Step into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature »

KEVIN POWELL is a critically acclaimed poet, journalist, essayist, and public speaker. A former senior writer for Vibe, he has been published in dozens of periodicals, including the Washington Post, Essence, Code, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, George, Ms., and voter.com.

Step Into A World

"Kevin Powell is pushing to bring, as he has so brilliantly done before, the voices of his generation: the concerns, the cares, the fears, and the fearlessness. Step into a World is a kaleidoscope into the world not bound by artificial constructs like nation. John Coltrane recorded 'Giant Steps,' which is a riff on the sight and sounds in his muse. Powell plays the computer with equal astuteness." -Nikki Giovanni

"Those of us who pay attention were aware that the younger generation of black writers was being smothered by the anointment of talented tenth Divas and Divuses, and their commercial accommodationist 'Fourth Renaissance. 'This anthology is indeed a breakthrough! It combines the boldness and daring of hip-hop with the intellectual keenness of a Michele Wallace or a Clyde Taylor." -Ishmael Reed

"In a culture where videos, the Internet, and other high-tech communication is being consumed like the latest mind-altering drug, how does great literature grow and survive? These writers will answer that all-important question. This anthology provides a clue, a hint, as to where we might be going. They are resisting all this vacant, empty-minded nothingness. Read them. Listen to them. If you don't, you do so at your peril." -Quincy Troupe

Essence - Patrick Henry Bass

Cultural critic Kevin Powell's Step into a World is a watershed moment in hip-hop writing, a thought-provoking book with a broad range of voices, from Ben Okri to Junot Didaz.