Veteran's Corner

Renu's ongoing efforts to support our Veterans has resulted in us premiering this Blog we call the Veteran's Corner.

Our first post is from a retired highly decorated U.S. Marine who served in Kuwait and has become a dear friend of Renu and many of our other supporters, Veterans and joint venture partners. Here is his own compelling description of his two new books and his introduction of his own efforts to assist and support our Veterans, called Second Light...

Magnolia Steel was never just a book. It was a mirror. A warning. A call.

And HAMPTON? That’s the roar behind the silence. The story of a son born into a storm, forced to decide: walk away, or walk into the fire.

I wrote these books not just as stories, but as testimony.

I’m Rickey Spearman - author, storyteller, and retired U.S. Marine. My path has taken me from the streets of New Orleans to the battlefield and back again. But it’s always been about one thing: telling the truth and building something for those who were never meant to survive the systems stacked against them.

This blog is where story meets strategy. A living bridge between Magnolia Steel, HAMPTON, and the real work we’re doing through my partnership with the Renu Foundation – a nonprofit committed to uplifting veterans and community voices too often silenced.

Through this collaboration, we’re taking literature into motion – sending books into prisons, launching storytelling workshops, and developing mentorship programs through our Second Light initiative. It’s more than outreach. It’s infrastructure for healing and leadership.

Because when the story shifts, the streets follow.

Position Statement

This blog exists to bridge story and strategy, amplifying the truth behind Magnolia Steel and HAMPTON while spotlighting the real-world movement through our nonprofit collaboration. From page to pavement, this is where narrative meets action.

Support the Movement

Second Light is more than a program, it’s a lifeline. Through our partnership with the Renu Foundation, we’re placing books like Magnolia Steel and HAMPTON into the hands of those fighting to rewrite their future, veterans, justice-impacted youth, and community leaders rising from the margins.

 Support Second Light on GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/f1d373ac 

 Want to read the books that sparked it all? Visit: https://rickeyspearman.comVer