Gyasi Ross | |
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Born | |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Columbia Law School |
Occupation(s) | Speaker, storyteller, author, commentator, attorney, rapper |
Website | www |
External videos | |
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Gyasi Ross is a Blackfeet author, attorney, rapper, speaker and storyteller. [1] He is the author of two books Don't Know Much About Indians (but I wrote a book about us anyways) (2011) [2] and How to Say I Love You in Indian (2014) and he is a regular writer for The Huffington Post , [3] Gawker and Indian Country Today .
Ross' family is Blackfeet and Suquamish. He attended six institutions of higher education (two universities, two community colleges, and two tribal colleges) before receiving his undergraduate degree. [4] Ross then graduated from Columbia Law School. [4] [5]
He lives on the Port Madison Indian Reservation near Seattle. He is married to Miranda Belarde-Lewis, a professor at the University of Washington, and has three children. [6]
He has spoken out on Native American issues such as the Washington Redskins name controversy. In answer to the argument that Native Americans ought to focus on social issues larger than a team name, Ross stated that "Native people shouldn't be forced to choose between living or racial discrimination. Those are false binaries." [7] [8]
In 2015, Ross released his first spoken word album titled Isskootsik, or Before Here Was Here, on iTunes. [9] Ross has prominently criticized another Seattle singer, Macklemore for his song "White Privilege II", which he considers itself to be an example of White privilege, as Macklemore a White singer takes the stage to speak on behalf of minorities, instead of giving them a chance to voice their own concerns. In response Ross published a song titled "White Privilege 3". [10] [11] He declared his support for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary elections. [12]