"The Kevin Powell Reader: Essential Writings and Conversations" is an excellent book by Kevin Powell, a leader of Black American political and cultural life for more than the past 30 years, and a personality of whom, I am embarrassed to say, I was unaware. Kevin is/was a true Renaissance Man and excelled as a journalist, poet, author, public speaker and political activist since the early 1990s. The first essay published in this book is "A Strong Nation Needs Strong Public Schools" which was a prize-winning essay written and published in 1983 by the Jersey City Education Association when Kevin was seventeen years old. Because many of the essays collected here are personal, reflecting on Kevin Powell's own life, his family, friends, education, work and struggles, it also serves as a kind of memoir of both Kevin personally and of Black life in America in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The subjects of these collected essays vary widely, reflecting on many people whom Kevin has known personally, including his parents and other relatives, and also such well-known figures as Tupac Shakur, Colin Powell, Prince, Barack Obama, Aretha Franklin, Stacy Adams and John Lewis, many of whom Kevin also knew personally. This is a wonderful book reflecting thoughtfully and sincerely on many aspects on life in the United States in the present and recent past. It should be on the shelves of every library in America.recommend it highly! ( )

I won this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers. I'm so glad I did! I remember reading an article by Kevin Powell many years ago. I was impressed with his writing then an am even more impressed now. His writings cover the gamut: his own struggles as a black man, lover, son, to interviews with some of the rich and famous African Americans. His poetry is honest as it is rhythmic. I love reading his essays. They were thought-provoking, candid, as well as enlightening. I loved all his essays. However, his essay on terrorism is definitely one of my favorites. Although I have not read Kevin Powell's other books, this book certainly captures his essential writings and conversations. I highly recommend reading this book. ( )

The Kevin Powell Reader is an eyes -wide-open collection of candid, passionate, and thoughtful essays that speak to the lived experience of a Black man in the world. The writings contained in this book reflect the spirit of an unflinchingly candid and courageous human, committed to examining his reality and truths, even as they shift throughout his mental, spiritual, and emotional development. The ideas and insights found in these pages will keep readers engaged in a though-provoking, perspective-shifting dialogue with both the author and themselves. Powerful. ( )

This is a good book -- one to be studied and recommended to friends who care about good writing. Powell has wisely included pieces from his early days and through to the present We are allowed to view the evolution of his writing style and his personal understanding of the world.

We are also introduced to life as a black man in America -- the omnipresent threat of violence and death.

Powell cites the work of many others -- poets, philosophers, hip-hop artists, politicians, musicians, feminists -- throughout the book. I learned a great deal by looking up these people and by reading brief biographies on-line. His mind and knowledge are expansive but rooted in his own experiences. He has and writes with the integrity of someone who knows himself well enough to want to write well about others.

The Kevin Powell Reader would be a useful source for writing instructors.

As a white, senior, raised-in-the-suburbs professional woman with radio dial tuned to "classical," I may not have been Powell's choice for an early reviewer. To do his book justice meant listening to artists who were decades old, but new to me. I'm grateful to Kevin Powell for writing so well that he made me want to explore, and to the Library Thing early reviewer's program for introducing us. I'll be reading more of his work. ( )

The Kevin Powell Reader is a good and necessary reminder that the Civil Rights era is not over, and that many of their leading voices are still among us, articulating modes of understanding, defending, and clarifying the struggles, joys, and every-day challenges faced by Black people in the US. It also allows us to see Powell’s intellectual evolution. It is not something that has fossilized, but rather, like a living organism, it changes, mutates, and evolves. It is quite possible to encounter areas in which disagreement with Powell seems but inevitable. But equally inevitable, is the desire to continue engaging with a thinker who is not only able to present his ideas with clarity and force, but equally capable of listening, learning, and incorporating new concepts into his own thinking.