Prof to discuss 'reproductive justice in the age of Trump’ at USM
The University of Southern Maine is hosting a lecture next month on “reproductive justice in the age of Trump” and how supporting abortion counters “white supremacy and male supremacy.”
According to the university’s website, the lecture will be delivered by controversial feminist professor Loretta Ross, who teaches a class at Hampshire College called “White Supremacy and Appropriate Whiteness in the Age of Trump.”
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“The Presidency of Donald Trump includes a resurgence of white supremacy in mainstream politics and an attack on women’s human rights,” the event description states. “Feminist activist and scholar Loretta Ross will discuss how the reproductive justice framework counters ideologies of white supremacy and male supremacy.”
The university adds that Ross will “share insights about the strengths and challenges of contemporary activism and suggest strategies for reproductive justice movement building.”
Originally intended to take place on March 8—International Women’s Day—the event has been rescheduled for April 13 and is currently open to the public, provided that prospective attendees pre-register for the talk.
USM notes that Ross “is one of the creators of the term ‘Reproductive Justice’ coined by African American women in 1994 following the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt,” and that she also co-founded the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, serving as its national coordinator from 2005-2012.
According to SisterSong’s website, the term “Reproductive Justice” was invented when a group of black women realized following the Cairo conference that “the women’s rights movement, led by and representing middle class and wealthy white women, could not defend the needs of women of color and other marginalized women and trans* people.”
[RELATED: University rallies students to fight for Planned Parenthood]
Ross has previously made several controversial political statements on social media, such as calling President Trump a “Cheeto-colored con man” shortly after his inauguration and claiming that “abortion, like childbirth, can be a joyful experience when achieving reproductive justice through human rights.”
Ross did not immediately respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment.
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