My Mother. Barack Obama. Donald Trump. and the Last Stand of the Angry White Man.

Powell's collection of essays on hip-hop, football, politics, black identity, and his own limitations to be a better person are given even more gravitas by his slightly raspy and emphatic voice. Whether he's debating the merits of Tupac, Prince, Beyonc�, or Kanye; tracing the roots of his own challenging upbringing in an urban single-family home; or considering what it means to be black in a country with a racialized criminal justice system, Powell's prose gains added emphasis and emotion through his narration. He makes the work sound like it was born to be read aloud. Powell explores the culture around him and grounds it in his analysis and experience, making for a rich work about both an individual and this nation. L.E. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine