Posted on January 22, 2021

Netflix Partners with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi for Three Projects Based on His Books

Rebecca Sun, Hollywood Reporter, January 15, 2021

Historian Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s writings on antiracism rose to mainstream prominence last summer amid a widespread social reawakening about continued racial injustice in the nation, with four of his books landing on the New York Times bestseller list.

Now Netflix is partnering with the author and academic, who is the founding director of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research and one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2020, to adapt his scholarship for the screen with three different projects intended to reach audiences of different ages.

Stamped from the Beginning will be a hybrid documentary/scripted feature based on Kendi’s 2016 book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which made him the youngest winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction. {snip}

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You, like its No. 1 bestselling namesake (co-authored by Jason Reynolds), will be aimed at the YA audience. Also directed and produced by Williams, with Kendi executive producing, the documentary will serve as a companion to Stamped From the Beginning that will explain how racism in America originated and has persisted, in hopes of learning how to counter it.

Stamped From the Beginning and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You are powerful and essential pieces of literature that clearly outline how deeply rooted racist ideas are in the United States,” said Williams, who also has won two Emmys and the Sundance directing award for his documentary Life, Animated, in a statement. {snip}

Finally, for the very youngest set, Antiracist Baby will adapt Kendi’s No. 1 children’s bestseller as a series of musical animated shorts, executive produced by Kendi and someone who is no stranger to inclusive programming for preschoolers: Chris Nee, creator of the Peabody-winning Disney Junior series Doc McStuffins. {snip}

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