That is quite a title right? Although there is plenty of talk about his mother and what Kevin Powell refers to as their complicated relationship, there is much less about Obama and very little of Trump. The challenge of essay collections, if the collection is not conceived originally as a whole book project as opposed to collecting pieces that have been written and previously published and then bought together to form a book is you get a lot of overlap, and you often find yourself muttering, he said that already.

This book doesn’t greatly suffer from repetition, and what there is; is easily acceptable, because some of what he says bears repeating. And the essays that appeared elsewhere in some form all fall into the time period between 2015-2018. So, it’s not like you’ll find some divergent thoughts separated by many years that easily could explain growth of mind and deeper examination of initial impressions.

There are thirteen essays here and perhaps the thirteen is symbolic for the thirteen books that he has written. Kevin Powell has been an activist often speaking loudly in alliance with women empowerment issues. The fact he has thirteen books I found surprising, because I didn’t realize he had been that productive. Here, he wants the reader to know, “reflecting much of what I have experienced and learned since I was that puny kid-writer so many chapters ago...... And I have digested the reactions to what I have penned the past few months, via email, via social media, after my speeches, in random spaces. I feel I have found my voice again.”

That voice is most lucid when he is challenging current politics and social situations as he does in the essay:Will Racism Ever End? Certainly a question that is becoming more urgent as the social gaffes continue to pile up like mountains of waste. Kevin is insistent that whites must be as engaged in this work as much as others if not outright leading the effort to end racism.

“I can hear my White sisters and brothers say now, as many often declare to me when this uncomfortable dialogue occurs, “But I did not own slaves, I had nothing to do with that” or “My relatives did not do that.” It does not matter if you or your long-gone relatives were directly involved or not, or if you believe that “that is in the past.” The past, tragically, is the present, because we’ve been too terrified to confront our whole history and our whole selves as Americans.”

He also is at the top of the game when he writes about hip-hop and that culture. His writing career was birthed at Vibe magazine an early chronicler of hip-hop culture and rap music. His essay A Letter To Tupac Shakur is one of the highlights of the book. The loving critique and challenge to Jay-Z in Jay-Z and the Remaking Of His Manhood is also a very strong piece.

He writes very lovingly of his mother and obviously he is extremely grateful for her tremendous sacrifice in making and shaping Kevin Powell to the man he has become. He has done a great job with this offering, challenging his country, his brothers and sisters to always be better and do better. It would do you well to read and share this book with your friends and family and take what you need to make positive changes that will lead to positive contributions to this thing called life, perhaps being in and of service to a greater good. Highly Recommended. Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for advanced DRC. Book will drop Sept. 4, 2018