Racism is a blight upon the United States of America, and has been all through the country’s history. Subscribe for more from Factual America: http://bit.ly/AlamoPictures

In Stamped from the Beginning, a documentary film featuring and based on the book of the same name by Dr. Ibram X Kendi, director Roger Ross Williams explores the history of racist ideas in the US.

Using an innovative array of methods, including VFX, animation, and music, he explores how the Trans-Atlantic slave trade gave birth to racist ideas, and how racist myths regarding black hypersexuality and criminality still impact society today.

Roger and Ibram join Matthew Sherwood to discuss their film, its themes, and the role of black women, both in terms of studying racism and as the interviewees of Stamped from the Beginning. Roger also notes the reason why he uses pop culture to tell the story of racist ideas in the US. It isn’t despite the fact that it has been used over the years to perpetuate racist ideas but because of it.

Roger admits that making the documentary was hard. Fortunately, he liked the challenge! The result is a film that, as Matthew says, is both stimulating and uplifting. Racism may be a big part of the US’s story, but it is not the last word.

“We hope that people – through the film – can begin the process of unlearning any racist ideas about black people that they have internalised...and that they would also begin to learn anti-racist ideas of racial equality.” – Ibram X Kendi

What is Covered:
00:00 – Trailer
02:04 – Matthew Sherwood introduces this episode’s guests, Roger Ross Williams and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, director and writer of Stamped from the Beginning
05:10 – Roger and Ibram explains what Stamped from the Beginning is about
07:06 – Why Stamped from the Beginning features almost solely black female academics
08:31 – Why it is black female academics who are exploring the topic of racism
09:58 – Discussing some of the women featured in the documentary
11:04 – What Ibram hopes Stamped from the Beginning will achieve
12:09 – Roger talks about his and Ibram’s experience of racism and how they use it in the documentary
13:56 – The challenge of making a documentary out of a book
16:12 – Exploring some of the innovative techniques used to make Stamped from the Beginning
19:04 – Discussing whether the ‘upliting’ side to the film comes from the book on which it is based
20:22 – What lies behind Roger’s prodigious movie output

Resources:
Stamped from the Beginning https://www.netflix.com/title/81321341
MovieMaker Magazine https://www.moviemaker.com/
Innersound Audio https://www.innersoundaudio.co.uk/

Connect with Roger Ross Williams
Website https://rogerrosswilliams.com/
IMDb https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2141317/

Connect with Ibram X Kendi
Website https://www.ibramxkendi.com/
X   / ibramxk  

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Factual America uses documentary filmmaking to examine the American experience as well as universal topics that affect all Americans. Guests include leading documentary filmmakers, their subjects, as well as experts on the American experience.

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