John Ross (activist)
# John Ross (activist)

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.

## Life

Born in New York City, Ross attended Bronx High School of Science. Raised in Soho before it was recognized as a neighborhood, he would upon graduating high school become part of the Beat movement. Ross migrated to Mexico in the late 1950s with his wife Norma and youngest daughter Dylan living in Michoacán with his family from 1956 to 1962. He would return to America where Ross would become one of the earliest draft resisters in America during the Vietnam War, for which he served time in federal prison at California's Terminal Island.[1][2]

Upon his release from prison Ross resumed living in San Francisco before moving to Arcata, California, in the early 70s. In the early 90s, Ross would move to Mexico City, where he would dedicate himself to writing.

Ross was the author of ten books during his lifetime, including a gritty portrait of his beloved Mexico City, El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City.

In early 2003 he traveled to Iraq, serving as a "human shield" to help protect Iraqi civilians before the U.S.-led invasion. The volunteers were eventually forced out of the country because they were critical of the Iraqi government's choice of sites to protect.

Ross died in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán, Mexico, surrounded by his friends and family. Ross is survived by his oldest daughter Dylan, her brother, notable record producer Dante Ross, his youngest daughter Carla and his granddaughters, Honore Ford and Zoe Ross Murray.

## Work

A prolific journalist, Ross wrote many articles for San Francisco newspapers CounterPunch and 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, the Iraq War, and potential environmental threats from the introduction of genetically modified plants— in particular those utilizing genetic use restriction technology. His articles appeared in San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Nation, CounterPunch, The Progressive, La Jornada, and The Rag Blog.

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

