Ibrahim X. Kendi says he can't remember the first time he saw the infamous video of George Floyd

dying while gasping for breath beneath a white policeman's knee. I don't even remember

sort of where I was and because I feel like I was almost pulled into this tornado. You don't

write at that time. That's because Kendi already a respected authority on systemic racism in America

thanks to his books How to Be an Anti-Racist and Stamped From The Beginning was almost

immediately pulled into a whirlwind of commentary and public contemplation. While some people have

been able to mourn or process the personal and collective traumas in private, Kendi said he didn't

believe he had the option to feel burnout. He's a big basketball fan. You can't really get tired

during the NBA finals and for those of us who are doing racial justice work, you know, these last

five months, it's almost like we've been in the NBA finals, you know, the whole time. As a response,

Kendi has created a new companion book, Be Anti-Racist, a journal for awareness, reflection,

and action. We talked about it for this episode of Life Kit. Filled with 150 questions, prompts,

and quotes from how to be an anti-racist with room for readers to write down answers and thoughts,

the book encourages others to take their own journey towards anti-racism. Stick around to the end

for an opportunity to meditate on some of the book's ideas prompted by questions from the text

asked by Dr. Kendi himself.

I'm Eric DeGun's MPR's TV critic, and I cover a lot of stories about the intersection of race,

media, and society. So I was eager to speak with Kendi about why he created this new book,

how he's weathered the delusional of attention, and what he's learned from standing at the center

of such a massive civil rights reckoning. And so now you have this book, Be Anti-Racist. Your

earlier book was How to Be Anti-Racist. What's the difference between the two, and why do you feel

the need to create this sort of companion piece to a book that people were already turning to to

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