Wesley Powell, KENTUCKY COORDINATOR, Take Back Our Republic

For almost the past 10 years you could say he’s been backup to many of the biggest acts in entertainment and worked on stage with them around the United States and the world. In fact, according to him you can name even some of the most obscure talent in the industry and he’s been there with them.

Indeed, this 27-year-old, from Elmore County, Alabama who stands as he puts it, “Two-inches below seven”. Was working security and field coordination for one of the largest company’s in the entertainment industry until, as Wesley Powell puts it, “Covid handcuffed it. I wanted to stay with it, but there was no money in it and the industry was having a hard time staying afloat,” said Powell, who picked up and went home to Alabama and began putting his college degree to work.

“Being on tour with the bands was at times… it was sick,” Powell said. “Name a band and I’ve seen everyone at least once – even the obscure bands. It was a great time.”

With Powell’s size I asked if he’d ever considered the Secret Service or CIA, and with a chuckle in his voice, he said, “Don’t think I didn’t apply, but I don’t believe they take people who were raised in my county that’s between Birmingham and Montgomery.”

Powell had used his talent in high school football to get a scholarship and attend Tusculum College majoring in athletic education. “I was an athlete in high school sports and in college,” he said. “I looked at everything as competition. And in college I was a tight end and the only way I can describe how we played ball is to say ‘air-raid doesn’t even describe how much we threw the ball’”.

Finishing College as an All-American, Powell was selected in the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals. “And what happens,” he said. “I get out there and find out I’ve got knee damage.”

Since returning home Powell spends his time working construction in the daytime and working his first love, athletics, at night by coaching boys and girls basketball at the local high school. “The girls team went undefeated,” he said. “The boys was not the best season having more losses than wins, but it’s not all about the wins. It’s about making a positive change in their lives and knowing and learning to achieve greatness in all things win or lose.”

It’s been the exposure to these young people where Powell has become in tune with the politics of the day and these young men and women he’s coaching and teaching. “The politicization of those between 18 and 27 is being pushed by social media and the media,” Powell said. “Politics is being turned into memes and just a few dopamine kicks.”

He is very quick to admit that before the most recent election he’d never voted before, but then when he came home Powell said a friend he grew up with, Justin Hill – Deputy Director of Take Back Our Republic, Auburn, Alabama-TakeBack.org, came to him with an opportunity involving politics.

“I realized how I can even look at politics competitively,” Powell said. Hill asked Powell to be the Take Back coordinator for Kentucky and take on the responsibilities for helping put the national organization’s message regarding political and voting reform forward.

“If I can be positive about everything in life it’s going to help me be the best at what there is to be,” he said. “In coaching I’ve tried to help those young men and women unlock that second wind in their heart.”

Powell explained because of his size most people might think he’s the bully in the crowd; but he really tries for them not to see him that way. “There are two sides to every coin,” he said. “I just want to be the best I can be. That’s why three days a week I meet friends at my old high school at 5 a.m. and with whomever shows up we play basketball. It’s better than coffee or Red Bull!”

Powell explains he’s always had a unique perspective on life that he believes might come from his dad being from Alabama and his mother from Los Angeles. To contact Powell you can reach him thru Take Back by calling 334-329-7258 or emailing at info@takeback.org