KEVIN POWELL: Looking for Martin―Dr. King, Community, Civil Rights, Social Media, and the New Activism

KEVIN POWELL explores America during the civil rights movement, with an emphasis on the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Through examinations of the landscape of that era and what has changed since, he highlights the work that remains to be done in the twenty-first century around race, gender, class, sexual identity, spiritual and religious beliefs, different abilities and disabilities, and more. He also explores today’s young people, American pop culture, and social media and its effect on activism.

Powell is one of the most acclaimed political, cultural, literary, and hip-hop voices in America. A native of Jersey City, he was raised by a single mother in extreme poverty but studied at Rutgers University thanks to New Jersey’s Educational Opportunity Fund. Powell is the author of twelve books, including The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood, a critically acclaimed and brutally honest memoir. In 2018, he will publish a biography of Tupac Shakur. Powell’s writings have also appeared in Esquire, Ebony, and the Washington Post.

This event is part of the Lowell Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.