Loretta J. Ross, MacArthur Fellow Class of 2022.
Photo Credit ©John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, used with permission

Activist. Public Intellectual. Professor.

Welcome to working alongside me to learn about Calling In and how it fits into the human rights movement! It’s all about how you want to show up in the world. Calling In is always about you, not them.

join us for calling in

orange book cover with title: Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel — Pre-Order Now!

*Calling In* is at once a handbook, a manifesto, and a memoir. With stories from five remarkable decades in activism, Loretta vividly illustrates why calling people in—inviting them into conversation instead of conflict by focusing on your shared values over a desire for punishment—is the more strategic choice if you want to make real change. And she shows you how to do so, whether in the workplace, on a college campus, or in your living room.
Anyone can learn to use this framework to transform frustrating and divisive conflicts that stand in the way of real connection with the people in your life.

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ACTIVIST

Loretta J. Ross at the DC Rape Crisis Center in 1979. — Loretta J. Ross, 1979.

I joined the women's movement in 1978 by working at the first rape crisis center in the country and learned about women's human rights, reproductive justice, white supremacy, and women of color organizing. I also researched and fought hate groups such as the KKK in the 1990s, and I founded a national center for teaching people about their human rights, and co-founded SisterSong. I want to share what I've experienced with emerging activists in hopes that you will join the transformative human rights movement that has changed the world.

I testified at a hearing of the Committee on Oversight and Reform for Examining the Urgent Need to Protect and Expand Abortion Rights and Access in the United States on September 30, 2021. Catch the full proceedings here.

I am a principal partner with 14th Strategies Consultants, a public affairs strategic agency dedicated to helping organizations, universities, and corporations live up to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Our team features experts on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Public Relations and Brand Management, Fundraising, and Strategic, and Organizational Development. Get in touch with us if you need support or guidance in any of those areas.

Loretta J. Ross on the origin of the phrase “Women of Color”

PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL

I speak, train, consult, and lecture on many issues including Reproductive Justice, Appropriate Whiteness, Human Rights, Violence Against Women, and Calling In the Calling Out Culture. If you’re interested in having me as a speaker, get in touch! If you are a media contact, please reach out.

Loretta J. Ross, TED Talk on Calling In at TEDMonterey 2021

You can view many of my media appearances here. I have appeared on CNN, BET, "Lead Story," "Good Morning America," "The Donahue Show," the National Geographic Channel, and "The Charlie Rose Show.” I’ve been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, CBS Sunday Morning, Time Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Oprah Winfrey Radio, among others.

Loretta J. Ross and actress Constance Wu talk about Cancel Culture at the 2022 MAKERS Conference.

PROFESSOR

I currently teach about the call-out culture and white supremacy as a professor at Smith College, but I wanted to find a way to make my courses accessible to more of you! Sign up now for our Calling In Course starting on October 18. For future courses, sign up to the mailing list to be sure you hear of those!

Graphic recording by Rio Holaday
Instagram: @rioholaday

PODCASTS

I have my own podcast, Dred Feminist with Loretta J. Ross but I’ve also been invited to be on a number of other podcasts. Some notable ones appear here.

BOOKS

Now available to preorder! Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel

Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice, by Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried, Loretta Ross, and Elena Gutiérrez. The first-ever book on Reproductive Justice published in 2004.

"Teaching Reproductive Justice: An Activist's Approach," in Black Women's Liberatory Pedagogies, eds. Perlow O., Wheeler D., Bethea S., Scott B. (eds) Black Women's Liberatory Pedagogies. Palgrave Macmillan, (2018)

Fighting Mad: Resisting the End of Roe v. Wade by Krystale E. Littlejohn (Editor), Rickie Solinger (Editor) with "Reproductive Futurism" article by Loretta J. Ross and Robynne Lucas

Women Who Change the World: Stories from the Fight for Social Justice, edited by Lynn Lewis, Loretta Ross, Hilary Moore, Roz Pelles, Vanessa Nosie, Betty Yu, Malkia Devich-Cyril, Priscilla Gonzalez, Terese Howard, Yomara Velez

Reproductive Justice: An Introduction was the #1 listing in Women’s Studies on Amazon’s booklist in 2017, co-written with Rickie Solinger.

Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundations, Theory, Practices, and Critique is an anthology co-edited by me as lead editor, along with Lynn Roberts, Erica Derkas, Whitney Peoples, and Pamela Bridgewater Toure. It premiered at SisterSong's Let's Talk About Sex! Conference October 2017 in New Orleans. Read more about it!

ARTICLES

Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines Apr 1, 2016 by Alexis Pauline Gumbs and China Martens (I wrote the Preface)

Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth Dec 24, 2015 by Julia Oparah and Alicia Bonaparte (I wrote one chapter on Reproductive Justice and Population Control)

Birth Work as Care Work: Stories from Activist Birth Communities by Alana Apfel (Author), Victoria Law (Preface), Silvia Federici (Introduction), Loretta J. Ross (Foreword)

Reproductive Justice as Intersectional Feminist ActivismSouls Journal, 2018.

Demographically Doomed: White Supremacy, Electoral Power, and Reproductive JusticeDifferentTakes, Hampshire College, 2018.

What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In?, New York Times, November 19, 2020

I’m a Black Feminist. I Think Call-out Culture is Toxic, New York Times, August 17, 2019.

Calling In Rather Than Calling Out: When #Me Too Meets Reproductive Justice, Loretta Ross and Toni M. Bond, April 2019.

Speaking Up Without Tearing Down, Teaching Tolerance Magazine, Southern Poverty Law Center, Spring 2019.

Teaching Reproductive Justice: An Activist’s Approach, Black Women’s Liberatory Pedagogies, 2018.

The Color of Choice: White Supremacy and Reproductive Justice, Color of Violence: Incite! The Anthology, 2016.