
The Kevin Powell Reader
Essential Writings and Conversations
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kevin Powell
-
By:
-
Kevin Powell
About this listen
Kevin Powell is one of the most prolific and acclaimed American writers, thinkers, activists, and public speakers of the past three decades. His writings are important contributions to our national conversations on race, gender, class, politics, pop culture, celebrity, hip-hop, and the past, present, and future of the United States.
The Kevin Powell Reader is an electric and deeply inspiring selection from Powell’s lifework, spanning the Reagan-Bush years of AIDS and crack epidemics to our current era framed by the COVID-19 pandemic; the tragic killing of George Floyd; the #MeToo movement; and much more. In a journey that has produced fifteen books, countless cover stories, hundreds of published pieces, and definitive writings on iconic figures like Stacey Abrams, Dave Chappelle, Kerry Washington, Sidney Poitier, Cicely Tyson, Kobe Bryant, Tupac Shakur, Aretha Franklin, and Kendrick Lamar, Powell is a voice for our times, and a voice that is timeless.
This collection also tracks Powell’s personal struggles and his unwavering honesty about himself and the world around him. The Kevin Powell Reader captures twenty-first-century America with hope, insight, and the urgent need to preserve freedom and justice for all people.
©2023 Kevin Powell (P)2023 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Black on Black
- On Our Resilience and Brilliance in America
- By: Daniel Black
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed novelist and scholar Daniel Black has spent a career writing into the unspoken, fleshing out, through storytelling, pain that can’t be described. Now, in his debut essay collection, Black gives voice to the experiences of those who often find themselves on the margins. Tackling topics ranging from police brutality to the AIDS crisis to the role of HBCUs to queer representation in the black church, Black on Black celebrates the resilience, fortitude, and survival of black people in a land where their body is always on display.
-
-
The author is amazing
- By Taurus on 08-26-24
By: Daniel Black
-
The Black Male Handbook
- A Blueprint for Life
- By: Kevin Powell
- Narrated by: Ezra Knight, Kevin R. Free, Glymph Glymph
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An NAACP Image Award nominee, The Black Male Handbook is an impassioned call to end the problems facing today's Black men. Author and activist Kevin Powell offers insights on steering away from violence and toward a more responsible manhood. A new climate is rising in the Black community. Despite a shared thirst for cutting-edge opportunities and fresh directions, today's hiphop generation is still plagued by many long-standing problems.
-
-
Awesome and very useful book.
- By Derek on 06-10-18
By: Kevin Powell
-
Black AF History
- The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
- By: Michael Harriot
- Narrated by: Michael Harriot
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history.
-
-
LOVE It!
- By KMB on 09-29-23
By: Michael Harriot
-
The Upcycled Self
- A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are
- By: Tariq Trotter
- Narrated by: Tariq Trotter, Rhett Samuel Price, Allyson Johnson
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today Tariq Trotter—better known as Black Thought—is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family’s home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire.
-
-
PHENOMENAL !!!!!
- By juliajovone on 12-02-23
By: Tariq Trotter
-
Harlem Shuffle
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.
-
-
Best Read/Listen on Audible
- By Henry Posner on 09-22-21
By: Colson Whitehead
-
Before the Mayflower
- A History of Black America
- By: Lerone Bennett
- Narrated by: John Ridle
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The black experience in America - starting from its origins in western Africa up to 1961 - is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication.
-
-
Very informative, worth listening to thrice..
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 04-13-21
By: Lerone Bennett
-
Black on Black
- On Our Resilience and Brilliance in America
- By: Daniel Black
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Acclaimed novelist and scholar Daniel Black has spent a career writing into the unspoken, fleshing out, through storytelling, pain that can’t be described. Now, in his debut essay collection, Black gives voice to the experiences of those who often find themselves on the margins. Tackling topics ranging from police brutality to the AIDS crisis to the role of HBCUs to queer representation in the black church, Black on Black celebrates the resilience, fortitude, and survival of black people in a land where their body is always on display.
-
-
The author is amazing
- By Taurus on 08-26-24
By: Daniel Black
-
The Black Male Handbook
- A Blueprint for Life
- By: Kevin Powell
- Narrated by: Ezra Knight, Kevin R. Free, Glymph Glymph
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An NAACP Image Award nominee, The Black Male Handbook is an impassioned call to end the problems facing today's Black men. Author and activist Kevin Powell offers insights on steering away from violence and toward a more responsible manhood. A new climate is rising in the Black community. Despite a shared thirst for cutting-edge opportunities and fresh directions, today's hiphop generation is still plagued by many long-standing problems.
-
-
Awesome and very useful book.
- By Derek on 06-10-18
By: Kevin Powell
-
Black AF History
- The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
- By: Michael Harriot
- Narrated by: Michael Harriot
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history.
-
-
LOVE It!
- By KMB on 09-29-23
By: Michael Harriot
-
The Upcycled Self
- A Memoir on the Art of Becoming Who We Are
- By: Tariq Trotter
- Narrated by: Tariq Trotter, Rhett Samuel Price, Allyson Johnson
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today Tariq Trotter—better known as Black Thought—is the platinum-selling, Grammy-winning co-founder of The Roots and one of the most exhilaratingly skillful and profound rappers our culture has ever produced. But his story begins with a tragedy: as a child, Trotter burned down his family’s home. The years that follow are the story of a life snatched from the flames, forged in fire.
-
-
PHENOMENAL !!!!!
- By juliajovone on 12-02-23
By: Tariq Trotter
-
Harlem Shuffle
- A Novel
- By: Colson Whitehead
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Ray Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.
-
-
Best Read/Listen on Audible
- By Henry Posner on 09-22-21
By: Colson Whitehead
-
Before the Mayflower
- A History of Black America
- By: Lerone Bennett
- Narrated by: John Ridle
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The black experience in America - starting from its origins in western Africa up to 1961 - is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil rights upheavals of the late 1950s to 1961, the time of publication.
-
-
Very informative, worth listening to thrice..
- By Alednam A Uonopk on 04-13-21
By: Lerone Bennett
-
I Take My Coffee Black
- Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America
- By: Tyler Merritt, Jimmy Kimmel - foreword
- Narrated by: Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Merritt, James Iglehart, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tyler Merritt's video "Before You Call the Cops" has been viewed millions of times. He's appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and Sports Illustrated and has been profiled in the New York Times. The viral video's main point - the more you know someone, the more empathy, understanding, and compassion you have for that person - is the springboard for this book. By sharing his highs and exposing his lows, Tyler welcomes us into his world in order to help bridge the divides that seem to grow wider every day.
-
-
Beautiful message and a social game changer
- By Marie on 11-07-21
By: Tyler Merritt, and others
-
Don't Cry for Me
- A Novel
- By: Daniel Black
- Narrated by: Daniel Black
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Jacob lies dying, he begins to write a letter to his only son, Isaac. They have not met or spoken in many years, and there are things that Isaac must know. Stories about his ancestral legacy in rural Arkansas that extend back to slavery. Secrets from Jacob's tumultuous relationship with Isaac's mother and the shame he carries from the dissolution of their family. Tragedies that informed Jacob's role as a father and his reaction to Isaac's being gay.
-
-
Weird
- By valerie on 02-02-22
By: Daniel Black
-
Inflamed
- Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice
- By: Rupa Marya, Raj Patel
- Narrated by: Raj Patel, Rupa Marya
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Boldly original, Inflamed takes us on a medical tour through the human body - our digestive, endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. Unlike a traditional anatomy book, this groundbreaking work illuminates the hidden relationships between our biological systems and the profound injustices of our political and economic systems.
-
-
Starts off well!
- By TLCohen on 08-12-21
By: Rupa Marya, and others
-
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man
- By: Emmanuel Acho
- Narrated by: Emmanuel Acho
- Length: 4 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever.
-
-
Enlightening!
- By Kiley on 11-11-20
By: Emmanuel Acho
-
Eloquent Rage
- A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
- By: Brittney Cooper
- Narrated by: Brittney Cooper
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So what if it's true that Black women are mad as hell? They have the right to be. In the Black feminist tradition of Audre Lorde, Brittney Cooper reminds us that anger is a powerful source of energy that can give us the strength to keep on fighting. Far too often, Black women's anger has been caricatured into an ugly and destructive force that threatens the civility and social fabric of American democracy. But Cooper shows us that there is more to the story than that.
-
-
🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 Eloquent AF
- By Erica on 03-05-18
By: Brittney Cooper
-
You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays
- By: Zora Neale Hurston, Henry Louis Gates - introduction, Genevieve West - introduction
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You Don’t Know Us Negroes is the quintessential gathering of provocative essays from one of the world’s most celebrated writers, Zora Neale Hurston. Spanning more than three decades and penned during the backdrop of the birth of the Harlem Renaissance, Montgomery bus boycott, desegregation of the military, and school integration, Hurston’s writing articulates the beauty and authenticity of Black life as only she could. Collectively, these essays showcase the roles enslavement and Jim Crow have played in intensifying Black people’s inner lives and culture rather than destroying it.
-
-
Great Cover on Who We Are
- By Kindle Grandma on 02-05-22
By: Zora Neale Hurston, and others
-
Tupac Shakur
- The Authorized Biography
- By: Staci Robinson
- Narrated by: Jamal Joseph, Staci Robinson
- Length: 14 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated, and prolific figures in modern history. Drawing on exclusive access to Tupac’s private notebooks, letters, and uncensored conversations with those who loved and knew him best, this estate-authorized biography paints the fullest and most intimate picture to date of the young man who became a legend for generations to come.
-
-
The Biography we’ve been waiting for
- By carl zayas on 02-24-24
By: Staci Robinson
-
This Is the Fire
- What I Say to My Friends About Racism
- By: Don Lemon
- Narrated by: Don Lemon
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The host of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon is more popular than ever. As America’s only Black prime-time anchor, Lemon and his daily monologues on racism and antiracism, on the failures of the Trump administration and of so many of our leaders, and on America’s systemic flaws speak for his millions of fans. Now, in an urgent, deeply personal, riveting plea, he shows us all how deep our problems lie, and what we can do to begin to fix them.
-
-
A Must Read!!!
- By Ms. Angie on 03-19-21
By: Don Lemon
-
My Vanishing Country
- A Memoir
- By: Bakari Sellers
- Narrated by: Bakari Sellers
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What J. D. Vance did for Appalachia with Hillbilly Elegy, CNN analyst and one of the youngest state representatives in South Carolina history Bakari Sellers does for the rural South, in this important book that illuminates the lives of America’s forgotten Black working-class men and women. Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, My Vanishing Country is an eye-opening journey through the South's past, present, and future.
-
-
What America Needs NOW!!!
- By Unknown on 05-22-20
By: Bakari Sellers
-
Black Friend
- Essays
- By: Ziwe
- Narrated by: Ziwe
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ziwe made a name for herself by asking guests like Alyssa Milano, Fran Lebowitz, and Chet Hanks direct questions. In Black Friend, she turns her incisive perspective on both herself and the culture at large. Throughout the book, Ziwe combines pop-culture commentary and personal stories that grapple with her own (mis)understanding of identity. From a hilarious case of mistaken identity via a jumbotron to a terrifying fight-or-flight encounter in the woods, Ziwe raises difficult questions for comedic relief.
-
-
Something for everyone
- By Happy on 10-21-23
By: Ziwe
-
How We Fight White Supremacy
- A Field Guide to Black Resistance
- By: Akiba Solomon, Kenrya Rankin
- Narrated by: Jeanette Illidge, Vallea Woodbury, Je Nie Fleming, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many of us are facing unprecedented attacks on our democracy, our privacy, and our hard-won civil rights. If you're Black in the US, this is not new. As Colorlines editors Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin show, Black Americans subvert and resist life-threatening forces as a matter of course. In this audiobook, leading organizers, artists, journalists, comedians, and filmmakers offer wisdom on how they fight white supremacy. It's a must-listen for anyone new to resistance work, and for the next generation of leaders building a better future.
-
-
Brilliantly Necessary...
- By The Alchemist on 10-03-20
By: Akiba Solomon, and others
-
Bird Uncaged
- An Abolitionist's Freedom Song
- By: Marlon Peterson
- Narrated by: Marlon Peterson
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marlon Peterson grew up in 1980s Crown Heights, raised by Trinidadian immigrants. Amid the routine violence that shaped his neighborhood, Marlon became a high-achieving and devout child, the specter of the American dream opening up before him. But in the aftermath of immense trauma, he participated in a robbery that resulted in two murders. At 19, Peterson was charged and later convicted. He served 10 long years in prison. In Bird Uncaged, Peterson challenges the typical “redemption” narrative and our assumptions about justice.
-
-
This book is unputdownable!!
- By AuthorAnnaBella on 07-29-21
By: Marlon Peterson