We first saw him on MTV's 'The Real World.' He was a cast member during the show's first season. Kevin Powell took his role seriously back then. He understood the power of the medium and how important it was for him to represent -- not just for himself but also for all black males.

Today, he is using the power of books to do the same. In his latest tome, 'The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life,' Powell, who recently ran for a congressional seat in Brooklyn (which he lost in a tough battle against 13-time incumbent Edolphus Towns), is not just empowering black males, he is also giving them hope and a prescription for living successfully by highlighting the stories and experiences of other black males who have made it.

"I've been carrying this book around in my head for several years," Powell said. "In my work with black males, I often get asked, 'What should we be reading?' and 'What music should we be listening to?' and 'How should we be preparing ourselves for job interviews?' I mean, I would get hit with all kinds of questions from pre-teens to men in their seventies. And I realized that there was this huge void for black males. This book is an attempt to fill that void."

Powell cites books by Toni Morrison and bell hooks, Alice Walker and Ntozake Shange, whose very popular 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,' provided anthologies of empowerment and strong, inspiring voices for black females.

But there was nothing on the landscape that even came close for black males. "Part of the issue is with the black male literary community -- which seems to focus primarily on the problems -- and part of it is the black male readership (which isn't buying books in great numbers)," said Powell, who has written in the past about his own struggles and overcoming his once-destructive nature.

"And part of the problem is a systemic racism in the publishing world, which seems reluctant to promote and produce books that will inspire black males to read." Powell found a publisher not just willing to publish his book, but to really get behind the concept.

'The Black Male Handbook' came out last month and is already in its fourth printing. Out of the nine books Powell has authored, this one is outselling them all. Where writers and pundits like Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson and Tavis Smiley have focused on the problems -- the alarming statistics and the debilitating facts that face many black males throughout the country -- Powell's approach is solutions-oriented.

"For some reason, for the last 40 years, we have been stuck in this cycle of seeing ourselves solely as victims," Powell said. "I am not a victim. None of us are. And that's not to say that there isn't racism. But we can't focus on that and use that as an excuse for why we aren't doing what we should be doing. We have to be about focusing on the things we can do. And there is much that we can do."

In his book, Powell brings together a host of "can-do" black males who share their experiences and deliver their positive, forward-thinking solutions. It kicks off with a foreword by Hill Harper, who has also written a couple of books to empower young black people ('Letters to a Young Brother' and 'Letters to a Young Sister'), and there are pieces by financial literacy advocate Ryan Mack, BET's Jeff Johnson and author and professor William Jelani Cobb. Each man has a unique perspective on what it means to be a black male in America, but each provides a no-cop-out response to his challenges.

The overall message: You can do it! "Unfortunately, there has been a degenerative posture coming out of the black male literary population," said Powell. "We need to take our rightful place and not reinforce archaic definitions of manhood. This book will bust through those myths. If we are talking about black manhood, I wanted to make sure we talked to men who had a different take on this subject."

And men are supporting the book, from members of the fraternity Omega Psi Phi, who have been buying the book by the case load, to community groups. And Powell is committed to giving back to those groups that are making a difference.

He will be donating the proceeds of the book to organizations that are working with young black males across the country. "We can't wait for someone to save us," he said. "No one is going to save us, but us. No one will empower us, but us!"