Biography
Lawrence Ross attended the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a bachelor's degree in History. Ross also has a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in screenwriting from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.
He began his writing career in the mid 1990s as the managing editor of Rap Sheet magazine, the west coast's first hip hop magazine, before moving to the Los Angeles Independent newspapers, where as a reporter, he covered city government and community issues in Los Angeles, Hollywood, Culver City, and West Hollywood.
Kensington Books published Ross's first book, The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, in 2000. The first book written about all nine African American fraternities and sororities, the Divine Nine is a Los Angeles Times, and Essence magazine best seller. As a result, Ross has lectured at over 700 colleges and universities, speaking on issues of fraternalism, student development, and fraternity and sorority hazing. He's written commentaries, and has been interviewed, by The Root, The Grio, Los Angeles Times, the BBC, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, MSNBC, CNN, and other publications.
The National Association of Black Journalists selected Ross' second book, The Ways of Black Folks: A Year in the Life of a People as a "Fall Must Read". The Ways of Black Folks chronicled Ross' travels to England, France, Ghana, Brazil, Jamaica, and Canada, as he searched for the commonalities in the African diaspora experience. Doubleday's Black Expressions Book Club chose both his two novels, Friends With Benefits and Skin Game. And Running Press published Ross' fifth book, Money Shot: The Wild Nights and Lonely Days in Black Porn, and is the first book written about African Americans in the adult film industry.
In 2016, Ross's sixth book, Blackballed: The Black & White Politics of Race on America's Campuses was published by St. Martin's Press and is the first book written about campus racism, anticipating the current discussion now happening on college campuses today. Blackballed explores the present and historical issues of racism on hundreds of American college campuses, and how that ties into today's #BlackLivesMatter campaign.
Recognized as an expert on African American issues, Ross has been interviewed by over 100 media outlets, including: NBC, MSNBC, the BBC, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, NPR, BET, TV-One, XM Radio, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others, and is a regular contributor to The Root. This summer, his Drive Black/Buy Black tour for TheRoot website drew over 2 million viewers as he retraced the Negro Green Motorist Guide.
Ross created an original comic book series, The Casuals, which features six kick ass multi-ethnic, multi-racial enhanced superhero women. The Casuals debuted in late 2017.
He is also a partner in The Metaphor Club, a creative membership lounge in the historical Leimert Park district of Los Angeles. The Metaphor Club hosts conversations with writers and creatives in both the literary and Hollywood worlds.
Ross lives in Los Angeles with his wife, April, and their son Langston.
