Welcome to Karen Hunter is awesome. I am Karen Hunter. In this next episode, I'm talking with Kevin Powell, of course, Grammy-nominated, poet, writer of 16, writer be 17, whenever you listen to it, probably

be 20. I don't know. But Kevin has been on a journey of discovery of self that I think is

something to marvel. The man has done the work. And he sat at the feet of an Audrey Lord and

a bell hooks. And he was a man that had kind of a complicated relationship and a history

with being abusive and has come through it on the other side. So we had a conversation right after

the Woman King about women that I think is so amazing that I broke it into two parts. So up next,

part one of my conversation with Kevin Powell. Stay tuned. Kevin Powell,

how do we honor our ancestors, honor what happened to us and not sit in that trauma to the point

that it paralyzes us from building the world that we want to live in? You can't move without a plan.

You have to have a plan of action. You know, I do these speeches all the time around the country and even overseas.

For me, it's six, six areas where black people need to be empowered.

It's spiritually, it's politically, it's culturally, it's financially, and it's two areas that we often don't like to talk about.

You mentioned one of them, mental health.

You actually mentioned both of them, mental health and physical health.

So spiritually, number one, politically number two, culturally number three, financially number four,

mental health, number five, and physical health number six.

And so the thing is, like, if you go to a doctor, like I go to a holistic doctor

here in Brooklyn, New York, where I've been for a long time, he gives an analysis of here's where you are. And so we do need to look back. We need to know where we came from. That's our foundation. Where do we come from? How do we get here? You know, but then the question becomes, okay, what do we need to do to go forward? You know what I mean? It's like if I have a family history of diabetes and high

blood pressure, which I do, that's why I'm a vegan. That's why I'm very careful about how much salt and sugar that I take into my body. That's why I'm constantly drinking cups of water. You know what I mean? That's why I'm heading to the gym after this. One of the things I have to do after this show is go to the gym, go work out. You know what I mean? And that doesn't mean that I haven't fallen off the wagon.

Of course, I have many times. I mean, you know, because we have all these forces coming out from different places. But when I think about it, inside of my phone, in my note section of my iPhone is literally, here's your daily rituals. Here's the things you need to do. And then I also know there's things I have to do for the larger community, like what you do for the larger community. I'm excited to hear about, you know, the narrative and the newbies. I mean, this radio show, like this is an incredible platform and your writings. You know what I mean? Because it's like, you said something that was so funny, Karen. People are literally, we don't have to say any names. and I'm sorry they even said Dr. Gates his name earlier, no disrespect to anyone.

But what I was trying to say earlier is that stop saying that black

folks were involved in the slave trade. If you're not going to have the same courage and even more

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