Speaking in front of a diverse, standing-room-only gathering of students, professors and administrators at the Laurel Multipurpose Room at Cal State Fullerton, Kevin Powell, author, activist and noted hip-hop historian, touched on topics such as civil rights, education, acceptance and diversity.
As he appealed to the students to apply their education to serving others, Powell’s overarching theme was empowerment.
“I love the beautiful diversity in this room,” Powell said. “All of you in this room give me hope.”
Hosted by the Department of African American Studies, Powell’s Feb. 26 visit was his second to the university and was among the highlights of CSUF’s celebration of Black History Month.
In introducing Powell to the audience, department chair Siobhan Brooks delivered a list of Powell’s achievements.
“He has penned articles, essays and blogs for a wide range of newspapers and magazines and major websites, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, NPR, Essence, Ebony, Rolling Stone, Esquire, HuffPost, The Guardian, The Progressive and British GQ,” Brooks said. “He also ran for Congress in his adopted hometown of New York City in both 2008 and 2010 and he has lectured, worked, and traveled across the country and the world.”
Brooks, incidentally, contributed to the magazine African Voices Celebrating 50 Years of Hip-hop, which Powell edited.
Powell opened the discussion with a primer on the origins of Black History Month and why the monthlong celebration takes place in February.
“It wasn’t because February is the shortest month of the year,” Powell quipped. “Absolutely not.”
Powell explained that February was chosen primarily because the second week of the month coincides with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Lincoln has been credited for the emancipation of slaves, although that’s debatable, Powell said, and Douglass, a former slave, was a leader in the abolitionist…
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