Connections with Renee Shaw

Kevin Powell, who was the keynote speaker at Gov. Steve Beshear’s 2009 Economic Success Through Minority Empowerment Summit in Lexington, talks about his years of community activism, from his college days at Rutgers to his 2008 candidacy for Congress in Brooklyn.

He also talks about his previous journalism career. A poet and hip-hop authority, Powell was a founding staff member of Vibe. He has written 10 books on African-American culture, literature, manhood, and politics, including The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life and Someday We’ll All Be Free.

A victim of domestic violence by his mother and a former abuser himself, he also offers his thoughts on ending violence against women.