GOSPEL LEGENDS VICKIE WINANS AND KURT CARR To Headline 10TH Anniversary Concert Celebrating BLACKGOSPELPROMO.COM AND ITS FOUNDER, VEDA BROWN At Impacting Your World Christian Church in Cherry Hill, NJ MONDAY, JULY 25, 2011 @ 7:00 PM
Celebrity Journalist Jawn Murray and Radio Veteran Neicy Tribbett To Emcee Lonnie Hunter & Structure, and Stellar Nominee Bryan Wilson Will Also Perform
Washington, DC, July 6, 2011 – Almost 200,000 people receive Veda Brown’s daily Black Gospel Promo e-mail blasts. The colorful, slickly designed emails promote everything from greeting cards, Jada Pinkett Smith’s “Hawthorne” TV series and Kirk Franklin’s chart- topping CDs to all of Tyler Perry’s movie promos. “Black Gospel Promo has become the CNN of gospel marketing,” says Grammy nominated producer Steven Ford. “Black Gospel Promo has revolutionized the way that the black church spreads the word about its products.”
Now, the gospel music and church communities are coming out to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Black Gospel Promo and the July 27th birthday of its founder, Veda Brown. Gospel legends Vickie Winans and Kurt Carr are headlining the concert in honor of Brown and her enterprise. Radio One’s syndicated on-air personality Lonnie Hunter and his Philadelphia-based group, Structure, will perform songs from his Top CD “I’m Back.” Veteran gospel artist, Bryan Wilson, best known for hits such as “His Eye is on the Sparrow” and “If You’re Talking About Jesus,” will be in the house too. Church leaders such as Bishop Andrew Merritt, Pastor Maria Gardner, Bishop Andrew Ford, and Prophetess Francina Norman will be on hand. Former Billboard magazine gospel critic Lisa Collins, marketing expert Melanie Few, Habakkuk label CEO April Washington-Essex, BET.com blogger Torrence Glenn, PR maven Jojo Pada, BET Sunday Best executive Neily Dickerson and TV producer Bobby Cartright will all attend. “Tom Joyner Morning Show” celebrity journalist Jawn Murray and veteran Philadelphia area radio personality Neicy Tribett will co-host the festivities.
A Philadelphia native, Brown rocketed into cyberspace long before the church market took note of the Internet. After college in the 1990s, she founded AOL’s Net Noir Black Gospel Chapel. AOL eventually sold Net Noir and Brown briefly took a job with a pastor with his own record label. She sent out email blasts on one of the pastor’s CD projects. To her surprise, she received a call from gospel star Fred Hammond’s brother who asked her to send out an email blast on the Commissioned Reunion concert in 2001. “I had no other job at the time,” Brown says. “So, I said, well, let’s try this for a little while.”
A while has turned into a ten-year operation that has allowed the firm to earn six figure revenue grosses in the boom years and to become the leading black gospel marketing company today. It sends out 1,800 eblasts a year for clients ranging from Verizon, McDonald’s, Revlon, Sony Music and Turner Broadcasting, among others. “I’m grateful to still be here working,” says Brown. “The economy has been very unstable the last two years and that’s had a big impact on my business but we’re still doing what we do and I’m thankful.” The free concert takes place at Impacting Your World Christian Center located at 2901 W. Chapel Avenue, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002.
Media Contact: Bill Carpenter at (202) 506-5051 or [email protected]
Farrah Gray Publishing is a premier, celebrity boutique book publishing house and one of the largest African-American-owned book publishing companies in the country.
Farrah Gray Publishing brings timeless, bold, and ambitiously contributive messages to an ever expanding, audience-base of self-development seekers. Through various formats of self-help and self-development literature, FGP is passionate about providing true access points of transformation to those who desire true change in varying arenas of their lives.
Farrah Gray Publishing has a distribution deal with Health Communications Inc. HCI Books is world-famous for publishing the New York Times, USA Today, the Guinness Book of World Records and the No. 1 best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Chicken Soup for the Soul has sold more than 112 million copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages. Total retail sales of Chicken Soup for the Soul-branded merchandise have topped $1.3 billion.
Farrah Gray Publishing’s CEO and Founder is Dr. Farrah Gray, acclaimed entrepreneur, international success teacher, and prolific book author himself.
Farrah Gray began his book career at HCI, publishing with his first book and runaway success, Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out. Gray went on to publish other successful titles at behemoth publishing giant, Penguin Publishing Group in New York. However, with Dr. Gray’s interests forever being entrepreneurial at the core, he has stepped forth to carve out an even larger impacting legacy in the publishing world by launching his own imprint and publishing company, Dr. Farrah Gray Publishing, Inc.
Gray began his entrepreneurial career, personal and civic development as a stellar young citizen at six years old selling homemade body lotion and his own hand-painted rocks as bookends door-to-door. At age seven, he was carrying business cards reading “21st Century CEO.” He went on to foster companies as diverse as a venture capital fund to food manufacturing.
Between the ages of twelve and seventeen, Gray founded and operated business ventures that included KIDZTEL pre-paid phone cards, the One Stop Mail Boxes & More franchise, and The Teenscope “Youth AM/FM” interactive teen talk show. Gray was also Executive Producer of a comedy show on the Las Vegas Strip and owner of Farr-Out Foods, “Way-Out Food with a Twist,” aimed at young people with the company’s first strawberry-vanilla syrup product. Farr-Out Foods generated orders exceeding $1.5 million. He also acquired INNERCITY Magazine from Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, the largest privately-held radio broadcasting company in the U.S. that primarily targets African-Americans.
His rise from poverty to international renown as an entrepreneurial icon and preeminent power speaker has inspired millions around the world and is now available to readers in Reallionaire; Get Real, Get Rich, and The Truth Shall Make You Rich. Gray’s books have been translated into Russian, German, Polish, French, Korean, Indonesian, and Vietnamese languages with book sales in Africa, Australia and Europe and in Central and South American countries. Gray’s books have also become required reading in university classrooms at Harvard and Princeton, among others.
At the age of 26, Farrah Gray has achieved more than many people achieve in a lifetime. Raised in the impoverished south side of Chicago, Dr. Gray defied the odds and became history’s youngest self-made millionaire, beyond the field of entertainment, by age fourteen.
Since his first interview at age eleven on KVBC Channel 3, Gray has become a celebrity, featured in thousands of print, magazine, radio and television media including The NBC reality show Starting Over, 20/20, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, The Montel Williams Show, Oprah & Friends, Tom Joyner Show, The Michael Baisden Show, Russ Parr, Radio One, TV One, The Tavis Smiley Show, CNBC, BET, NBC, FOX, CBS, BRAVO, PBS, NPR, Bloomberg, Ebony, Jet, Essence, Upscale, Black MBA, “O” The Oprah Magazine, Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. AOL Black Voices named Farrah Gray one of the ‘Top Ten Sexiest Black CEO’s’ along with Kenneth Chenault, Tiger Woods and Sean “Diddy” Combs. What makes him extra attractive is the stack of accomplishments he has achieved at such a young age. He is also a syndicated columnist with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) federation of 200 weekly newspapers reaching more than 15 million readers. As an AOL Money Coach, Dr. Gray gives advice to millions of AOL subscribers daily on leadership, personal development, diversity, strategic planning, creativity, business development and financial management.
Short List Of Farrah Gray Publishing Notable Authors:
Don Lemon CNN Primetime Newsroom Anchor/Reporter Emmy Award winner and Edward R. Murrow Award recipient
Kim Zolciak Reality TV Superstar Kim Zolciak is one of the hottest and most talked-about women in entertainment today. The vivacious blond is most notably known for starring on one of cable TV’s most popular docu-drama’s based in Atlanta.
Ky-Mani Marley (Son of legendary Bob Marley) Grammy® Nominated Musician. #1 Album on the Billboard Reggae charts Sony Pictures film star Named ‘Philanthropist of the Year’ by Prince Albert II of Monaco
Flavor Flav Rapper, television star, and member of the rap group Public Enemy Flavor Flav and VH1 shattered rating records with 7.5 million viewers
Tasha Smith Acclaimed actress Tasha Smith has brought style and intense character portrayals to the screen. Best known for her notable roles in Tyler Perry’s ‘Why Did I Get Married,’ ‘Why Did I Get Married Too,’ and many more.
Merald “Bubba” Knight An Original member of Gladys Knight and the Pips Inductee of the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame and Museum President Bill Clinton and sister Gladys Knight are doing the foreword for his book
Russell “Russ” Parr Host of the nationally syndicated ‘Russ Parr Morning Show’ with more than 4 million listeners in 45 U.S. cities and host of a weekend show, ‘On Air with Russ Parr’ that airs on more than 40 different (USA) radio stations.
Toya Carter The Tiny & Toya Show has over 3 million viewers, making it the most-watched original series premiere in BET’s history. The new show will be called ‘Toya’s Family Affair’ and will premiere this winter Letters To My Younger Self – Priceless Inspiration Book foreword by Lil Wayne.
Victoria Rowell – FGP contracted the foreign sales and foreign distribution for the New York Times Best-seller The Women Who Raised Me Victoria Rowell is a two-time Emmy Award-nominated and an eleven-time NAACP Image Award-winning actress. Victoria is known for her roles as Drucilla Barber Winters on ‘The Young & The Restless.’
And many more…
For information on Farrah Gray and Farrah Gray Publsihing visit: www.FarrahGray.com
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TIP SHEET:
Bill Clinton, (Former) President of the United States of America: “I know Farrah Gray and we have discussed his future. His motivation determines what he will do. His attitude determines how well he will succeed at making a difference.”
O: The Oprah Magazine dubbed Farrah Gray an “all-star” with “priceless advice.”
Suze Orman, New York Times Bestselling Author: “You are just the best and the real thing.”
Good Morning America: “Farrah Gray is the ultimate American success story.”
ABC 20/20: “America’s Reallionaire.”
CNN: “Farrah Gray is the youngest African American of his generation to make his mark on Wall Street and to become a millionaire.”
MSN.com placed Farrah Gray on its ‘2010 Young Tycoons List’ along with Mark Zuckerberg.
New York, NY, May 23, 2011 — Using Ascot Media and Aston Publicity Groups’ innovative announcement tool ‘In My Own Words’ (IMOW) as the vehicle in which to speak out, Flavor Flav: The Icon speaks to his fans.
The statement below was written by Flavor Flav and it may be copied, printed and announced but cannot be altered in any way without the express permission of Flavor Flav (William Jonathon Drayton, Jr.).
“To all of my fams (I’ve taken the ‘n’ out of fans and replaced it with an ‘m,’ because a fan doesn’t do anything for me but cool me off when I’m hot and a ‘fam’ is one that supports me), I thank you all for making me who I am today. Without y’all, I would just be an ordinary person in the street, no different and no better than anyone else – the only thing that makes me different is my job description.
My life has taught me that nothing is really easy. Everything in life you want can come to you, but you really, really have to earn it and deserve it. You only get to live physically once in this lifetime, so while we are living this one time – we need to make the best of it. When we die, we become nothing but memories to other people and we want to leave them the best memories ever.
If I could influence and mentor today’s youth, based on my past experience, I would tell them that I made some very serious mistakes in my life. I would like for everyone in the world to read my book about the mistakes I’ve made, so hopefully they won’t make the same ones.
I have always been told I have a lot of interesting things to say and stories to tell. I’ve often thought about doing my own talk show. If I did, I would probably use the style of Arsenio Hall, but a Jerry Springer or Maury Povich style show should be a lot of fun. I have been asked if I would ever do Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice Show and my reply to that is it would be a pleasure to once again see and talk to Donald Trump. If I do come out with my own show some time, all I can say is… ‘Once again, Flavor Flav has reinvented himself.’
Anyway, I decided to write a book. My new book is called Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir (Farrah Gray Publishing). My book is edgy, compassionate and often hilarious! My book is a thrill ride from the heights of my stardom to the depths of my despair and Yo! I’m still here to tell it. I’ve been down some pretty dark holes – but somehow I always found the strength to climb back out of them.
I get asked about regrets but I have no regrets in my life and I would change nothing. The reason is because it took the past to bring the future, and if I was to change something in my past then today I might not be able to teach what I’ve learned.
I want to add that I think Ascot/Aston’s In My Own Words (IMOW) is a great idea for celebrities to say in their own words how they feel about their life and what’s going on in it. That’s why we, Public Enemy, made a record called Don’t Believe The Hype, which means…don’t believe everything you read or hear. The best source for the true information is ‘from the horse’s mouth!’
God bless you all with your life, your future, your goals, and your families. And once again, I thank you for making me who I am today – Flavor Flav: The Icon.
God bless and peace to all. See y’all on my book tour!
Flavor Flav Sunday, May 22, 2011
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Additional Information:
Tour Information:
New York Tour – May 23 – 30, 2011
Los Angeles Tour/The Grammy Museum – May 31 – June 7, 2011
Freaky Comedy/Book Tour – Summer
Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir (Farrah Gray Publishing) Available Everywhere Books Are Sold.
Ascot and Aston give celebrities the opportunity to fight back against negative or incorrect information distributed by the paparazzi by allowing them to voice their side of the story in an official statement, written in their very own words and distributed in mass to all media outlets. On the night of Sunday, May 15th, the publicists of these two teams were the first to announce to the media, CNN News Anchor Don Lemon’s Official Announcement: “I Was Born Gay.”
“Today I chose to step out on faith and begin openly living my own truth. And let me say right up front that I hope many of you will be inspired to do the same thing in your daily lives. Some of the things I’ve chosen to reveal in my book Transparent were very difficult to share with even those closest to me.
There was a time when I was terrified of revealing these things to the person I love most in this world – my own mother. But when I finally mustered the courage to tell her that I had been molested as a child and that I was born gay, my life began to change in positive ways that I never imagined possible. Yet I still chose to keep those secrets hidden from the world. I, like most gay people, lived a life of fear. Fear that if some employers, co-workers, friends, neighbors and family members learned of my sexuality, I would be shunned, mocked and ostracized. It is a burden that millions of people carry with them every single day. And sadly, while the mockery and ostracizing are realized by millions of people every day, I truly believe it doesn’t have to happen and that’s why I feel compelled to share what I’ve written in Transparent.
As a journalist I believe that part of my mission is to shed light onto dark places. So, the disclosure of this information does not inhibit in any way my ability to be the professional, fair and objective journalist I have always been.
My book is dedicated to the memory of Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death from a bridge after his dorm mates streamed his private business over the Internet for the world to see. Tyler might still be with us today if more gay men and women had chosen to live proudly and openly. It is also dedicated to the millions of young, gay people who believe they are alone when dealing with their own sexual identities. You are not alone! There are people, like me and many others, who are thriving in their personal and professional lives and although we sometimes have a hard time with it ourselves, we are here to show you by example that you too can overcome any obstacle as long as you stay strong and, most of all, stay alive.”
“We hope at some point in the future to have the opportunity of getting a direct quote from Britney Spears, who we believe has been the brunt of a great deal of negative publicity over the years, and we feel it’s time she had her chance to have the truth heard,” commented Stevens.
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) – Las Vegas, NV, May 29, 2011 – Born William Johnathan Drayton in Long Island, NY, Flavor Flav is now acknowledged as the greatest hype man ever – inventing the role as a member of the ground-breaking rap group Public Enemy. Known for his unique persona and flamboyant style, Flav has created slangs, sayings and styles that make him one of the most-sampled voices in music, as well as one of the most well-known celebrities in America. His television series have shattered records for viewers of reality television, especially Flavor of Love, a spinoff of The Bachelor. While he spent most of the 1990’s addicted to crack cocaine, he has since cleaned up his life.
Flav signed with publishing mogul Farrah Gray to promote Flavor Flav: The Icon The Memoir that takes readers on a journey into the truth behind his larger-than-life image – revealing all and sparing no one. Flav exposes the tensions within Public Enemy, his bitterness over his treatment by Def Jam Records, his struggles with addiction and the many visits to both rehab and jail, before re-inventing himself in reality television as VH1’s most eligible – and most watched – bachelor.
Flav holds back nothing in sharing his experiences with other hip hop royalty – from Jam Master J to LL Cool J to Run DMC, and lashes out at critics who lambast him as little more than a ‘clown.’
Told with the gritty, compassionate and often-hilarious style that has made him a legend, his memoir is a thrill ride from the heights of stardom to the depths of despair and back again. Fans get to share not only Flav’s unique perspective on music and reality TV, but will learn more about the man himself; an accomplished musician proficient in fifteen instruments, an experienced chef, an avid bowler, and a deeply spiritual human being. This media magnet attracts fans from around the world in every age group– from his older Public Enemy following in the late 80’s to early 90’s, to his millions of younger fans who know him from his appearances on The Surreal Life, Strange Love and Flavor of Love. In fact, the 2006 season two finale of Flavor of Love grossed 7.5 million viewers – the highest ever in the existence of the VH1 network!
This father of seven openly admits ‘I’ve been down some pretty dark holes – but somehow I always found the strength to climb back out of them.’ In his book, Flav shares not only his struggles but the lessons he learned that changed his life and set him on a new path. Adorned with his signature clock, glasses, hats, and gold-rimmed teeth, Flavor Flav is one of the most recognized faces in America today.
Ascot Media Group (Press Release) — New York, NY, May 28, 2011– Part of the attraction and benefit of the IWWG is that it appeals to any woman who wishes to express herself through writing regardless of age, background or education. Whether a first-time attendee or a conference veteran, women come away from the conference unanimously agreeing that the spirit of camaraderie is genuine and productive – and that one week of ‘magic’ carries a writer through her entire year!
This international conference was founded in 1976 by Hannelore Hahn, a Holocaust survivor who found her voice in the writing of her memoir, and it grew out of three movements that came into being during the 70’s – the Human Potential Movement, The New Age, and the Women’s Movement. The IWWG is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization with consultative status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It supports the Afghan Women’s Writing Project and offers ‘Writers Inside,’ where members can correspond with female inmates and/or teach writing workshops in prisons.
The IWWG celebrates the feeling of being alive in the company of kindred spirits and is a network for the personal and professional empowerment and growth of women through writing– establishing a remarkable record of achievement in the publishing world. There are forty separate workshops on the art of writing, marketing and publishing, transformation of self, and the arts, body and health, just to name a few, that are held each day and given by directors who come from various parts of the globe, bringing even more unique perspectives into each classroom.
For any woman wishing to grow through creative expression – this is THE place to be – whether she chooses the weekend conference or stays the whole seven days – she will never forget the magic of this time well spent. Testimonials of past attendees say it all and some of these are listed below. For more information on this remarkable conference, please go to the website at: www.iwwg.org or for a full listing of the individual workshops being offered, please visit: http://iwwg.org/node/92#1.
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Additional Information:
Collette Williams, RI: “After my first New York “Magic Conference,” each day that unfolds, I find that I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and well along my spiritual/writing/creative journey. I plan to attend every subsequent IWWG meeting…”
Marianne Junger, Switzerland: “I have found such an inspiring, encouraging, empowering, nurturing, transformative, supportivespiritual community. This has allowed me to open up and to let myself fall into the darkest places of myself and of my past, to explore it and to share it with others. It has been a wonderfully liberating and energizing experience, a deep journey through tears, laughter, pain, and love. I have rediscovered what my true calling, my full potential and power truly are—which is quite unfamiliar and scary…feels so very good and right deep down. I have received more appreciation, recognition, support, and encouragement as a writer and a woman than anywhere ever before…“
Patricia Lapidus, CT: “Thank you for keeping this forum for all of us who write and grow so much better within the warmth of the Guild. Writing keeps me healthy and happy. With my work I make a contribution to other people, encouraging and appreciating them. I believe in the transformative power of cooperation and mutual effort, so well exemplified by the Guild, which I have seen at work during the summer conference. We are not exaggerating when we speak of magic…I found my first publisher through the Network journal!”
Brooke Guthrie, CT: “…so happy to announce that exactly one month to the day of the IWWG’s Big Apple Conference, I have an agent. The conference was instrumental in helping me refine my pitch, my proposal, and helped set a plan of action.”
Ruth Lerman, MI: “I credit the Guild for my writing and publishing successes…My IWWG Kitchen Table group has become my dearest friends, deepest confidantes and dedicated readers of my nascent writings…have truly found IWWG to be “a network for the personal and professional empowerment of women through writing.”
Christine Dietrich Cragg, CA: “Even with my very short involvement, I am able to feel what a powerful and amazing organization it is…my second “Voices” conference and first anniversary being a Guild member though, in some ways, I feel that I have been a part of the group forever. That is testament to the incredible love and unconditional support that is the backbone—the Voice of the Guild. Thank you for allowing so many women to join you on what began as your journey. I am proud to be an IWWG member, sad that I did not learn of it earlier in my life, and grateful that I am a part of it now. For me, attending this annual conference is now a given.”
