Don't Let Failure Go to Your Heart- Loretta Ross' Journey
CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains conversations about sexual abuse and racism. Listener discretion is advised.
Loretta J Ross discusses her journey of overcoming the odds that were often not in her favor and making the most of what she did have to create space for herself and others, finding and using her voice to enact the change she wanted to see. She discusses her concept of "Calling In, Call Out Culture" and how we can take a step back, listen to each other and treat one another like human beings and try to understand where people are coming from.
Loretta J. Ross is an activist, public intellectual, and scholar. She has written about and advocated for reproductive justice and the history of African American women. Ross started her career in activism in social justice in the 1970s, working at the National Football League Player's Association, the DC Rape Crisis Center, the National Organization for Women, and the National Black Women's Health Project.
The Center for Democratic Renewal, the National Center for Human Rights Education and Sister Song, Women of Color, and Reproductive Justice Collective until retiring as an organizer in 2012 to teach about activism. She's an associate professor at Smith College and graduated with a women's studies degree from Agnes Scott College.
She has dedicated her life and has traveled worldwide speaking on reproductive justice, appropriate whiteness, human rights, violence against women, and calling in the call-out culture. As Loretta describes in her TED Talk, she shares strategies that help challenge wrongdoing while creating space for growth, forgiveness, and maybe even an unexpected friend.
This is Loretta J Ross' journey.
Creators and Guests
Guest
Loretta J Ross
2022 MacArthur Fellow, Activist, Associate Professor for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College
Producer
Sydni Michelle Perry
Podcast Producer & Fellow in the Office of the President at Agnes Scott College
