COVER ART FOR Kevin Powell’s album “Grocery Shopping With My Mother.”
One of America’s most celebrated political, cultural, literary and Hip-Hop voices has been nominated for a 2024 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for his nine poem-songs, “Grocery Shopping With My Mother.”
The book, upon which the album is based, is a glimpse into Powell’s trips with his mother and other cultural observations, where he, as an only child, with much care and respect, makes sure that his mother is well taken care of—even though they don’t live in the same state.
Titles on the album further celebrating the brilliance of these poems include: “We Them People,” “For You, Tupac and Biggie,” “Grocery Shopping With my Mother” and “My Father,” among others.
Upon the nomination, Powell posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: “SIMPLY NO WAY I got this #Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album alone. In soon-to-come posts, I am going to acknowledge a lot of people—producers, musicians, singers, our sound engineer, others. I have honestly been overwhelmed by all the love. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH.”
The book’s description: “When Kevin Powell’s elderly mother became ill, he returned home every week to take her grocery shopping in Jersey City. Walking behind her during those trips, Powell began to hear her voice, stories and language in a new way—examining his own healing while praying for hers.
“‘Grocery Shopping with My Mother‘ originated as social media posts about these visits and evolved into a breathtaking collection of 32 new poems, crafted like an album, plus four bonus tracks celebrating a great love of wordplay. Culturally rooted in the literary traditions of Ntozake Shange and Allen Ginsberg, Powell’s poems honor the likes of V (formerly Eve Ensler), bell hooks, and Sidney Poitier.
“The book dives into the complexities of relationships and contemporary themes with honesty and vulnerability. Creatively and spiritually inspired by Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life,” Powell’s poems shift in form and style, from praise chants to reverential meditations to, most importantly, innovative hope.”
In the title poem, Powell writes in part, “Dear God, my mother does not know that I often walk behind her on purpose, as she grabs a pound of hamburger, a bag of sugar, a loaf of bread, a box of cereal.”
Along with this great Grammy nomination, Powell teamed up as a guest editor on the current issue of Literary Magazine African Voices for a Historic Special issue: “Hip Hop at 5ifty: Where Do We Go From Here.”
But this special issue, like the culture itself, is bigger than Hip-Hop. It features 63 writers/influencers, including Nikki Giovanni, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Sonia Sanchez, Elizabeth Alexander, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Mayor Ras Baraka, Jessica Care Moore, Sarah Jones, Chicago’s Dr. Haki Madhubuti and Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets, among others.
Four generations of writers gathered together for this historic issue that includes new and original photographs by Evangeline Lawson, and new and original art direction by Rodney Clancy.
Powell talked in part about his editorship: “My vision as guest editor for this special issue of African Voices is to present a symphony of voices on and about this thing we call Hip-Hop, on and about this thing we call life, as real democracy should be, because Hip-Hop represents so many different angles to so many different people. Voices that should and must be heard in America, especially as books are being banned and various histories are being erased or other-ed, and as human beings are being killed, just because of who they are, like no big deal, at every level of our society.
“And like the beautiful diversity of any great literature, of any great art, some of the pieces are very direct, some of the pieces are very subtle, yet the voices, together, are telling us, loud and clear, to see them, feel them, because they are here and are not going anywhere. Because, they — we — are also lovingly critical, refreshingly honest, painfully aware, and, like Hip-Hop itself, supernaturally able to have every kind of conversation at any time and in any space. Because, yes, we are Hip-Hop, and Hip-Hop is us.”
Powell has been writing, speaking, lending his voice and representing the culture for more than 30 years in different media outlets. He is the author of 16 books, including “The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey into Manhood,” “When We Free the World,” and published in 2020, and “Grocery Shopping With My Mother,” published in 2022. He has also written “The Kevin Powell Reader,” Kevin collected writings of the past 30 years, published in 2023.
Powell was a senior writer during the founding years of VIBE. His first VIBE cover story on Tupac Shakur was the 1994 “Is Tupac Crazy or Just Misunderstood?” His 1995 cover story on Shakur, “Ready to Live”– featuring an interview conducted while Shakur was jailed in Riker’s Island – became one of the magazine’s bestsellers
The author’s activism has focused on ending poverty, advocating for social justice and counteracting violence against women and girls (including a very well-regarded appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show highlighting domestic violence) through local, national and international initiatives.
He has also done extensive philanthropic and relief work, ranging from Hurricane Katrina to earthquakes in Haiti and Japan, to Superstorm Sandy in New York.
Finally, Powell is always grateful and humbled by the respect given him by the Black community. He also posted: “I am THANKFUL every single day to God and my ancestors and my mother for life. I am THANKFUL to my dear wife for the incredible love and partnership and friendship. And I am THANKFUL to see each new day, to be able to help others, always, to be able to write, to be a witness.”
Watch out for Grammy wins next February. Search for the book and the album online at various retail outlets.
An online version of the magazine can be purchased by searching the title.
