AUTHOR
About the Author
B. Ross Burley
Son of two teachers. Father of a Gen Alpha Black son. Raised on Roc-A-Fella.
With this, obediently — historical novelist and steward of the BrownBloods universe: a literary and transmedia exploration of civilizations, rulers, and communities whose influence extends far beyond the space they occupy in traditional historical narratives.
Chapter II
Before Massinissa
YNGBLKPGH
Before writing historical fiction, Burley spent years documenting living history.
His first published work, YNGBLKPGH, became a civic storytelling project celebrating more than one hundred Black professionals, entrepreneurs, educators, artists, and community leaders throughout Pittsburgh.
Distributed through schools, libraries, corporations, and community organizations, the project preserved stories that often existed outside traditional historical narratives while helping elevate visibility, opportunity, and investment within the community. It also generated more than $50,000 through partnerships and sales while serving as a platform for representation and cultural preservation.
The experience fundamentally changed his understanding of history.
It taught him that stories do more than document the past. They determine what survives.
That conviction became the foundation for BrownBloods.
Chapter III
The Work Behind the Work
Leadership
Years spent leading organizations taught him that institutions are built by people long before they are remembered by history.
Service
Civic and community work instilled discipline, responsibility, and commitment to purpose — qualities that later shaped years of historical research and writing.
Community
Work across economic development, Fortune 500 organizations, entrepreneurship, and civic leadership reinforced one enduring truth: Civilizations survive when people invest in one another.
Scholarship
Graduate education, leadership programs, and independent historical research strengthened a lifelong commitment to understanding both systems and stories.
Each experience became another layer beneath the pages of Massinissa rather than a destination in itself.
Free SNOW excerpt · then Track I — $1
Chapter IV
Work
TEDx Speaker
Founder, YNGBLKPGH
Published Author
Pittsburgh Magazine 40 Under 40
New Pittsburgh Courier 40 Under 40
Harvard Business School Young American Leaders Fellow
University of Pittsburgh MBA
Chapter VI
BrownBloods
BrownBloods is an ongoing body of historical fiction exploring civilizations, rulers, and communities whose influence extends far beyond the space they occupy in traditional historical narratives.
Each novel stands independently.
Together, they form a larger literary exploration of memory, identity, leadership, and civilization.
Massinissa is the first completed novel in that journey.
Chapter VII
A Letter to Readers
First, humbly — thank you for getting here, and for spending time with this work.
I became it more than it became me, and I think that is the best thing about great stories and real heroes — new ones. New ways.
Outside of my family, these are my loves — hip hop and history — and writing has always been so permanent to me. Stories like these deserve for our world to not just know them, but see themselves in them.
Welcome to BrownBloods — my version of the Black American origin story, scored to the greatest geniuses of my lifetime.
Thank you & may God bless you.
— B. Ross Burley
B. Ross Burley
Son of two teachers.
Father of a Gen Alpha Black son.
Raised on Roc-A-Fella.
NEW BLACK HISTORY