Lyrical Gangstas

photo: Courtesy of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Kevin Powell searches for a movement of his own.

Details

Step Into a World: A Global Anthology of the New Black Literature
Edited by Kevin Powell
Wiley, 496 pp., $29.95
Buy this book

Related Content

• BUILDING BLOCKS
  December 5, 2012
• Kevin Powell on Trayvon Martin and Racism in America
  March 26, 2012
• Marc Spitz's Poseur Remembers a LES That No Longer Exists
  March 13, 2013
• El Mio Cid: The Sardines of Bushwick
  July 25, 2012
• 10 No-Brainer Rock Legends Never Nominated For The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame
  April 13, 2012

More About

• Kevin Powell
• James Baldwin
• Lester Bangs
• Journalism
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

In championing the Word Movement, Powell places himself in danger of being sidelined by whatever movement actually does emerge from the rumblings of writers amassed in Step Into a World. John Clellon Holmes suffered a similar fate; the novel Go would never receive the recognition of On the Road, though Go could be considered the start of the Beat movement. The problem with Powell's postulation is, while his will to tag this movement is compelling, the hindsight of historical perspective may be the only proper barometer for determining whether he's onto something or selling himself a dream.