Who's Gonna Take the Weight?: Manhood, Race, and Power in America

I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Powell at the Essence Music Festival this year, and made sure to let him know his book is the truth. It's not for everyone, meaning you have to be able to expand your mind and be willing to be objective. It's obvious he speaks and writes what he writes, because these are very important issues, and also uses himself in many instances to show he isn't merely just running his mouth and criticizing others. His concerns about where black men are and where we are headed are right on point and should be taken seriously.

If Tupac Shakur was voice that represented the angst of troubled youth in hip-hop culture, than Kevin Powell is by all means the James Baldwin of that culture. Introduced to most of us `as one of seven strangers picked to live in a loft to see what happens when people stop being nice and start being real', Powell brings to the surface some of his own painful realties as he deals with some of societies ugliest issues in, "Who's Gonna Take the Weight". In a brutally honest account of his own battles with misogyny, pride, and abandonment, the self-proclaimed Hip-Hop head, masterfully dissects causes and effects of a variety of social behaviors claiming the hearts and spirits of a large number of not only Black America, but also society at large. In questioning his own self destructive behaviors he answers the questions of the Black woman trying to love a Black Man, he answersthe question of the white kid who wants to emulate the hip-hop lifestyle he sees on television, he answers the Black middle class who forgot they were ever poor and he answers the "Man" who perpetuates the images continually seen through all forms of media. What does he answer? Simply why do you act like that? Eloquently breaking down the correlation between the civil rights movement and hip-hop culture, Powell uses his own "issues" as examples of what's wrong and how to begin to fix them. It shows that we all truly need to take the weight individually and collectively. Compelling, clear and concise the latest addition to his collection of essays is truly Keeping it Real!

Beyond the scope of any other book detailing the perils and prosperity of being both a man and a hip-hop head, Kevin Powell sheds a hidden understanding of the myths and glaring truths associated with these two misunderstood complexities in life. Using his life experiences and the starking parellels that he shared with the late Tupac Shakur, KP helps the reader disect the meaning of power and how many of us walk in the frozen images of power that is given to us by society when we never took a chance to understand power or our powerlessness and vulnerabilities of being a man.Simply put, this book opens the objective reader to a tainted, yet reasonably truthful and analytical picture of manhood, race, power, and hip-hop that has been painted by artists who created a messed up display...they just wanted others to look at the depiction as beauty. This book is a must read!