Event

hosted by: ANTHONY DECURTIS

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KEVIN POWELL is one of the most acclaimed political, cultural, literary and hip-hop voices in America today. Kevin is a native of Jersey City, raised by a single mother in extreme poverty, but managed to study at Rutgers University in New Brunswick thanks to New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund. Kevin has gone on to be the author of 11 books, including Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, and the Ghost of Dr. King: Blogs and Essays. Among his upcoming books is his memoir of a very difficult childhood and youth, The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood. It will be released in November 2015 by Simon & Schuster. In 2017, he will publish a biography of Tupac Shakur, the late rapper and controversial American icon. Kevin's writings have also appeared in CNN.com, Esquire, Ebony, The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, ESPN.com and Vibe Magazine.

“The Education of Kevin Powell is a raw, deeply painful accounting of a life born of poverty, racism, abandonment, abuse, and complicated love. It is a memoir as much about a mother as it is about her son, a memoir born out of stunning writing and surprising vulnerability. A memoir of rage and insight, heartbreak and hunger. Powerful, brave, and unforgettable.”

—EVE ENSLER, author of The Vagina Monologues

“Powell’s ‘education’ is one with lessons for all of us, a riveting story of conflicted manhood, the ups (and definitely the downs) of the class structure, and the ongoing racial drama that has characterized America from the jump. To understand Powell’s triumphs, defeats, and refusal to give up, even when all the odds were against him, is to understand America writ large. His personal commitment to justice and equality for all, made clear here as the outgrowth of a life often marked by injustice and hardship, is one we should all hope to mimic.”

—TIM WISE, author of White Like Me

“Poignant and transformative. This story of Black male life in our patriarchal culture, from boyhood to manhood, is raw and passionate. It offers a true and honest portrait of all that Black males endure to survive and, more importantly, to cope with trauma, and to heal and thrive. It should be read by everyone who claims to care about the fate of Black males in America.”

—BELL HOOKS, author of The Will to Change