaves together a combination of history, ethics, law and science in a personal narrative that is eye opening to say the least. I’m definitely going to buy a physical copy of this book to add it to my collection as soon as I can!

“The opposite of ‘racist’ isn’t ‘not racist’. It is ‘anti-racist’, there is no in-between space of ‘not racist’”

“What we say about race, what we do about race, in each moment, determines what – not who – we are”

I enjoyed the way this was written and all the detail, and it’s definitely something that I’ll re-read again and again and still learn something. Chapters include those about power, ethnicity, culture, class, gender, sexuality and behaviour and each is as powerful, resourceful and informative as the last. It took me over a month to read because I wanted to take it all in. The more books I read about race, the more perspectives and viewpoints you get on the topic and it’s interesting to see that while there are a lot of similarities there are also some differences.

I would say for someone who is just starting to learn more about racism, this is not the book for you, I’d suggest reading So You Want to Talk About Race, or Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race first, only because there is so much to take in in this one that having some insight and knowledge beforehand helps a lot! But definitely another MUST READ.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage for gifting me this book!

As with many other places, we've seen a huge uptick in interest in this and similar titles this year. Customers (and myself) are eager to educate ourselves and to do better in an effort to overcome our own racism.

In How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. It's an accessible, insightful, must-read book.

How To Be Antiracist is a frank view of the world around us. Released at a time where the world we live in is burning down as we watch, as innocent and unarmed black men and women are being killed, Ibram X. Kendi delves into how we can be antiracist.

There are so many amazing points in this book its hard to cover them all but some of the highlights include; Relearning our prejudices and stereotyping’s of people, critical self reflection, how defining yourself as not racist is not good enough we must be antiracist, including feminism and LGBTQ into the integration of antiracism and so many more!

Not only is this book enlightening it is also the path of self discovery, as Kendi himself is on his journey to becoming anti racist in this book. I think its such an excellent and engaging read that helps us all re-think and help us re-define ourselves. Kendi is challenging us but also himself throughout.

I don’t think 2020 is how anyone envisioned it to be and there have been awful times, but I am glad that the BLM movement being so prominent has allowed us to educate ourselves and gather a better understanding of the injustices of the world.

I would highly recommend everyone to read at least once to gain more knowledge and power on their journey to becoming antiracist.

This is a book for anyone who has had felt a discomfort they can't quite articulate about the state of the world and how people treat each other. As children, my generation was taught that "racism" is when "someone dislikes someone else because of the color of their skin," and therein lies the problem, because it fails to address the fact that racism is a system. But now, thanks to books like How to be an Antiracist, the world is waking up to the huge importance of understanding structural racism, and how each of us are implicated in it. Choosing to be an anti-racist, at least as a white person, is choosing to acknowledge the systems I have benefited from all my life, and choosing to do whatever I can to redress the balance.

Kendi's book is a revelatory crystalization of such ideas, written in accessible and engaging language. It should be required reading in every school and college.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for my copy. This book is fascinating but is also quite dense, heavy and full of facts, figures and statistics. It's an interesting and thought provoking read but not a light or easy one. I'd have liked to see some advice especially for white readers on what we can proactively do to become antiracist. I'm not sure that it does this. L

I found this to be a powerful and educational book. The way Kendi mixes autobiographical elements into the piece made it a really enjoyable and inspiring read for me.

Brilliantly written, researched and honestly should be essential reading. An essential and informative piece of work.

This book was definitely educational and informative. The author has mixed the theories with his personal life experiences which has made reading it more engaging and enjoyable. The end chapters were really sad and felt so bad for the family but I am so glad that they fought it with ‘hope’ and overcame it. I wanted to read more about black history and the racism they faced and are currently facing. With the current George Floyd’s case, this book was perfectly timed to educate and get more information on racism. The book mainly covers the racism faced by Black people in America. As an Asian immigrant myself, I could empathize with Kendi in his new school and the struggle to make friends and fit into with all White faces. I also liked how Kendi has included the gender and sexuality amongst the chapters and discussed about them. “Black lives matter” but it is necessary to understand that “ALL Black lives matter” no matter their class, gender, sexuality etc.
I think this is one book that everyone must read, it is our own responsibility to educate and learn about racism and how to be anti-racist.

I have really mixed feelings about this book. Some of the ideas presented are really important and really valid, but I felt like the writing wasn't that great, or very coherent in places. I also felt like it was a bit of a weird mishmash of styles - the autobiograpical sections seemed a bit shoved in. Some of Kendi's arguments seemed like they were contradicting themselves in the following chapters.

I would probably recommend several books before this one.

This is a really difficult book to rate - the topic is really important, and it challenges the reader, on multiple levels. However, I did struggle at times with the writing style and I think it's important to note that. Kendi is an academic, so it's unsurprising that the book is academic writing. It does have, a little oddly, personal anecdotes and biographical history throughout, which are much more accessible to read, but for the main part it is academic writing, and that can be tough as bedtime reading material! It needs some time and thought as you read, and there are lots of different thoughts to get your head around. I did find I got lost in parts.

It's American, so it provides an interesting and detailed look at race (and inter-sectionality) for the US. I'm British, so I feel things are different (not better) here, and the book 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' felt more relevant to me.

I definitely agree with the fundamental principle, that it isn't enough to just be not racist, but that you need to actively be anti-racist. I also agree that it isn't enough to just hold up placards, or read these books that are all over the BLM reading lists at the moment - something more active is required, to actually change the policies that shape the world right now. This is where I felt this booked lacked something I had been expecting from the title - we are left, as readers, to try to come up with something ourselves to actually, practically do.

While I do think that the ideas in this book are important, I found it a tough read.

It was quite dense in prose and ideas - it definitely felt like I was back at uni studying. I did also find the same ideas repeated many times.

I don't know whether I should be embarrassed that I enjoyed the children's book 'this book is anti racist' more, but that's the truth of the matter.

I'm grateful to have been given the chance to read this important book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found How To Be an Antiracist to have a lot of valuable information on becoming an 'antiracist' and I think parts of this book are very important and should be heard by everyone. Although, I really didn't enjoy the reading experience of this book, I struggled with the pacing and usually read a book in 1/2 days, although it took me almost four weeks to get through this. There was a lot of personal anecdotes which took away from the parts of this book that were educational and informative, as well as this book feeling more like an autobiography or a journey of self discovery and reflection rather than an educational piece.

I'm glad that I got to read this book, as I feel I've learnt some important information concerning steps I can take to be an antiracist although I wish I'd have enjoyed it more, and personally would've preferred it to be shorter and more concise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a passionate, important and informative book that focuses on US racism and politics but is very relevant everywhere. I will be recommending this to friends, family and students alike as I found it very useful in provoking me to think on actions and attitudes constantly (both my own and others), to evaluate and question ideas in order to actively be anti-racist.

Kendi's structuring of this book allows you to read a chapter, pause and absorb both his ideas and emotions and your own and then return to the book once you are ready to move on to the next topic. I will be returning to this again and again and am very glad to have read it.