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From Daddyless to Destiny

On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Tunette Powell, motivational speaker, author, education consultant and co-founder of The Truth Heals.

Powell has made it her mission to be a voice of hope and healing for some of the world’s most despaired and underserved populations. She currently serves as the CEO of The Truth Heals and sits on a host of nonprofit boards.

Powell has also authored three books, including a fourth-grade history book for Omaha Public Schools. Powell grew up with a father addicted to drugs. While her father wasn’t watching, she struggled in school with behavioral issues, and was labeled at-risk, broken and defeated.

After surviving high school and dropping out of college just two years in, she set sail in search of herself. Four years after dropping out of college, she gave it another try and found her purpose in a public speaking course at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. After excelling in the class, she declared her major as speech communication and worked to develop herself into a voice for some of the world’s most neglected people. Her work to expose America’s preschool to prison pipeline has been featured by media outlets throughout the country, including CNN, MSNBC and NPR’s This American Life. 

John L. Hanson is the producer and host of the nationally syndicated radio series In Black America. It’s heard on home station KUT Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m., as well as weekly on close to 20 stations across the country. The weekly podcast of IBA, the only nationally broadcast black-oriented public affairs radio program, is one of KUT’s most popular podcasts.