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In 1978, Peoples Temple, a Black multiracial church once at the forefront of progressive San Francisco politics, self-destructed in a Guyana jungle settlement named after its white leader, the Reverend Jim Jones. Over 900 people died in the largest religious murder-suicide in American history. The majority of them were Black women from all walks of life. Sikivu Hutchinson, the first African American woman to write a novel about this tragedy, asks: What was their story? "Sikivu Hutchinson's vision of Jonestown, of the real people who left behind despair for what they thought was belief and hope, is a valuable one - her take is the one America hasn't yet seen." --Susan Straight, author, Between Heaven and Hereand Take One Candle, Light a Room "Hauntingly evocative." Duchess Harris, author, Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Clinton/Obama White Nights, Black Paradise A story of Black struggle and Black sacrifice, loyalty and betrayal November 2015 Amazon Review copies available

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fictional Work Inspired by Black Lives Matter Highlights Factual Realities of Modern Day Race Relations Arnetta Randall, Author of ‘Stereotypically Me,’ Explores Segregation, Police Brutality and Political Corruption in Sophomore Book Release CHICAGO, Ill. – Arnetta Randall, author of “Stereotypically Me” will debut her new novella, “Don’t Shoot,” on November 3. The book launches on the heels of several officer-involved shootings and riots across the U.S., and is largely inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement. In “Don’t Shoot,” police shootings claim the lives of one white victim and one black victim in the city of Chicago. The story details the incidents and their aftermath, spotlighting the corrupt political machine and segregation that persist in the city today. “While we would like to think discrimination is a southern problem, there are many issues in the north,” said Arnetta Randall on her blog. “Our nation is nowhere being the post-racial society we would like to be.” “The inequality of our systems, education, housing and the intense concentration of poverty in black and brown neighborhoods is racist,” Randall continued. “Being silent about this is violence and ignoring this racism is complicity.” Randall also uses “Don’t Shoot” to chronicle the evolution of Black Lives Matter, an activist movement that was born following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin. The movement has continued to swell in the wake of several highly publicized cases of police brutality in 2014 and 2015. Randall is an avid blogger and published freelance writer. She explores meaningful and sometimes controversial cultural issues and weaves them into works of commercial fiction. Randall has been accepted into Northwestern’s postgraduate creative writing certificate program and will attend the Can Serrat writing residency in Spain in March 2016. For more information about Randall and her latest book, “Don’t Shoot,” visit www.arnettarandall.com or email arnettarandall@gmail.com. “Don’t Shoot” is available via Amazon.com. ###