FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Media Relations
We are thrilled to announce that Professor Loretta Ross, a leader in the study of women’s rights, has agreed to be keynote speaker at the opening session of our annual meeting in Boston. We anticipate a fabulous and inspiring talk from Ross, a well-known professor at Smith College in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender and named a MacArthur Fellow this year for her work as an advocate for Reproductive Justice and Human Rights.
Ross is a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Her activism began when she was tear-gassed at a demonstration as a first-year student at Howard University in 1970. With a 50-year history of social activism, Ross has been a leader of many programs, marches and centers that revolved around enhancing justice for all. She has written three books on reproductive justice. Her newest book, Calling in the Calling Out Culture, is forthcoming in 2023.\
Among her many accomplishments: Ross was 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 at that time with 1.15 million participants. Ross founded the National Center for Human Rights Education in Atlanta, Georgia. She also launched the Women of Color Program for the National Organization for Women (NOW) in the 1980s and was the national program director of the National Black Women’s Health Project.
Ross, a rape survivor, was one of the first Black women to direct a rape crisis center in the 1970s, which helped launch her career by pioneering work on violence against women, as the third executive director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center.
She is a woman of our time, a fierce and constant initiator for reform, with a big smile and a voice to be heard.
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, bishop, visiting professor, author, and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, has let us know he unfortunately will not be able to join us at the APHA 2022 Annual Meeting & Expo in Boston, Nov. 6-9 because of unforeseen circumstances. The Rev. Dr. Barber expresses his regret, but we look forward to having him at future events.
The Opening General Session of APHA 2022 will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. ET. This session will be livestreamed.
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The American Public Health Association champions the health of all people and all communities. We are the only organization that combines a 150-year perspective, a broad-based member community and the ability to influence federal policy to improve the public’s health. Learn more at www.apha.org.