Kevin Powell emphasizes a point during his address at the Black Male Symposium.
Noted political activist and author Kevin Powell keynoted Winston-Salem State University’s sixth annual Black Male Symposium on February 25.
The day included a morning panel presentation in Dillard Auditorium. The panelists included: Dr. Nkrumah Lewis, WSSU assistant professor of Sociology; Dr. William Boone, WSSU assistant professor of African American Culture; Fleming El-Amin, chair of the Forsyth County Democratic party; Algenon Cash, managing partner of Wharton & Gladden Company, LLC, and a student member of Black Men for Change.
The Black Male Symposium examines issues related to upward mobility and progress in uplifting black males, preparing them to be leaders, and seeing them through the graduation process. In past years, featured speakers have included Dr. Na’im Akbar, Spike Lee, Rev. Floyd Flake, and Jim Ellis.
Powell is an activist, writer, public speaker, pop culture aficionado and, most recently, a 2008 Democratic candidate for Congress in Brooklyn, N.Y. A product of extreme poverty, welfare, fatherlessness, and a single mother-led household, he is a native of Jersey City, N.J., and was educated at Rutgers University. Powell is a longtime resident of Brooklyn, and it is from this base he has published nine books, including his recent essay title, Someday We’ll All Be Free (Soft Skull Press). This book is a collection of provocative pieces on freedom, democracy, justice, and race in America, as inspired by Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 presidential election, and September 11, 2001.
Besides running for Congress, Powell also managed to publish two new books in 2008: No Sleep Till Brooklyn <http://www.kevinpowell.net/books.php> , his second volume of poetry; and The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life <http://www.kevinpowell.net/books.php> , a self-help book geared toward the healing, development and empowerment of Black men and boys.
Members of Black Men for Change read three of Powell’s books: Someday We’ll All Be Free, The Black Male Handbook and Open Letters to America to prepare for his lecture and engage in intellectual dialogue about issues impacting Black males in America.
