Kevin Powell

Kevin Powell (born April 24, 1966) is an American writer, activist, and television personality.

His first, In the Tradition: An Anthology of Young Black Writers was co-edited with Ras Baraka and proclaimed “a new black consciousness movement,” in response to the Black Power and Black Arts movements of the 1970s and 1980s.

More than 50 writers contributed to the book including Elizabeth Alexander, Gordon Chambers, Tony Medina, and Willie Perdomo.

He and his cousin were the first in their family to graduate high school, and in 1984 Powell enrolled in Rutgers University through the Educational Opportunity Fund, a program created during the Civil Rights Movement to benefit poor youth.

His memoir, The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood tells this story of his upbringing.

At Rutgers, Powell studied political science, English and philosophy with the ambition of becoming a professional writer.

Cheryl Wall introduced him to the critical study of Harlem Renaissance writers such as Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, and black female authors such as Zora Neale Hurston.

Becoming immersed in classic African American books such as The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Manchild in the Promised Land, as well as poets from the Black Arts Movement such as Sonia Sanchez, Nikki Giovanni and Amiri Baraka, he was motivated to become an activist and student leader.

He helped to organize support for the anti-apartheid movement, Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign and voter registration campaigns, and other social justice initiatives.

Powell began his journalism career while in college as a contributing reporter to the Black American newspaper where he covered stories such as the racially motivated killing of Michael Griffith in Howard Beach, Queens.

Powell had been presenting his poetry there since 1990 when he first attended an open mic to read a poem called “For Aunt Cathy.” The episode is credited with bringing a national spotlight to the venue and popularizing the concept of a competitive poetry slam.

Powell was a senior writer during the founding years of Vibe magazine from 1992 to 1996.

Powell's activism has focused on ending poverty, advocating for social justice and counteracting violence against women and girls through local, national and international initiatives.

Cornell University owns The Kevin Powell Archive, documenting his work to date in print, photos, videos, books, handwritten notes, speeches, and select memorabilia beginning with his appearance in the first season of the first television reality series MTV's, The Real World: New York in 1992.

Powell was born and raised in Jersey City, NJ where his parents met after moving from South Carolina.

Abandoned by his father, Powell was raised by a single mother from the South in the one-bedroom apartment they shared with his aunt and her son.

Throughout a childhood marked by poverty, violence and abuse, Powell maintained a passion for reading and spent hours in the public library.

He credits his mother with ensuring he received a better education than her own, and for instilling in him a commitment to learning.

In 1992, he was an original cast member of The Real World: New York, the first season of the MTV reality television series in which a group of strangers live together for several months.

During his stay in The Real World house, Powell sparked controversial discussions with his housemates, raising incendiary issues about racial stereotypes.

In episode 11 of The Real World, the MTV production crew followed Powell to the Nuyorican Poet's Café where he was a regular participant in the open mic Poetry Slam competition, created by the café's founder, Miguel Algarin.

From 1992 to 1996, Powell worked as part of the magazine's editorial team.

His cover story on the group Naughty-By-Nature appeared in the first issue of the publication.

He wrote the magazine's first profile of Snoop Dogg and went on to report on notable figures in hip hop and black music both in print and on television as host and producer of HBOs “VIBE Five” TV segments.

Powell wrote a series of cover stories on rapper Tupac Shakur.

Since 1992, Powell has written 14 books.

MTV's producers cast Powell as the host of “Straight from the Hood: An MTV News Special Report.” Airing in 1993, it profiled the state of affairs for young people in South Central Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict and riots.

While The Real World was still in production, Powell was tapped to join VIBE magazine, launched under the leadership of Quincy Jones.

Of his relationship with Shakur, Powell explained, “He said to me in that first interview that he wanted me to be Alex Haley as in Alex Haley of "Roots" to his Malcolm X because I think he knew from the very beginning 'I have a very short window to live.' ” Powell's first VIBE cover story on Shakur was the 1994, "Is Tupac Crazy or Just Misunderstood?"

His 1995 cover story on Shakur, “Ready to Live,” – featuring an interview conducted while Shakur was jailed in Riker's Island – became one of the magazine's bestsellers.

His third and last before the rapper's murder was the 1996, “Live From Death Row,” a cover with Shakur, Suge Knight, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre in a shoot inspired by the movie poster for Goodfellas. In 2016, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Shakur's death, VIBE published “Prayer, Passion, Purpose,” Powell's previously unreleased interview following Shakur's release from Riker's Island in 1996.

Powell wrote for Esquire, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Essence, Rolling Stone, New York Amsterdam News, Ebony, TIME, CNN.com, ESPN.com, BBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Huffington Post.

Powell's articles evolved to draw connections between contemporary pop culture, and the heritage of black artists and writers, such as the Ebony magazine piece “Black Music’s Bosses, Legends and Game Changers.” He wrote the 2006 story of comedian Dave Chappelle's return to the public spotlight, in Esquire magazine: “Heaven Hell Dave Chappelle: The Agonizing Return of the Funniest Man in America.”

Powell has also written reflections on his own history, such as “Letter to my Father,” “Me and Muhammed Ali" published in ESPN's The Undefeated blog, and "The Sexist in Me,” a piece which marked the beginning of his work around redefining black manhood and advocating for women and girls.

He was a Democratic candidate for the United States House of Representatives in Brooklyn, New York, in 2008 and 2010.

Powell was the curator for the first exhibit on the history of hip-hop in America at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2014, he was invited by the Welsh Government to the United Kingdom for a series of lectures and workshops on the 100th birthday of 20th century poet Dylan Thomas.

As a result, he was named the International Ambassador for the Dylan Thomas Centennial in America.

Powell is the author of 14 books, including The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood and When We Free the World published in 2020.

Highlights of his articles and essays include: “Between Russell Simmons and The World and Oprah,” examining the allegations of rape and sexual abuse against Simmons; his 2020 profile of Georgia politician Stacey Abrams in The Washington Post Magazine; The New York Times piece “A Letter from a Father to a Child,” a message to his future child about surviving a world filled with fear, violence, sexism and racism; and The New York Times article, “In Close Quarters, a Mother of 6 Battles Coronavirus,” a look at the plight of an urban family facing the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bronx.