Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. She is the author of many books, including Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie, Roots of Resistance: A History of Land Tenure in New Mexico, and Blood on the Border: A Memoir of the Contra War. She is the recipient of the Cultural Freedom Prize for Lifetime Achievement by the Lannan Foundation. She lives in San Francisco.