
DATE: Friday, September 5, 1997             TAG: 9709050638

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NIA NGINA MEEKS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   76 lines

CULTURAL CRITIC AND HIP-HOP VOICE BRINGS WORDS TO HAMPTON ROADS

Kevin Powell first blew up on the national scene five years ago as an inaugural member of the MTV cult-soap, ``The Real World.''

Scouts searching for a new voice snagged the writer for Vibe magazine. Rappers such as Tupac Shakur broke down life as they saw it with him. Media types grabbed him to be a pundit on the hip-hop generation.

That was five years ago. At 30, Kevin Powell has grown up. Or at least grappling to get a hold on this adulthood thing.

The trip there has been at once painful and fortunate, individual and universal. It is a journey and a message he wants to share with not only those of his generation, but with those of the Civil Rights era.

On Saturday, he'll deliver his message at the Men of Color Expo in Virginia Beach.

It decries ``-isms'' based on race, sex or class. It deals with responsibility. It demands leadership - of self.

``Everyone has the potential to contribute something,'' Powell said from his Brooklyn home. ``I think icon-centered leadership is very dangerous. We have this messiah complex. Looking for a Martin, a Malcolm. When that person is gone, physically gone, our struggle tends to stop. We need to get away from that. It's very played out at this point.''

Likewise making the misters move the masses. Stances such as this sets Powell apart from some of his hip-hop peers, where abuse of women is the rule, so long as it sells.

Gender - and generational - relations must improve if dysfunction is to end among black people, he said. Other internal questions must be answered, too.

Like why a mayor who smoked crack on tape was re-elected. And what example a man asking others to atone sets when he doesn't mention his sexual harassment problems. Or how a minister with a mistress is given a vote of confidence to continue leading others.

``We, as black people, need to stop living in a delusional world,'' Powell said. ``People don't want to deal with that. That's why people keep dealing with that.''

During his three-plus years as a Vibe scribe, he dealt with people and politics of hip hop. Powell also published a book of poetry, ``recognize'' and co-edited ``In the Tradition: an Anthology of Young Black Writers.''

``It was a phenomenal work. I think it's going to be a lasting piece of work,'' Kierna Mayo said. She's a former editor at the Source, a glossy where Powell got his pen wet. ``It is definitely going to speak to our generation for years to come,'' Mayo said.

Powell's latest growth as a writer is ``Keepin' It Real,'' a collection of essays released this spring. He tackles relationships with family, lovers and peers. Poverty, rage and confusion are the backdrop, and probably will be in future works, he said.

``We who are thinking about our conditions will always go through these conditions,'' Powell said. ``(W.E.B.) DuBois described it the most succinctly: double consciousness.

``You feel like you're caught in the middle. I'm not out there trying to rob anymore. At the same time, I don't feel Martha's Vineyard.''

Examining this duality in 237 pages made this project his hardest to date. Yet his journey continues.

``I'm struggling mightily to be a man,'' Powell said. ``Not a man by definition of manhood that we have in this society. I'm not interested in conquering or dominating anyone. I'm not interested in being abusive, be it verbally or physically. Nor am I interested in being irresponsible. I'm trying to come to grips with my life.'' ILLUSTRATION: Kevin Powell will keynote the Crown Royal Men of Color

Expo on Saturday in Virginia Beach.

IF YOU GO

What: Kevin Powell speaking at Crown Royal Men of Color Expo.

Where: Holiday Inn Executive Center, 5655 Greenwich Road,

Virginia Beach.

When: 1 p.m. Saturday.

Why: To hear expressions from a renowned member of the hip-hop

generation. Powell also will be signing copies of his latest book,

``Keepin' It Real.''

More info: Call 466-8910.