John Ross (activist)

For other people named John Ross, see John Ross (disambiguation).

John Ross (March 11, 1938 – January 17, 2011) was an American author, poet, freelance journalist, and activist who lived in Mexico and wrote extensively on its leftist political movements.

Ross was the author of several books, including a gritty portrait of Mexico City, where he spent almost all of his time since 1985. He was part of the Beat movement, and first came to Mexico in the late 1950s. Born in New York City, Ross also lived in San Francisco, California prior to returning to Mexico.

He was one of the early draft resisters during the Vietnam War, and in early 2003 he travelled to Iraq, hoping to serve as a "human shield" to help protect Iraqi civilians prior to the U.S.-led invasion. The volunteers were forced out of the country because they were critical of the Iraqi government's choice of sites to protect.

A prolific journalist, Ross wrote countless articles for San Francisco newspapers, CounterPunch, Pacific News Service, and the Mexico City daily La Jornada. Since 1993, when Ross first broke the story in the Anderson Valley Advertiser, he regularly covered the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (also known as the EZLN or Zapatistas) rebellion in Chiapas with articles appearing in both English and Spanish language news publications. Ross covered political corruption in Mexico and the United States, the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on Mexico's subsistence agriculture, potential environmental threats from the introduction of genetically modified plants — in particular those utilizing genetic use restriction technology — and the Iraq War.[1][2][3][4] His articles have appeared in San Francisco Bay Guardian[5] The Nation,[6] CounterPunch,[7] The Progressive,[8] La Jornada[9], and The Rag Blog.[10]

Ross's work reflected a deep and abiding interest in rebel movements like the Zapatistas in southern Chiapas state. John Ross wrote several books about the Zapatistas (1995 American Book Award winning[11] Rebellion from the Roots,[12][13] The War Against Oblivion, and ¡ZAPATISTAS! Making Another World Possible[14]), as well as a somewhat autobiographical memoir (Murdered by Capitalism[15]), and several chapbooks of poetry. Most recently, he had initiated the publication of[16] IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq.

Contents

Bibliography

Books

Poetry chapbooks

References

  1. ^ "'Human Shields' Booted After Criticizing Iraq's Instructions". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,80955,00.html. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  2. ^ "John Ross interview at Democracy Now!, March 6, 2003". Democracynow.org. March 6, 2003. http://www.democracynow.org/2003/3/6/international_human_shields_prepare_for_war. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  3. ^ "Articles by John Ross collected at Human Shield Iraq". Cranswick.net. http://cranswick.net/humanshieldiraq20030313/JohnRoss/JohnRoss.htm. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  4. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg in Baghdad. "Human shield cracks on Baghdad's cynicism, The Guardian, March 3, 2003". The Guardian. UK. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/mar/03/iraq.suzannegoldenberg. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  5. ^ John Ross search in San Francisco Bay Guardian
  6. ^ "John Ross search at The Nation". Thenation.com. http://www.thenation.com/search/?search=%22John+Ross%22&x=25&y=8. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  7. ^ "John Ross search at CounterPunch". Google. http://www.google.com/search?q=John+Ross&btnG=Google+Search&domains=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.org&sitesearch=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.counterpunch.org. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  8. ^ "John Ross search at The Progressive". Google. http://www.google.com/custom?q=%22John+Ross%22&hl=en&client=google-coop-np&cof=AH:left%3BCX:The%2520Progressive%2520Search%3BL:http://www.google.com/coop/intl/en-US/images/custom_search_sm.gif%3BLH:65%3BLP:1%3BGFNT:%23666666%3BDIV:%23cccccc%3B&cx=006796609585846017598:dqx8pjm6qbu&adkw=AELymgXnpVHGYLDuShjQHHQpJfVF9E3_dH3hebGCkIhrXPbpFfAMmIZlxQeaJbwVJgG9UfpiPFpLSpaEQhQ5Yf3EIDhKYv6ky247RGn-hbuO03cLEffH4fE&filter=0. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  9. ^ "John Ross search at La Jornada". Google.com.mx. http://www.google.com.mx/custom?domains=www.jornada.unam.mx&q=%22John+Ross%22&sa=Buscar&sitesearch=www.jornada.unam.mx&client=pub-7456151404684800&forid=1&channel=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Aleft%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A50%3BLW%3A250%3BL%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.jornada.unam.mx%2Fimagenes%2Flogo_250x50.png%3BS%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.jornada.unam.mx%2F%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=es. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  10. ^ "John Ross search at The Rag Blog". Theragblog.blogspot.com. http://theragblog.blogspot.com/search/label/John%20Ross. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  11. ^ "The American Book Awards". Ambook.org. http://www.ambook.org/btw/awards/The-American-Book-Awards---Before-Columbus-Foundation. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  12. ^ "The Shadow War by Alma Guillermoprieto, New York Review of Books". Nybooks.com. March 2, 1995. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=1975. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  13. ^ "review by Saul Landau". Findarticles.com. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_n4_v59/ai_16687247. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  14. ^ "A Review of John Ross' Zapatistas". Zmag.org. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/1773. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  15. ^ Bosio, Colin (July 29, 2004). "Review by Colin Bosio-Cady, July 29, 2004". Beyondchron.org. http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2138. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  16. ^ <http://www.cbsd.com/inventory.aspx?id=1657002>

External links