Readers from Generation X may remember Kevin Powell as an original cast member on The Real World, MTV's foray into reality television that paved the way for thousands of imitators in the following decades. But while that may be Powell's greatest claim to fame, it gets little attention in his autobiography, The Education of Kevin Powell. Instead, Powell focuses on his lower-class upbringing in New Jersey and his time as an activist at college and beyond.
The Education of Kevin Powell is anything but a "pulled up by one's bootstraps" narrative. Powell repeatedly underscores the support, and pressure, from his single mother as he made his way through school and into higher education. The book makes no apologies for exploring Powell's experience as a black man trying to navigate the still-racist education system, or his attempts to define himself in the face of absent or corrupt father figures. It is clear Powell wants his work to sit beside great African American books like Native Son or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It is not only an explanation of Powell's upbringing, but also an attempt at having a dialogue with anyone who does not understand the full weight of America's race problems. That attempt sometimes leads to problems of tone, especially when he discusses his past violence towards women with less self-awareness than one might expect. But these moments, flawed as they are, come from a place of self-reflection and an attempt always to be better. --Noah Cruickshank, marketing manager, Open Books, Chicago, Ill.