Language matters. Over the last five decades, few have done more to shape the terms of progressive discourse than Loretta J. Ross.
In 1977, while attending the National Women’s Rights Conference in Houston, Ross helped coin the phrase “women of color” as a gesture of multiracial solidarity. In 1994, she was part of a group of Black feminists who — by simultaneously emphasizing the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent children in safe and healthy environments — created the “reproductive justice” framework.
On Sept. 7, Ross, a 2022 MacArthur Foundation “genius award” recipient as well as an associate professor at Smith College, will be a featured speaker for “Reflecting on Reproductive Justice,” a three-day public symposium hosted by WashU’s Reproductive Justice, Health, Rights working group.
Housed in the Center for the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, the group is co-convened by Zakiya Luna, the Dean’s Distinguished Professorial Scholar and an associate professor of sociology, and Seanna Leath, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences, both in Arts & Sciences. The group is supported by funding from the university’s “Here and Next” strategic plan as well as the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity.
“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the reproductive justice framework, it is exciting we can highlight some of the innovative work happening locally and beyond,” Luna said. “These can be challenging times, but I hope attendees will come away inspired about future possibilities.”
During the symposium, which takes place Sept. 5-7, Ross will discuss “The Future of Reproductive Justice” with Leath and Luna. Other speakers will include Rockie Gonzalez, deputy director of the Austin Justice Coalition; Cynthia Ingar, founder of the Peruvian health education nonprofit Hampi Warmi; and Kimberly Mutcherson, a professor of law at Rutgers University. Mutcherson’s talk also is sponsored by the School of Law Public Interest Law & Policy Speakers Series, and it will serve as the Roma Schaefer Nooter Lecture for the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in Arts & Sciences.
Events will include art-making activities and a screening of the Sundance jury award-winning documentary “Aftershock,” which explores the contemporary birth justice movement. Also participating will be representatives from a half-dozen local organizations, including Right By You, Medical Students for Choice and Jamaa Birth Village.
“Reflecting on Reproductive Justice” is free and open to the public, but RSVPs are required. For more information, a complete schedule or to RSVP, visit the Center for the Humanities website.
