Redding’s New Book on Race and AI Reaches No. 1 on Amazon in First Week

NEW YORK - Only four days after its Monday morning release on Monday, Jan. 5., Rob Redding’s Black Power in the Age of Artificial Supremacy hit No. 1 on Amazon’s Machine Theory Best Seller list. The book climbed steadily all week and has drawn global attention for its bold examination of race, technology, and power. The book climbed steadily all week and has drawn global attention for its bold examination of race, technology, and power.

Redding, known for his outspoken commentary and long standing work in independent Black media, argues that artificial intelligence is far from neutral. He describes it as a new arena where old hierarchies are being rebuilt through code, data, and design. His book calls for a radical rethinking of who controls emerging technologies and who ultimately benefits from them.

“This book is a call to arms,” Redding says. “We must reclaim control over the narrative and the technology that shapes our future. AI can either serve the oppressor or be used as a weapon of liberation.”

The book blends historical analysis, cultural critique, and political theory to examine how racial bias becomes embedded in algorithms and automated systems. A central chapter, cowritten with Redding’s husband, Redding Shim Kwet Yung, explores the cultural and linguistic roots of bias in technology. Redding Shim draws parallels between slurs used against robots in science fiction and the racist language historically used to dehumanize Black people.

“In our chapter, we explore how the language used to demean robots, like ‘clanker,’ mirrors the racist slurs that dehumanize Black people,” Redding Shim said. “This chapter is about how we rehearse and normalize systemic racism through substitution, phonetics, and cultural history.”

The book also introduces new concepts such as “Robootology” and “Robootism,” frameworks Redding uses to argue for Black agency in the digital age. He situates these ideas within a broader scholarly conversation, engaging thinkers such as Nick Bostrom, Stuart Russell, Safiya Noble, Ruha Benjamin, and Frantz Fanon.

“This is more than a book,” Redding says. “It is a blueprint for Black liberation in the digital age. We are fighting for our future, and AI is the battlefield.”

The book cover features his own painting, Black Power: Unapologetically Militant, a work that sold for $10,000. His award-winning talk show, Redding News Review Unrestricted, can be found on his venerable website, ReddingNewsReview.com.