Ashley Smith – författare

In April 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her suburban Atlanta apartment. In this moving, inspirational memoir, the 26-year-old widowed mother of a six-year-old girl shares for the first time the little-known details of her traumatic ordeal, and expands on how her faith and the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven« Life helped her survive and bring the killer''s murderous rampage to a peaceful end.Just as she told her 6''1", 210-pound captor that his ultimate "purpose" in life was to end up spending the rest of his life in prison, preaching the teachings of Jesus Christ to his fellow inmates, Smith believes her own purpose is to spread that message of love to the rest of us. Juxtaposing the minute-by-minute tale of her experience with the never-before-told tragedies and triumphs of her own life, Unlikely Angel is a gripping tale of downfall and redemption, involving addiction, violence, death, loss, faith, and love. It is a story that will leave no reader untouched.

Now a stirring movie from Paramount Pictures-starring Kate Mara (House of Cards and Fantastic Four) and David Oyelowo (Selma)-this inspirational, news-making life story of the young female hostage who in 2005 single-handedly talked the infamous Atlanta courthouse killer, Brian Nichols, into surrendering peacefully by gaining his confidence through her prayers and personal faith and by reading passages to him from the Christian blockbuster A Purpose Driven Life. In March 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her suburban Atlanta apartment. In this moving, inspirational account, Ashley shares the details of her traumatic ordeal and expands on how her faith and the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life helped her survive and bring the killer's murderous rampage to a peaceful end. Like her captor, Smith too has faced darkness and despair.Seeking a new life, she moved to Atlanta, got a job, enrolled in a medical assistant training program, and was beginning to find her way to becoming the kind of mom she wanted her little girl to have. Then Brian Nichols took her hostage. Just hours earlier, he'd allegedly shot to death a judge, a court reporter, a deputy, and a federal agent and escaped in a stolen vehicle. Now she found herself face-to-face with Nichols, a desperate, heavily armed man with nothing left to lose. Juxtaposing the minute-by-minute tale of her experience with the tragedies and triumphs of her own life, Captive is a riveting story that will leave no reader untouched.

In March 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her suburban Atlanta apartment. In this moving, inspirational account—now a motion picture from Paramount—Ashley shares the details of her traumatic ordeal and expands on how her faith and the bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life helped her survive and bring the killer''s murderous rampage to a peaceful end.Like her captor, Smith too had faced darkness and despair. Seeking a new life, she moved to Atlanta, got a job, enrolled in a medical assistant training program, and was beginning to find her way to becoming the kind of mom she wanted her little girl to have. Then Brian Nichols took her hostage. Just hours earlier, he''d allegedly shot to death a judge, a court reporter, a deputy, and a federal agent and escaped in a stolen vehicle. Now she found herself face-to-face with Nichols, a desperate, heavily armed man with nothing left to lose.Juxtaposing the minute-by-minute tale of her experience with the tragedies and triumphs of her own life, Captive is a riveting story that will leave no reader untouched.

In March 2005, Ashley Smith made headlines around the globe when she miraculously talked her way out of the hands of alleged courthouse killer Brian Nichols after he took her hostage for seven hours in her suburban Atlanta apartment. In this moving, inspirational account, the twenty-seven-year-old widowed mother of a six-year-old girl shares for the first time the little-known details of her traumatic ordeal and expands on how her faith and the bestselling book The Purpose-Driven®Life helped her survive and bring the killer''s murderous rampage to a peaceful end. Like her captor, Smith too has faced darkness and despair. Yet even during the most desolate times of her life, she yearned for something better. Seeking a new life, she moved to Atlanta, got a job, enrolled in a medical assistant training program, and was beginning to find her way to becoming the kind of mom she wanted her little girl to have. Then Brian Nichols took her hostage. Just hours earlier, he''d allegedly shot to death a judge, a court reporter, a deputy, and a federal agent and escaped in a stolen vehicle. Ashley had paid only passing attention to media coverage of the unfolding manhunt. Now she found herself face-to-face with Nichols, a desperate, heavily armed man with nothing left to lose. Unlikely Angel is Ashley''s gripping, powerful account of how this nightmare scenario developed into a remarkable connection between a man wanted for multiple murders and a single mother struggling to make a fresh beginning from her troubled past. Juxtaposing the minute-by-minute tale of her experience with the never-before-told tragedies and triumphs of her own life, Unlikely Angelis a story that will leave no reader untouched.Ashley has made appearances on Oprah, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Larry King Live.

The US-China conflict is no straightforward Great Power rivalry. Understanding it requires wrestling with its multiple dimensions and consequences, from geopolitics to economic interdependence, anti-Asian racism in the US and organizing amongst immigrant diasporas, social movements in China and the character of Chinese capitalism. This ebook groups together insights and perspectives that provide a critical analysis of Chinese capitalism and the movements it produces. In so doing, it provides the basis for developing a progressive, left position on American empire, China''s ascent, and the conflict between the two.Contributors include activists and intellectuals committed to opposing capitalism and class society, racialized and gendered forms of domination, and the imperialist structure of the interstate system: Rebecca Karl, David Harvey, Ho-Fung Hung, Yige Dong, Eli Friedman, Kevin Lin, Ashley Smith, Dennis Kosuth, Abdullah Younus, Jake Werner, Tobita Chow, Cuizi Liu, Matt Huber, JS Chen, David Grophy, Wilfred Chan, Brian Hioe, and Zifeng Liu.

As the rivalry between the US and China enters a dangerous new phase, reaffirming the politics of anti-imperialism is a task more important than ever.From trade wars and pandemic politics to rioting workers, intercontinental balloons, and battles over TikTok, the US media tends to present contemporary China—when it’s discussed at all—in sensationalist terms. This portrayal has only intensified as China’s relationship with the United States has grown increasingly hostile. Whether in the form of overtly racist rhetoric and aggressive trade actions, or the more buttoned down but equally antagonistic efforts to oppose Chinese interests abroad, the US has made clear that it has no interest in giving up its position as global hegemon. This seemingly endless cycle of nationalism, jingoism, and reactionary politics on both sides of the Pacific suggests a downward spiral that could plausibly result in catastrophic military confrontation.Against Imperialism forcefully makes the case that workers and socially marginalized people in both the US and China must oppose our rulers’ claims that they have our best interests in mind as they ratchet up their rivalry. Rather, if we’re to avert nuclear calamity, we must oppose imperialism in all its forms, and regardless of its source and rhetoric.Through snapshots of China’s growing social movements—from its labor struggles to feminist campaigns, and more—Lin, Liu, Friedman, and Smith provide some of the building blocks we’ll need to construct a movement that centers international solidarity across borders.