Kevin Powell is widely considered one of America’s most important voicesin these early years of the 21st century. Legendary feminist Gloria Steinemasserts that “as a charismatic speaker, leader, and a very good writer, KevinPowell has the courage…to be fully human, and this will bring the deepestrevolution of all.” Internationally acclaimed scholar and social criticDr. Michael Eric Dyson has called Powell “a mighty wind of fresh air.” Andof Kevin Powell the writerAsha Bandele says When you consider theintelligence and breadth of Kevin Powell’s writing and activism, you come to theconclusion that there may be no better spokesperson and representative for ageneration that has too long been counted out. Powell is an activist, writer, public speaker, pop culture aficionado and,most recently, a 2008 Democratic candidate for Congress in Brooklyn, New York. Aproduct of extreme poverty, welfare, fatherlessness, and a single mother-ledhousehold, he is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey and was educated at NewJersey’s Rutgers University. Kevin Powell is a longtime resident of Brooklyn,New York, and it is from his base in New York City that Powell has publishednine books, including his recent essay title, Someday Well All Be Free (SoftSkull Press). This book is a collection of provocative pieces on freedom,democracy, justice, and race in America, as inspired by Hurricane Katrina, the2004 presidential election, and September 11th. Besides running for CongressPowell also managed to publish two new books in 2008: No Sleep Till Brooklyn,his second volume of poetry; and The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life,a self-help book geared toward the healing, development, and empowerment ofBlack men and boys.Additionally, Powell is at work on his next collection of essays, Open LettersTo America (2009), his long-awaited childhood memoir, My Own Private Ghetto(2011), and The Kevin Powell Reader (2012), which will gather the firsttwenty-five years of his writings and speeches. Indeed, Kevin has writtennumerous essays, articles, and reviews through the years for publications suchas Esquire, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Essence, Rolling Stone, The AmsterdamNews, huffingtonpost.com, and Vibe, where he was a founding staff member andserved as a senior writer, interviewing and profiling, among many others,General Colin Powell and the lateTupac Shakur. Most recently Powell has been a Writing Fellow for the JointCenter for Political and Economic Studies, as well as a Phelps Stokes FundSenior Fellow. A gifted and highly sought after public speaker, Powell has lectured onmulticulturalism, building corporate responsibility, American and Black Americanhistory, the life of Dr. King, civil rights, American politics and civicengagement, sexism from a male perspective, leadership, social activism, thestate of hiphop, redefining American manhood, and being Black and male inAmerica, among other topics, at hundreds of colleges and universities, communitycenters, prisons, religious institutions, conferences, and festivals, as well asin corporate settings. Furthermore, Kevin Powell routinely offers his insightson a variety of matters, to TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, and internet outletsin America, and abroad. A fixture on the pop culture landscape the past several years, Powell was a castmember on the first season of MTV’s The Real World; hosted and producedprogramming for HBO and BET; written a screenplay; hosted and wrote anaward-winning MTV documentary about post-riot Los Angeles; and was the GuestCurator of the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s Hip-Hop Nation: Roots, Rhymes, andRage which originated at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum inCleveland, Ohio, and of which Powell was the exhibition consultant the firstmajor exhibit in America on the history of hiphop.Of paramount importance to Kevin Powell, however, is his activism. He has been aleader in some form or fashion for over twenty years, dating back to his days asa teenager at Rutgers University. He was a participant in the student-ledanti-apartheid movement, the drive to end racism in South Africa. He has been atthe forefront of police brutality and racial bias cases. He has worked for yearsaround voting rights. Powell is one of the most prominent voices in the hiphopgeneration, and he has organized a number of concerts, mc battles, rallies, andforums that stress the use of hiphop as a tool for social change. As a result ofhis own past personal struggles, contradictions, growth, and a commitment totherapy and healing, Kevin has become a very outspoken critic of violenceagainst women and girls, of violence in general, and he has been at theforefront of the movement to redefine American manhood away from sexism andviolence. Powell also plays a key role in the Black male development arena,having produced, the past few years, among other things, a 10-city State ofBlack Men Tour, numerous Black male think tank sessions, and Black and Male inAmerica, a 3-Day national conference (www.blackandmaleinamerica.org).Powell has taught, mentored, and counseled in schools, camps, prisons, and onthe streets of urban America. He produces an annual holiday party and clothingdrive every December in New York City that benefits the needy. And Powell was acentral figure in Gulf Coast disaster relief efforts, facilitating the deliveryof goods and services to the affected regions, and being a cofounder of Katrinaon the Ground, an initiative that sent over 700 college students to work in thedevastated region. Of his life work Kevin Powell says, simply, “My life-calling is to be a servant for the people, period. Money, fame, status, personal achievements, and all that means very little to me when pain and suffering are still real on this planet. I am interested in the powerless becoming powerful. Learn more at Powell’s Website  

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Kevin Powell

Kevin Powell is widely considered one of America's most important voicesin these early years of the 21st century. Legendary feminist Gloria Steinemasserts that "as a charismatic speaker, leader, and a very good writer, KevinPowell has the courage...to be fully human, and this will bring the deepestrevolution of all." Internationally acclaimed scholar and social criticDr. Michael Eric Dyson has called Powell "a mighty wind of fresh air." Andof Kevin Powell the writerAsha Bandele says When you consider theintelligence and breadth of Kevin Powell's writing and activism, you come to theconclusion that there may be no better spokesperson and representative for ageneration that has too long been counted out. Powell is an activist, writer, public speaker, pop culture aficionado and,most recently, a 2008 Democratic candidate for Congress in Brooklyn, New York. Aproduct of extreme poverty, welfare, fatherlessness, and a single mother-ledhousehold, he is a native of Jersey City, New Jersey and was educated at NewJersey's Rutgers University. Kevin Powell is a longtime resident of Brooklyn,New York, and it is from his base in New York City that Powell has publishednine books, including his recent essay title, Someday Well All Be Free (SoftSkull Press). This book is a collection of provocative pieces on freedom,democracy, justice, and race in America, as inspired by Hurricane Katrina, the2004 presidential election, and September 11th. Besides running for CongressPowell also managed to publish two new books in 2008: No Sleep Till Brooklyn,his second volume of poetry; and The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life,a self-help book geared toward the healing, development, and empowerment ofBlack men and boys.Additionally, Powell is at work on his next collection of essays, Open LettersTo America (2009), his long-awaited childhood memoir, My Own Private Ghetto(2011), and The Kevin Powell Reader (2012), which will gather the firsttwenty-five years of his writings and speeches. Indeed, Kevin has writtennumerous essays, articles, and reviews through the years for publications suchas Esquire, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Essence, Rolling Stone, The AmsterdamNews, huffingtonpost.com, and Vibe, where he was a founding staff member andserved as a senior writer, interviewing and profiling, among many others,General Colin Powell and the lateTupac Shakur. Most recently Powell has been a Writing Fellow for the JointCenter for Political and Economic Studies, as well as a Phelps Stokes FundSenior Fellow. A gifted and highly sought after public speaker, Powell has lectured onmulticulturalism, building corporate responsibility, American and Black Americanhistory, the life of Dr. King, civil rights, American politics and civicengagement, sexism from a male perspective, leadership, social activism, thestate of hiphop, redefining American manhood, and being Black and male inAmerica, among other topics, at hundreds of colleges and universities, communitycenters, prisons, religious institutions, conferences, and festivals, as well asin corporate settings. Furthermore, Kevin Powell routinely offers his insightson a variety of matters, to TV, radio, newspaper, magazine, and internet outletsin America, and abroad. A fixture on the pop culture landscape the past several years, Powell was a castmember on the first season of MTV's The Real World; hosted and producedprogramming for HBO and BET; written a screenplay; hosted and wrote anaward-winning MTV documentary about post-riot Los Angeles; and was the GuestCurator of the Brooklyn Museum of Art's Hip-Hop Nation: Roots, Rhymes, andRage which originated at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum inCleveland, Ohio, and of which Powell was the exhibition consultant the firstmajor exhibit in America on the history of hiphop.Of paramount importance to Kevin Powell, however, is his activism. He has been aleader in some form or fashion for over twenty years, dating back to his days asa teenager at Rutgers University. He was a participant in the student-ledanti-apartheid movement, the drive to end racism in South Africa. He has been atthe forefront of police brutality and racial bias cases. He has worked for yearsaround voting rights. Powell is one of the most prominent voices in the hiphopgeneration, and he has organized a number of concerts, mc battles, rallies, andforums that stress the use of hiphop as a tool for social change. As a result ofhis own past personal struggles, contradictions, growth, and a commitment totherapy and healing, Kevin has become a very outspoken critic of violenceagainst women and girls, of violence in general, and he has been at theforefront of the movement to redefine American manhood away from sexism andviolence. Powell also plays a key role in the Black male development arena,having produced, the past few years, among other things, a 10-city State ofBlack Men Tour, numerous Black male think tank sessions, and Black and Male inAmerica, a 3-Day national conference (www.blackandmaleinamerica.org).Powell has taught, mentored, and counseled in schools, camps, prisons, and onthe streets of urban America. He produces an annual holiday party and clothingdrive every December in New York City that benefits the needy. And Powell was acentral figure in Gulf Coast disaster relief efforts, facilitating the deliveryof goods and services to the affected regions, and being a cofounder of Katrinaon the Ground, an initiative that sent over 700 college students to work in thedevastated region. Of his life work Kevin Powell says, simply, "My life-calling is to be a servant for the people, period. Money, fame, status, personal achievements, and all that means very little to me when pain and suffering are still real on this planet. I am interested in the powerless becoming powerful. Learn more at Powell's Website