Randy Ross, Ph.D.
Los Angeles, CA
randy
Home
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Mohandas Ghandi
"Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself." George Bernard Shaw
Welcome to www.Lee-Larod.com,
the website of Randy Ross, Ph.D.
Dr. Ross is a public policy analyst. This website covers his work in public education as well as his key personal interests: writing, musical performance, and family.
FRONT AND CENTER
GREAT NEWS!
My plays, BIRDLAND BLUE and 92 GROVE STREET, have been published by The Robey Theatre Company. Both are available on Amazon.com as a paperback or eBook. Please support Robey TODAY!!!!
PRAYER FOR OUR CHILDREN
While searching for a book in my library recently, I rediscovered a gem of a pocketbook by Marian Wright Edelman entitled Prayers and Meditations for Our Children. I picked it up many years ago at a bookstore in Montreal, Canada. Here's one of many prayers that resonated with me:
LORD, WE HAVE PUSHED SO MANY OF OUR CHILDREN INTO THE TUMULTUOUS SEA OF LIFE IN LEAKY BOATS WITHOUT SURVIVAL GEAR. FORGIVE US AND HELP THEM TO FORGIVE US. HELP US NOW TO GIVE ALL OUR CHILDREN THE ANCHOR OF FAITH, THE RUDDER OF HOPE, THE SAILS OF EDUCATION, AND THE PADDLES OF FAMILY TO KEEP THEM GOING WHEN LIFE'S SEA GETS ROUGH.
THE CHOCOLATE MAN
Randy's book, The Chocolate Man, is now available as an eBook on Amazon.com ($5.99). This book features ten short stories that collectively probe the plight and the promise of being a Black man in America. The book received the highest possible writing score in Writer's Digest's 1999 Self Published Book Awards. The anonymous reviewer concluded that "This is an author who can flat-out write, a man who knows his way around the language. Page after page, the characters are engaging and lifelike, and the themes of what it means to be black in America are handled thoughtfully and compellingly." The book includes stories published in the following literary journals: African American Review ("The Chocolate Man"), Maryland Review ("Grape Rain" and "Conjure Women") and Obsidian II ("Fathers and Sons"). It also features the prize-winning story "Run Low," which won a $1,000 prize in Ebony Magazine's Gertrude Johnson Williams writing contest.
When Are They Coming?
ANNOUNCEMENT: Randy's novel, When Are They Coming? has been published as an Ebook on Amazon Kindle for only $5.99. In this novel, reeling from the death of two friends in a fire, a boy (and his brother) learn to navigate the mysteries of life through the wisdom of the elders.
QUOTE FOR THE TIMES:
"And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter -- that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves."
-President Barack Obama, September 9, 2009
WHAT'S
NEW(S)?
FRONT AND CENTER:
WHEN BLACK MEN BREATHE
Gasping from the public lynching of George Floyd in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, I felt compelled to create a new series dedicated to the memory of Mr. Floyd. The series draws mainly on my published writings that explore what it means to be a black man in America.
LAST DATE:
Lest you forget us in the face of the emerging new normal, we have created a new series that relives and examines the last known live recordings of the Blue Morning Quintet (BMQ) before the COVID-19 lockdown.
Episode 4: "Going to the Island (St. Thomas)"
Welcome GIANIS JOSIAH ORTEGA
On May 26, 2020, my newest grandchild entered the world. He weighed about 7 lbs 12 oz and measured 20 inches long.
GREAT NEWS! My plays, BIRDLAND BLUE and 92 GROVE STREET, have been published by The Robey Theatre Company. . Support Robey TODAY!!!
Saturdays, 11 am - 2 pm, Jazz Workshop, The World Stage, Leimert Park, Los Angeles. (ON HOLD DURING COVID-19 SOCIAL DISTANCING MANDATES.)
First Saturday of each month, 2:30pm, IBWA's Los Angeles writers' workshop convenes at St. Elmo Village (Virtual ZOOM meetings).
Music and Spirituality: A Love Supreme Randy's talk @ Unity of Pasadena on August 20, 2017 has been posted on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/iY9gqQK6tHo
Publishing: Moving letter penned by James Bostick, Jr. upon reading The Chocolate Man. An eBook version of The Chocolate Man is now available at Amazon.com.
PUBLISHING
Randy's book, The Chocolate Man, is now available as an eBook on Amazon.com. A vintage video of Randy's performance of the story "Red's Rhythm" from the book is now available on YouTube.
Los Angeles, CA
randy