Political activist, writer, lecturer and accomplished author Kevin Powell has written his most personal book of them all, his autobiography, entitled “The Education of Kevin Powell, A Boy’s Journey into Manhood”. Mr. Powell has embarked on a multi-city book tour throughout the states that kicked off in Brooklyn on November 3rd. I was able to attend the Hue-Man Bookstore presents Kevin Powell Book Signing and Conversation with Jacque Reid at Mist Harlem in New York. The moderator for the event was journalist and TV personality Jacque Reid of NBC’s “NY Live” show. This was a great up-close-and-personal venue to get to know the author.
The evening got off to a great start with Mr. Powell giving us insight into his life experiences from childhood to adulthood. He was the product of a single mother household. Although his mother struggled hard to get by, from an early age she encouraged her son that he could be whatever he wanted to be. As a child his mother took him to get his picture taken and told him that he was going to get shot today. He took her words literally and believed he was physically going to get shot with a gun! He was defiant and gave his mom a hard time about it and when they arrived to the studio he sat down for the picture polarized awaiting his fate of being shot. He held onto the chair for dear life and would not budge, hence the outcome of his book cover photo where it looks like he has only one arm. He then learned the meaning of “being shot “ photography wise.
Powell discussed in depth how he had no knowledge about many of our black leaders and writers such as Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X (whom he referred to as Malcolm the Tenth not knowing the meaning of the “X” behind the name). Much of his enlightenment and introduction to people and things came when he attended college at Rutgers University in New Jersey. There he was taken under the wing of fellow activist Sister Souljah who also came from very humble beginnings.
Mr. Powell was very riveting and passionate when discussing the state of our youth and hip hop today, on the African-American and Latino communities. He also discussed his life lessons and experiences.
The conversation was very engaging and I could have stayed there all night and listen to him speak. There is something very moving about him and his plight for mankind to continue to evolve and do better. When discussing a particular issue he mentioned needing to “heal into a situation”. I really like that concept of overcoming adversity and healing into the situation. At the end of the night, I purchased a book on the strength of the great antidotes he dropped on us in the discussion, it left you wanting to know what the outcome of the situation was. So far it’s turning out to be a good read and I encourage you all to attend any of his book signings where he is speaking, it will be very inspiring.
You can find out about more dates of his book signing and panel discussions on his website. http://kevinpowell.net/schedule.php
Kevin Powell’s books are for sale at the following sites as well as your local bookstores:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1Jbxdke, B&N: http://bit.ly/1G6PSrb, BAM: http://bit.ly/1DdhloW, Indiebound: http://bit.ly/1Ebt4ti, iBooks: http://apple.co/1HUHJea, Google Play: http://bit.ly/1butgcJ
