Entries by Jeffrey Ian Ross

Reflections on Graffiti From the LA Anti-ICE Protests

Almost every major contemporary protest in the United States is accompanied by illegal graffiti and street art. The recent (June 2025) demonstrations against the presence and activities of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles (not to mention the deployment of 700 National Guardsmen) are no different. The Trump administration has pointed to […]

Japanese Rice, Curiosity, & Expertise

Growing up, whenever rice was prepared and served in our household, you could almost guarantee it would be Uncle Ben’s Converted rice; white, tasteless, quick, and dependable. When I moved out and began cooking for myself, I started wandering into health food stores. That’s when I discovered a whole world beyond Uncle Ben’s: basmati, brown […]

Why I Use the Word “Corrections” (Even Though It Makes Me Uneasy)

Although corrections is one of my primary scholarly research areas, I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the term. And yet, I still use it. So, what do most scholars, practitioners, and journalists mean when they use corrections? Broadly speaking, the term refers to the institutions/facilities (i.e., prisons, jails, detention centers), policies, practices, programs, laws, and […]

The Continuing Relevance of Gil Scott-Heron’s “Winter in America”

One of my favorite songs is Gil Scott-Heron’s Winter in America. Released in 1974, in the wake of the Vietnam War and as the Watergate scandal unraveled the Nixon presidency, it captured a national mood of disillusionment and political fatigue. The Civil Rights Movement had stalled, trust in government was crumbling, and the promise of […]