Author Zach Mills Takes Reverend Clay Evans' Life Story To China

Tennessee author Dr. Zach Mills' biography on Chicago Gospel Music legend, preacher, and civil rights icon Rev. Clay Evans offers hope for connecting in a national climate plagued with racial tensions.  The Last Blues Preacher: Rev. Clay Evans, Black Lives, and the Faith that Woke the Nation, released May 1st through Fortress Press includes interviews with historic figures like Rev. Jesse Jackson, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Fr. Michael Pfleger, former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, Congressman Bobby Rush, and former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.

"We just finished the first leg of the Chicago tour and the book was so well received," said Mills, who serves as an adjuct public speaking instructor at Belmont University in Nashville. "The book's message of unity is so relevant given our present political climate."

Mills will extend his book tour to China during mid October, where he'll facilitate communication and public speaking workshops in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for students preparing to attend Ivy League schools in the United States.

People from all walks of life including noted celebrities,  current preachers of the Gospel and Gospel singers celebrate Rev. Evans's legacy of civil rights. "The Last Blues Preacher reminds us of the impact of a man who used his life and ministry to make a world better," said civil rights champion and noted Chicago cleric Fr. Michael Pfleger, Senior Pastor of The Faith Community of Saint Sabina.

Brad R. Braxton, director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. praised The Last Blues Preacher, saying:

"The voice of Clay Evans, the legendary Chicago pastor and social activist, reverberates throughout this marvelous book. With a poet's passion and a professor's precision, Zach Mills chronicles Evans' tenacious faith and audacious creativity. This faith enabled Evans to overcome social barriers for the sake of social justice. This creativity empowered Evans to use broadcast media as an electronic pulpit from which he has inspired so many. After reading The Last Blues Preacher, you won't have the Blues anymore. Your soul will sing Gospel."

 

 

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