The Education of Kevin Powell : : a Boy's Journey Into Manhood

Locations
Call Number: Black Studies 814.6 Po
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Black Studies 814.6 Po	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"In the spirit of Piri Thomas's Down These Mean Streets and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this powerful memoir by writer and activist Kevin Powell vividly recounts the horrific poverty of his youth, his struggles to overcome a legacy of anger, violence, and self-hatred, and his journey to be a man and a voice for others. Driven by his single mother's dreams for his survival and success, Kevin Powell became the first in his family to attend a university, where he became a student leader keenly aware of widespread social injustice. But the struggle to define himself and break out of poverty continued into adulthood, with traumatic periods of homelessness and despair. As a young star journalist with Vibe magazine, Powell interviewed luminaries such as Tupac Shakur, writing influential chronicles of the evolution of hip-hop from his eyewitness view. Now, with searing honesty, Powell examines his troubled relationships, his appearance on MTV's first season of The Real World, his battles with alcohol and depression, his two campaigns for Congress, and the uplifting trip to Africa that renewed his sense of personal mission. Finally, Powell embarks on a search for the father he never really knew in a redemptive passage from abandonment to self-discovery. A striking memoir by a child of post-Civil Rights America, The Education of Kevin Powell gives eloquent testimony to the power of the soul to heal"-- Provided by publisher.
"Memoir recounting the author's childhood, struggle to overcome a legacy of anger and violence, and journey to become a voice for others"-- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

I didn't know who he was, but this was a solidly good memoir submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 9, 2023, 10:58pm I came across this book and had no idea who Kevin Powell was/ is. Nonetheless, it’s an excellent memoir. He tells a powerful story of an impoverished childhood that alternated between home expectations and school and between academic excellence and violence. As he grew, and particularly when he went to Rutgers University, his exposure to Black history and culture gave him a powerful sense of community… and anger. He developed leadership skills, but still did not deal with the anger issues at his core, particularly in his interactions with women. Powell grew in his professional skills, and finally had to confront his misogyny, which he did with the support of a therapist and some strong and mentoring women.

It’s clear from Powell’s professional life that many will read his memoir because of his work, and be looking for information about those experiences. As someone who doesn’t know him, some of that section felt like a lot of name-dropping, but I suspect that if I was reading from a different angle, I would be looking for these connections.

Powell takes the reader on a wonderful slow walk through his childhood and his aggression toward women and learning how to undo that (and become a strong feminist who actively fights against it). He spends a good deal of time on his professional connections. But then toward the end of the book, I felt that things sped up: his alcohol use and depression are frequently named but not addressed in depth, his violence toward men is named but not acknowledged as a problem, his issues with money exist but are the result of external forces (never quite his responsibility). And to be sure, Powell can decide what he wants to share! But he also appears regularly to claim that the credit that accrues to him for becoming a feminist should somehow accrue him generalized credit for all areas in his life, even if he has not demonstrated personal responsibility elsewhere. He is good at community responsibility, but does not seem to understand personal responsibility, and has not (to all appearances in this book) yet done the work on his violent tendencies with men or his financial irresponsibility. Yes, many hard things happened, but I would not want someone representing me in Congress who hadn’t been paying their taxes, or who might settle a dispute with an opponent with fists. He doesn’t seem to recognize the problem here.

Because Powell wraps up the story so quickly, I am left feeling like he wrote this memoir because either he is broke, he wants to justify his most recent public actions, or is trying to pitch himself for a new job.

But still and overall, an excellent memoir that makes great connections between the boy Powell was and the man he became. He makes no excuses, but shows his growth over time and names the people and events that changed him. That made for an excellent story.