91AV

A Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration event. 

Kevin Powell is an activist and writer, and the author of ten books including his newest collection of essays, Open Letters to America. He is widely considered one of America's leading political and cultural voices of the early 21st century. Born and raised in Jersey City, N.J, Powell is the product of a single mother led household, extreme poverty, fatherlessness, and violence. In spite of these harsh circumstances, he studied at Rutgers University and has become one of the most prolific writers and leaders of his generation. His lectures have covered racism, sexism from a male perspective, American popular culture, MLK, Jr., social activism, and being black and male in America. As an activist, Powell has worked on a range of concerns, including voter registration, Hurricane Katrina relief, education, the environment, and eradicating poverty.