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The Education of Kevin Powell
- A Boy's Journey into Manhood
- Narrated by: Kevin Powell
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
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Publisher's summary
In the spirit of Piri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, this powerful memoir by writer and activist Kevin Powell vividly recounts the horrific poverty of his youth; his struggles to overcome a legacy of anger, violence, and self-hatred; and his journey to be a man and a voice for others.
Driven by his single mother's dreams for his survival and success, Kevin Powell became the first in his family to attend a university, where he became a student leader keenly aware of widespread social injustice. But the struggle to define himself and break out of poverty continued into adulthood, with traumatic periods of homelessness and despair. As a young star journalist with Vibe magazine, Powell interviewed luminaries such as Tupac Shakur, writing influential chronicles of the evolution of hip-hop from his eyewitness view. Now, with searing honesty, Powell examines his troubled relationships, his appearance on MTV's first season of The Real World, his battles with alcohol and depression, his two campaigns for Congress, and the uplifting trip to Africa that renewed his sense of personal mission. Finally, Powell embarks on a search for the father he never really knew in a redemptive passage from abandonment to self-discovery.
A striking memoir by a child of post-Civil Rights America, The Education of Kevin Powell gives eloquent testimony to the power of the soul to heal.
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- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, John McLain
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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When white supremacist Wade Michael Page murdered six people and wounded four in a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in 2012, Pardeep Kaleka was devastated. The temple leader, now dead, was his father. His family, who had immigrated to the US from India when Pardeep was young, had done everything right. Why was this happening to him? Arno Michaelis, a former skinhead and founder of one of the largest racist skinhead organizations in the world, knew he had to take action and fight against the very crimes he used to commit.
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The Gift
- By M. Forsberg on 07-29-22
By: Pardeep Singh Kaleka, and others
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The Pursuit of Happyness (Abridged)
- By: Chris Gardner
- Narrated by: Andre Blake
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
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At the age of 20, Chris Gardner arrived in San Francisco to pursue a promising career in medicine. However, he surprised everyone and himself by setting his sights on the competitive world of high finance. Yet no sooner had he landed an entry-level position at a prestigious firm, Gardner found himself caught in a web of incredibly challenging circumstances that left him part of the city's working homeless with his toddler son.
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Very Good Story!
- By Lito Da Critic on 06-02-06
By: Chris Gardner
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Always Running
- La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A.
- By: Luis J. Rodriguez
- Narrated by: Luis J. Rodriguez
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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By age 12, Luis Rodriguez was a veteran of East L.A. gang warfare. Lured by a seemingly invincible gang culture, he witnessed countless shootings, beatings, and arrests, then watched with increasing fear as that culture claimed friends and family members. Before long, Rodriguez saw a way out of the barrio through education and successfully broke free from years of violence and desperation.
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Book for all educators
- By Heather M. Vitz on 03-15-15
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Bad Boy
- By: Walter Dean Myers
- Narrated by: Joe Morton
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Into a memoir that is gripping, funny, heartbreaking, and unforgettable, Walter Dean Myers richly weaves the details of his Harlem childhood in the 1940s and 1950s: a loving home life with his adopted parents, Bible school, street games, and the vitality of his neighborhood. Although Walter spent much of his time either getting into trouble or on the basketball court, secretly he was a voracious reader and an aspiring writer.
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Tough times
- By Megan on 01-30-12
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The House at Sugar Beach
- A Memoir
- By: Helene Cooper
- Narrated by: Helene Cooper
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper's long voyage home.
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Can't recommend it
- By Taryn on 03-25-16
By: Helene Cooper
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The Mother of Black Hollywood
- A Memoir
- By: Jenifer Lewis
- Narrated by: Jenifer Lewis
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Jenifer Lewis keeps it real in this provocative and touching memoir by a Midwestern girl with a dream whose journey from poverty to Hollywood will move, shock, and inspire listeners. Told in the audacious voice her fans adore, Jenifer describes a road to fame made treacherous by dysfunction and undiagnosed mental illness, including a sex addiction. Yet, supported by loving friends and strengthened by "inner soldiers", Jenifer never stopped entertaining and creating.
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I could barely finish it.
- By Manning Fam on 06-17-18
By: Jenifer Lewis
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In the Country We Love
- My Family Divided
- By: Diane Guerrero, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Diane Guerrero
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just 14 years old on the day her parents were detained and deported while she was at school. Born in the US, Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family.
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Moves very slowly
- By Laura S. on 07-23-16
By: Diane Guerrero, and others
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How Dare the Sun Rise
- Memoirs of a War Child
- By: Sandra Uwiringiyimana, Abigail Pesta
- Narrated by: Sandra Uwiringiyimana
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism. Sandra was just 10 years old when she found herself with a gun pointed at her head. She had watched as rebels gunned down her mother and six-year-old sister in a refugee camp.
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Sandra's voice is mesmorizing!
- By Karissa Barber on 04-18-18
By: Sandra Uwiringiyimana, and others
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The Boy Kings of Texas
- A Memoir
- By: Domingo Martinez
- Narrated by: Emilio Delgado
- Length: 13 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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A lyrical and authentic book that recounts the story of a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas in the 1980s, as each member of the family desperately tries to assimilate and escape life on the border to become "real" Americans, even at the expense of their shared family history. This is really un-mined territory in the memoir genre that gives in-depth insight into a previously unexplored corner of America.
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It was Okay
- By DebKoo on 05-17-13
By: Domingo Martinez
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Find Me Unafraid
- Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum
- By: Kennedy Odede, Jessica Posner
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson, Mandy Siegfried, P.J. Ochlan (foreword)
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Find Me Unafraid tells the uncommon love story between two uncommon people whose collaboration sparked a successful movement to transform the lives of vulnerable girls and the urban poor. With a foreword by Nicholas Kristof.
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A difficult and rewarding listen
- By R. MCRACKAN on 08-23-18
By: Kennedy Odede, and others
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While the World Watched
- A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement
- By: Carolyn Maull McKinstry
- Narrated by: Felicia Bullock
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen-year-old Carolyn Maull McKinstry was just a few feet away when the Klan - planted bomb that killed four of her friends exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It was one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights movement, a sad day in American history…and the turning point in a young girl's life.
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Look Back and Live With Greater Understanding
- By jerrie Will on 05-07-21
What listeners say about The Education of Kevin Powell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 09-25-21
Raw Honest and Humble
I thoroughly enjoyed YOUR telling of your story. it was captivating, extremely well written and humanizing. Thank you Kevin for sharing your story.
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- Susie
- 07-25-16
Crackling and Alive
Kevin Powell paints a picture much like the "Native Son" experience; a dramatic glimpse into a New Jersey childhood; a mother who both beats him and believes in him; but also a road to college and a life of political activism.
Powell himself narrates with stellar, passionate narration. He knows how to tell at story. His attention to detail makes his memories crackling and alive.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Christina Harris
- 01-18-23
Terrible narration
I love memoirs and Black history makers who are still living so I was excited to read this book. I found the writing awkward and pedantic which was surprising since it’s the memoir of a writer. The narration was over enunciated and over emphasized which gave it a very weird rhythm. The story itself was interesting but unfortunately I wouldn’t recommend this book. I’m glad it was free.
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- E. Chadwick
- 04-23-19
Excellent
This autobiography is wonderfully written and performed by the author. Being of the same age as Mr. Powell I can't help but to think back to who I was as an adolescent when I was introduced to him on the original Real World show. How different I was then as compared to now. I exhibited the ignorance that I was surrounded by, and the RW exposed me to a broader world. Years later experiences and study did that to an even greater degree. That's kind of the gist of Powell's life story, it's about how if we are lucky we can learn and grow, face the challenge of real introspection. His struggles and honesty, his slow evolution to oppose violence against women, and violence against self, to recognize them and stop them in his own life, to improve and grow is inspiring. His performance is also excellent, you can tell he is an accomplished spoken word performer. Great book.
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- all our stories
- 12-20-21
Powerful
The voice of a man who speaks not only of himself but of all who share similar life experiences but never write or talk about them. Surely this book will provide education for all its readers. As the pieces of this writer’s life comes together we are faced with the question, now what? How do we become our best selves and build a better community for our children, for each other?
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- Kevin Fields
- 08-02-16
A Powellful story of a boy's lifetime! A classic!!
Kevin Powell, I am truly honored to have met you. Your autobiography is a true Testament to the trials associated with growing up as a poor, fatherless black boy in urban America. Your resilience is truly an inspiration to me. I look forward to sharing your story as I continue my work. May God continue to bless and protect you!
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1 person found this helpful
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- gifts4444you
- 07-20-22
Impressive right from the start.
Exciting right from the beginning. The narration is excellent! I hope to find more books by this author.
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- mscin417
- 03-19-23
A must read for those who enjoy authenticity
I thoroughly enjoyed this brutally honest and detailed story about the real life of Kevin Powell. He’s more than a person who I saw on my television when the very first episode aired of “The Real World”. Now this is real! What an absolute incredible human being, who is truly a vulnerable survivor and one inspiring life journey. Thank you Kevin Powell for sharing your stories, life lessons and your education in this book. Definitely worth it!
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