Date: March 18th 2009

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Counterpoint/Soft Skull Press
Contact: Abbye Simkowitz
510.704.0230 x202
abbye.simkowitz@counterpointpress.com


Thursday March 19, 2009
Kevin Powell
Writer, Activist, Author of the forthcoming OPEN LETTERS TO AMERICA (September 15, 2009 – Soft Skull Press)
and author of Someday We’ll All Be Free and No Sleep Till Brooklyn

will be a featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show


Topic: How Men Can Stop Violence Against Women. Check Your Local listings for times.


This is Kevin Powell’s Oprah debut—a momentous career achievement for him and a testament to his dedication to serving America.


On Thursday, March 19th, 2009, Kevin Powell will be stepping onto the most globally influential platform as a guest on the Oprah Show. Beginning his career almost two decades ago as a pop culture icon and influencer, Powell, now an accomplished writer, activist, public speaker, and music aficionado, will have the honor to speak with Oprah Winfrey about one of his hardest-fought causes: ending violence against women and girls. On the heels of one of the most-watched episodes this year, dedicated to Chris Brown, Rihanna, and young adults in abusive relationships, Kevin Powell leads this follow-up episode, sharing his insight into this gravely serious problem, which hurts people worldwide.

Powell has been working relentlessly to help mentor and enlighten others about this issue through his writings such as his essay “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls.” His forthcoming essay collection Open Letters to America (September 15 2009 / Soft Skull Press / Trade paper / $13.95 / 978-1-59376-214-8) is a trilogy of letters to Americans of all backgrounds, written in the spirit of James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. In Open Letters, Powell proposes that after eight years of George Bush’s America, we are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history, when we can, as in the 1960s, put forth a new and bolder kind of democracy. The book is his celebration of the sudden, mass political engagement of America’s youth, and Americans in general; his thoughts in the aftermath of Obama’s magical and historic presidential campaign; and his open acknowledgment that if twenty-first century America is going to be the great world democracy it promises to be, it will be Generations
X and Y that make it so. Read more about the book, which is available for pre-order on amazon.com, here:

http://softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-59376-214-3

Powell has authored two previous Soft Skull Press books. No Sleep Till Brooklyn (summer 2008, $15.95, 978-0-9796636-9-7) is a searingly honest poetry collection, powerful and disturbing, confronting such issues as racism, black self-hatred, gender violence, and his own anguished revelations about sex, love, and misogyny. Someday We’ll All Be Free (2006, $13.95, 978-1-933368-57-3) is his incisive and passionate jeremiad about freedom and democracy in America today. He skillfully dissects the dreams of American freedom and democracy in the early days of the 21st century, addressing the reelection of George W. Bush, the colossal tragedy of September 11th, and the historic destruction of the city of New Orleans before our very eyes. Read more about the books here:

http://www.amazon.com/No-Sleep-Till-Brooklyn-Selected/dp/0979663695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237409654&sr=8-1

and here:

http://softskull.com/detailedbook.php?isbn=1-933368-57-8

Powell has been invited across the country to speak about domestic violence, and has just recently appeared on CNN, FOX 5 NY, NBC CH.4 NY, Hot 97 radio, and BET’s 106 & Park. In addition, look for the May issue of Ebony magazine which will be featuring Kevin’s new short essay, “Men Can Stop Domestic Violence.”


About Kevin Powell
Kevin Powell is a Writer, Activist, Public Speaker, and Author of the forthcoming essay collection Open Letters To America (Soft Skull Press). Born and raised in Jersey City, NJ, Powell is the product of a single mother led household, extreme poverty, and violence. But he survived those difficult conditions to author or edit nine books and has been, among other things, an acclaimed national speaker and activist, a founding staff member at Vibe magazine, a cast member on the very first season of MTV’s “The Real World,” and, in 2008, a Democratic candidate for Congress in Brooklyn, New York, where he has been a long-time resident. Besides his work around redefining manhood away from sexism and violence, Powell is also deeply committed to fighting poverty, environmental injustices, and educational inequities. For more information on Kevin Powell, visit www.KevinPowell.net

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