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Black Sheep: A Blue-Eyed Negro Speaks of Abandonment, Belonging, Racism, and Redemption

Black Sheep: A Blue-Eyed Negro Speaks of Abandonment, Belonging, Racism, and Redemption
(This press release may be reprinted in part or in its entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet or used by any means of social media sharing.)

With an afterword by My Haley, PhD, widow of Alex Haley, famed author of Roots and Malcom X

Ray Studevent walked hesitantly toward the door of the nursing home and prayed that his Momma, now in the throes of dementia, would recognize him. Surely, the blue eyes would give him away. The blue eyes that his Momma originally equated with hatred and brutality.

White on the outside, Black on the inside, Ray grew up on the eastern side of the Anacostia River, the Blackest part of the Blackest city in America not long after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the D.C. race riots. There were guidelines if you were Black; different rules if you were White; but only mixed messages for mixed-race children like Ray, who had to fight for acceptance and struggle to find his identity.

Black Sheep: A Blue-Eyed Negro Speaks of Abandonment, Belonging, Racism, and
Redemption is the unforgettable true story of Ray’s struggles as a mixed-race boy learning to fight the ghosts of his past to find trust and love. Abandoned by his White, heroin-addicted mother and Black, violently alcoholic father, Ray found salvation at age 5 when he was adopted into a loving, stable home by his father’s uncle Calvin and his wife, Lemell. But that is just the beginning of the story.

Lemell is suddenly widowed and must raise Ray and her two daughters as a single mother in Chocolate City. Each time she looks into Ray’s blue eyes, she sees the Klansmen who tormented her family as she grew up in segregated Mississippi.

Ray and Lemell must navigate the minefields of society’s outward racial tensions while inwardly, Lemell does her best to overlook her emotional scars and suppress her justifiable resentment toward White people when she looks into Ray’s blue eyes.

Black Sheep takes readers on an emotional journey and reveals universal truths through faith and great humor. It is a search for who we are, where we fit and who we can become. Imagine a book where The Notebook meets The Help.

About the Author
Ray “Ben” Studevent was a mixed-race child whose unique look led him to fight a racial identity crisis his entire life. Each time he entered a room, he had to decide whether it was better to be Black or White. His personal and career journeys ebbed and flowed, taking him to prison, fatherhood and gigs in comedy clubs, modeling and stock-market research. In all these varied experiences, he realized that race played a critical role. Visit his website at: raystudevent.com.

Black Sheep
Publisher: HCI Books
Release Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN-10: 0757323812
ISBN-13: 978-0757323812
Trade Paperback, 288 pages
Available wherever books are sold

Trish Stevens
Lindsey Mach
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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They Slew the Dreamer but the Dream Lives On

They Slew the Dreamer but the Dream Lives On

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet or used by any means of social media sharing.)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“The worst times in our lives are often roads to the best times, waiting ahead. Stay safe and prayerful, as you find your way into tomorrow.” — Gary Revel

A single bullet silenced the voice, but not the dream, of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. Whether or not James Earl Ray pulled the trigger — and why — has been the subject of speculation for more than five decades.

In 1977, 27-year-old special investigator Gary Revel, in association with the House Select Committee on Assassinations, launched his own search for the unvarnished truth about King’s assassination.

Danger, intrigue and murder followed. Revel’s journey took him into Brushy Mountain Prison, where he met and became a personal confidant to the accused assassin, James Earl Ray. From there, Revel followed the clues wherever they led, including Memphis, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; Miami, Florida; and other undisclosed locations. Along the way, Revel had to navigate chaotic twists and turns as he uncovered information pointing to what he refers to as “the conspiracy and the involvement of organized crime and the U.S. government.” Revel also lost three people close to him to murder.

The captivating story of Revel’s investigation and what he unearthed is now being developed into a feature motion picture, They Slew the Dreamer: MLK-The Gary Revel Story. Revel’s quest for the truth also became the inspiration for the song, “They Slew the Dreamer,” and is introduced in his book, To Live or Maybe Not.

More than 30 years after his investigation into Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, Revel continues to “shine the light of truth into the darkest halls of injustice” and finds he can’t quit until the world knows what he found.

Songwriter, musician, author and special investigator Gary Revel was born in Florala, Alabama, and he formed his first band when he was 15. After a long career in music, Revel found himself investigating the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in association with the U.S. government’s House Select Committee on Assassinations. Revel continues to release and distribute music via his Jongleur Music company as well as develop motion pictures via his Jongleur Pictures company. He is also the author of My Angel from Heaven, Milestones, Grempk and Don’t Stop Dancing: Stranger Than Fiction, his investigation into the life of Michael Jackson.

Revel is also founder of Mother Nature Festival Live Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation.

For more information, please visit http://garyrevel.com/. To hear or to download the song, “They Slew the Dreamer,” please visit https://garyrevel.com/theyslewthedreamer.html.

To Live or Maybe Not
Publisher: Jongleur Books
ISBN-13: 978-1097923304
ISBN-10: 1097923304
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Miranda Leonard
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone

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Don’t Stop Dancing Shares Untold Stories From The Life Of Michael Jackson

Don’t Stop Dancing Shares Untold Stories From The Life Of Michael Jackson

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Everyone knows that Michael Jackson was discovered by Motown Records, the label that launched Michael and his brothers into the recording industry’s stratosphere, right? Not quite, says music producer and history buff Gary Revel, who interviewed former music producers Ben Brown and Gordon Keith for his latest investigative effort, Don’t Stop Dancing: Stranger Than Fiction.

Brown and Keith were two of the founders of Steeltown Records, a short-lived label in Gary, Indiana, and the first label to record a Jackson 5 single featuring the iconic voice of Michael Jackson. The long-held narrative that Motown Records initially discovered the Jackson 5’s immense talent was perpetuated by Berry Gordy (Motown’s founder) and the Jackson Empire, according to Revel’s account in the book.

“Ben [Brown] and Gordon [Keith] had produced the Jackson 5 in Gary, Indiana, before they started making music recordings for Motown,” Revel writes. “The first single record ‘Big Boy’ was produced by them and released on their label, Steeltown Records. It is the first music release on which Michael Jackson sang.”

Even though Michael has been gone for more than a decade, “he continues to sell more albums than many music icons of our time and his fan club still has over 3 billion card-carrying, dues-paying, faithful members worldwide! It’s no wonder that Rolling Stone Magazine deemed him the 12th most important figure in rock music history.” The King of Pop lives on today through his music and videos and “we believe Michael’s billions of fans around the world will want to know the many never-before-told facts that are in this updated edition of the book,” says Revel.

In the early 1990s, Revel, who had investigated the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., was asked to help expose the truth of the secretive life, music and career of Michael Jackson. But his efforts were put on hold when child sex charges against Michael Jackson took center stage. Later, Revel resumed his research, and he “not only found the truth but he also found those who wanted to keep the truth secret.” Revel says that Don’t Stop Dancing: Stranger Than Fiction “answers all the questions the world has about the life, music and career of Michael Jackson.”

Author Gary Revel was born in Florala, Alabama. After his parents divorced when he was just 5, music became a trusted companion, and he formed his first band when he was 15. After high school, he enlisted in the United States Navy. His Honorable Discharge came, and Hollywood called, then New York, Memphis, Nashville and back to Hollywood. Along the way, Revel investigated the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in association with the US Government’s House Select Committee on Assassinations. Revel is currently writing, publishing and developing music, as well as literary and motion picture projects. For more information, please visit http://garyrevel.com.

Don’t Stop Dancing: Stranger Than Fiction
Publisher: Jongleur Books
ISBN-13: 979-8635490112
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Patricia McCune
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone
800.854.2207 Fax

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To Live or Maybe Not Takes Readers On Adventurous Ride With Musician Gary Revel

To Live or Maybe Not Takes Readers On Adventurous Ride With Musician Gary Revel

(This press release may be reprinted in part or entirety by any print or broadcast media outlet, or used by any means of social media sharing)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Musician and historian Gary Revel fully expects readers to say, “No way this could be true,” as they peruse the pages of his colorful memoir, To Live or Maybe Not.

“Don’t worry, I feel the same way when I remember some things I have done in my life,” he quips in the book’s prologue.

Part coming-of-age and part adventurous road trip, To Live or Maybe Not begins in Florala, Alabama, near the Florida state line in 1949. Readers who experienced the nomadic, hippie culture of the ’60s and ’70s will be overcome with nostalgia, as Revel takes a long, winding stroll down a memory lane paved with colorful characters and unforgettable situations. We follow Revel through his unusual upbringing, his high school days and his US Navy service during Vietnam.

Most people associate Revel with his accomplishments in the music industry, and it was after his honorable discharge from the Navy that he found himself in Hollywood, California, where his music career blossomed. He eventually traveled back across the country to New York City, Memphis and Nashville. Revel includes entertaining anecdotes from his music career and his pivot toward family life before his life took yet another turn and he began his investigation into the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

To Live or Maybe Not leaves off with Revel and his family back in Hollywood. It’s the end of the book but the beginning of more adventures and books to come.

Author Gary Revel was born in Florala, Alabama. After his parents divorced when he was just 5, music became a trusted companion, and he formed his first band when he was 15. After a long career in music, Revel found himself investigating the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in association with the US Government’s House Select Committee on Assassinations. Revel continues to release and distribute music via his Jongleur Music company as well as develop motion pictures via his Jongleur Pictures company. He is also the author of My Angel from Heaven, Milestones, Grempk and Don’t Stop Dancing: Stranger Than Fiction, his investigation into the life of Michael Jackson.

For more information, please visit http://garyrevel.com/.

To Live or Maybe Not
Publisher: Jongleur Books
ISBN-13: 978-1097923304
ISBN-10: 1097923304
Available from Amazon.com

Trish Stevens
Julie Vaughn
Ascot Media Group, Inc.
Post Office Box 2394
Friendswood, TX 77549
[email protected]
www.ascotmedia.com
281.333.3507 Phone
800.854.2207 Fax

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