The Kevin Powell that Hollywood Knows

On this Sojourn podcast, the Grammy-nominated storyteller explains that poetry awards alone don't bring him to LA

Photo by Evangeline Lawson

Grocery Shopping with My Mother is such an evocative title that Kevin Powell’s poetry collection grabbed my attention straight away. What non-orphan doesn’t remember the intimacy of co-piloting with their mum. The shorthand and initial bursts of usefulness. The ongoing negotiations for snacks.

These trips are especially poignant for kids like Kevin and me, who were raised by single parents.

Presently Grammy-nominated for the spoken-word version of his 2022 book, he’s among the most recognizable Black writers we have, if only because of his early work in the seminal reality show The Real World. My man is arguably the most memorable “character” from the New York season. 

But real readers know Kevin Powell’s name is on so many impactful articles and books. He’s spoken about Black life on camera and before live audiences since damn-near the first Bush Administration’s end. His Vibe mag byline was dead up in the singular moment in American pop culture named The East Coast-West Coast Beef. Dude has run for Congress, twice. An activist at heart, Powell was named International Ambassador for the Dylan Thomas Centennial, back in 2014.

He’s on The Sojourn podcast specifically because of a powerful Shopping track called “Dear Kobe,” and the February 5 Grammys ceremony at The Crypt, in downtown LA. There’s another West Coast tie-in, but we’ll save that as a surprise.

Kevin and I go back, to the anthology Step into a World, which he edited with the late, great Joe Wood. I couldn’t believe I was included among so many famous young Black writers. The fact that my essay “Are Black People Cooler than White People?” opens the terrific anthology made that late-90s moment really matter for me.

Let me not belabor the relationship. Here are some questions that I asked my friend Mr. Powell, along with some answers he threw back at me.

RIP Radcliffe Bailey