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Independent Journalist, Activist John Ross Dies
Jan 18, 2011
And the independent journalist, activist and poet John Ross has died.
Ross covered social movements in Mexico and Latin America for nearly 50
years. He authored 10 books, including his latest El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. In a Democracy Now! interview last April, Ross talked about how he first came to the Mexican capital.
John Ross:
"I went to Mexico in 1957 with a number of younger Beat poets. We were
much younger than the Jack Kerouacs and Allen Ginsbergs. We were about
15-well, not so much younger than Allen, but certainly than Kerouac and
Burroughs. We were about 15 years younger. But we had contact with them
in New York. I come from the Village. I was born in the Village, and my
contact was always with poets and artists, and came to Mexico in 1957,
returned in 1958. And I didn't go on the road. I mean, all the Beats
were always on the road. I came and stayed. And I lived for seven years
in a small indigenous village in the mountains of Michuacan. And truly,
you know, I've been very close to the Zapatista movement during the last
16 years. And I could have not been close to the Zapatista movement, if
I hadn't spent so many years living in an indigenous community and
understanding the dynamic of indigenous life in rural Mexico."
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And the independent journalist, activist and poet John Ross has died.
Ross covered social movements in Mexico and Latin America for nearly 50
years. He authored 10 books, including his latest El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. In a Democracy Now! interview last April, Ross talked about how he first came to the Mexican capital.
John Ross:
"I went to Mexico in 1957 with a number of younger Beat poets. We were
much younger than the Jack Kerouacs and Allen Ginsbergs. We were about
15-well, not so much younger than Allen, but certainly than Kerouac and
Burroughs. We were about 15 years younger. But we had contact with them
in New York. I come from the Village. I was born in the Village, and my
contact was always with poets and artists, and came to Mexico in 1957,
returned in 1958. And I didn't go on the road. I mean, all the Beats
were always on the road. I came and stayed. And I lived for seven years
in a small indigenous village in the mountains of Michuacan. And truly,
you know, I've been very close to the Zapatista movement during the last
16 years. And I could have not been close to the Zapatista movement, if
I hadn't spent so many years living in an indigenous community and
understanding the dynamic of indigenous life in rural Mexico."
And the independent journalist, activist and poet John Ross has died.
Ross covered social movements in Mexico and Latin America for nearly 50
years. He authored 10 books, including his latest El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. In a Democracy Now! interview last April, Ross talked about how he first came to the Mexican capital.
John Ross:
"I went to Mexico in 1957 with a number of younger Beat poets. We were
much younger than the Jack Kerouacs and Allen Ginsbergs. We were about
15-well, not so much younger than Allen, but certainly than Kerouac and
Burroughs. We were about 15 years younger. But we had contact with them
in New York. I come from the Village. I was born in the Village, and my
contact was always with poets and artists, and came to Mexico in 1957,
returned in 1958. And I didn't go on the road. I mean, all the Beats
were always on the road. I came and stayed. And I lived for seven years
in a small indigenous village in the mountains of Michuacan. And truly,
you know, I've been very close to the Zapatista movement during the last
16 years. And I could have not been close to the Zapatista movement, if
I hadn't spent so many years living in an indigenous community and
understanding the dynamic of indigenous life in rural Mexico."
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