Black Males’s Roundtable Heats Up After Clifton Powell’s Admission

[ad_1] by Jeroslyn JoVonn February 17, 2026

The actor sparked pressure throughout a Black males’s roundtable after being challenged over his admission that he didn’t learn to love till a lady taught him in his 60s.

Tensions flared throughout a Black males’s roundtable when actor Clifton Powell was confronted by a speaker who criticized him and different elders for utilizing age as a protect towards accountability.

The veteran actor, finest recognized for his position within the Friday movie franchise, just lately joined a roundtable hosted by SisterSong Ladies of Colour Reproductive Justice Collective and The Acutely aware Lee, the place actors, activists, and creatives mentioned Black males’s position in reproductive justice and constructing more healthy relationships with Black ladies.

In the course of the dialog, Powell mirrored on his private journey with love, accountability, and emotional progress, admitting he didn’t learn to actually love till his 60s.

“I’ve simply discovered tips on how to love,” he shared. “I’m 69, about to be 70, and I’ve simply discovered.”

Powell stated his admission stems from inherited trauma inside Black households, describing it not as remorse however as a second of readability formed by generational wounds and lived expertise.

“Our mother and father didn’t know tips on how to love. Their mother and father didn’t know tips on how to love,” he stated, highlighting the long-term results of “450 years of post-slavery PTSD.”

Powell stated his present accomplice has performed a significant position in his private progress, pushing him to confront his conduct and evolve.

“Whenever you damage any person, the place you permit them is the place they keep,” Powell stated.

Fellow panelist Joseph Irvin revisited Powell’s feedback, utilizing the second to focus on what he sees as a broader lack of accountability amongst some older generations relating to proudly owning their actions and the trauma handed all the way down to youthful relations.

“Some individuals have talked about, like, you realize, going to counseling, have that upon your self. Cease ready for a lady to inform you what you must do,” Irvin stated in a clip shared on-line.

Clifton Powell crashes out at desk speak after a younger man claims older individuals solely take accountability after they’re previous—and it’s already too late. 👀😳 pic.twitter.com/oMyR4MRdi8

— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) February 16, 2026

Powell fired again at Irvin. “You possibly can’t inform me what the f-ck I’m residing…I’m residing it proper now. You can't repair no sh-t that you just don’t even know what’s occurring,” Powell shouted..

He continued, “You possibly can’t repair no sh-t until you meet any person who assistance is on one other degree that will help you elevate your understanding. I’m not indicting anyone. I’m telling you what the sh-t is. Should you can’t repair some sh-t that you just don’t learn about, bro, you may’t. And you then get there at 69 or 70 and say, ‘I assumed I used to be being beloved’ and all these items. That’s what our mother and father have gone via, and that’s why all of us so f-ck-d up proper now.”

The tense trade has ignited on-line debate, with some decoding Powell’s response as a mirrored image of the very ache, anger, and trauma being mentioned, and others defending him.

“It’s true. That’s why he spazzed. Why you rattling want 70 yrs previous simply now ‘studying tips on how to love’? Outdated asf and now you lastly need to do proper by a lady is sickening,” one X person wrote.

One other person defended Powell, saying the one cause he grew to become upset is that “buddy was being disrespectful by not letting him speak.”

“We are able to’t get to a spot the place begin disrespecting elders. Can’t communicate for the way different cultures do issues, however there’s a technique to talk with elders, and that wasn’t it,” added another person.

“I disagree. Older individuals hardly ever ever take accountability as a result of they sometimes handled the identical trauma they’re carry on another person. Generational trauma,” one X person wrote.