Only now, in the 21st century, can we fully grasp the breadth and range of African American poetry: a magnificent chorus of voices, some familiar, others recently rescued from neglect. Poet and scholar Kevin Young has done the work to compile an unprecedented anthology where this precious living heritage is revealed in all its power, beauty, and multiplicity in African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song.

Young will be interviewed by Tony Powers, past City of Decatur Commissioner.

Kevin Young is the director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, recently named a National Historic Landmark, and poetry editor of The New Yorker, where he also hosts the poetry podcast. He is the author of thirteen books of poetry and prose, most recently Brown, as featured on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah; Blue Laws: Selected & Uncollected Poems 1995-2015, longlisted for the National Book Award; andBook of Hours, a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and winner of the Lenore Marshall Prize for Poetry from the Academy of American Poets. His collection Jelly Roll: A Blues was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Young’s second nonfiction book, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts & Fake News, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was named a New York Times Notable Book. He is the editor of nine other collections, including the anthology African American Poetry 1770–2020: 250 Years of Struggle & Song, available from Library of America in fall 2020. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was named a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 2020.

Tony Powers was elected to the City Commission in 2015. As a native of Decatur, Tony has served the Decatur community for many years. Tony grew up in the Oakhurst Community and is a proud graduate of Decatur High School.

Tony served as co-president of the Oakhurst Elementary School PTA from 2001-2002, was a founding member of the Decatur Education Foundation and served as chair of the Education Foundation from 2010-2012. He served as chair of the Housing Infill Task Force from 2007-2008 and joined the City Planning Commission in 2009. He served as Chair of the City Planning Commission, a position he held since 2012. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the South Fork Conservancy since 2012. Tony has served on The University  of Georgia Board of Visitors since 2019. Tony was also honored with a hometown hero award in 2002.

Tony earned a degree in marketing from the University of Georgia and is a co-owner of Intown Ace Hardware. He and his wife Leisa live in the Great Lakes neighborhood, they have two daughters, Diondra and Alexandra and all are proud graduates of Decatur High School.

Books by Kevin Young available through local, indie bookseller

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song 

African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song Sponsored by Bold Monk Brewing Company & White Oak Kitchen