Loretta Ross, co-founder and director of SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective in Atlanta, Ga., and co-author of "Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice," will speak from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at the LangstonHughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S.
The event is titled, "Organizingfor ReproductiveJustice: SisterSong's Vision for Bridging the Race and Class Divide in the Women's Movement."
Ross was also the national co-director of the April 25, 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington, D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history with more than 1 million participants. Ross was one of the first African American women to direct the first rape crisis centers in the United States in the 1970s.
Ross's visit comes at an important juncture in the fight for women's rights. According to the organizers for this event, "The mainstream U.S. women's movement has been divided along race, class and sexual identity lines for too long. Our challenge as a women's movement today, especially in light of the attacks on women and the women's rights agenda in the United States and globally, is to find ways to work together on a common agenda while understanding what has divided us historically."
