Books by Dax-Devlon Ross

Beat of a Different Drum

Welcome to the home page of Jersey City-based writer Dax-Devlon Ross. The author of Beat of a Different Drum: The Untold Stories of African Americans Forging Their Own Paths in Work and Life (Hyperion), Ross has published three new books in 2007. A co-founder of Outside The Box Publishing, the company recently release four books: The Underdog's Manifesto: A Guerilla Artist's Path to Independence (co-written with hip-hop artist Creature); The Best of Intentions, his first novel; A Staircase of Words Vol 1: Essays (co-written with OTB co-founder Derek Beres); and Beres' Tangled Web: The Best Music Tour You Never Heard Of. Keep tuned here for new essays, lecture appearances and information on upcoming books.

The HNIC Report is dedicated to covering the historic ‘08 presidential campaign in general and Senator Barack Obama in particular. We are equally intrigued by and fascinated with the rising influence of 21st African-American political, social, cultural and intellectual leaders. There is a radical transition taking place and new, young, dynamic leaders are emerging in all walks of life. They are replacing a generation of Civil Rights oriented leaders, but their ideas and aspirations are not the same. They have been reared differently and have come of age in a different America. From media mogul Jay-Z to 36 year-old D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, a range of brilliant men and women in their thirties and early forties are quickly becoming the new African-American Vanguard. In the coming years they will be moving and shaking in ways no generation of African-American leaders have ever been able to before. It is crucial that we understand this and what it means in a local, national, and global context. It is essential that we question, defend, critique, explore, understand, and share information about these young leaders, their policies, and activities. It is necessary that we offer them our attention and support, even if it means critiquing their choices. In accomplishing these admittedly lofty goals, the HNIC Report aims to offer a thoughtful, hopeful, and critical voice of indepedence that you will find nowhere else.

The Best of Intentions is the timeless story of the soul searcher striving to reconcile past with present, theory with practice. It interrogates the promises of opportunity and unmasks the perils of upward mobility; pits our undying hunger for spiritual connectedness against our insatiable thirst for worldly validation. Most of all, it explores the individual’s fight to live with integrity in a confusing world devoid of easy answers. To read more click here.

Throughout history underdogs have always spirited the most authentic, audacious and original art of their day. In the process they’ve spawned movements forever altering the creative landscape. NYC hip-hop artist Creature (among many others) whose voices, visions and spirit canvas the pages of The Underdog’s Manifesto, are without question continuing that tradition. To read more click here.