More than 100 area high school students visited the Worcester State campus for its 11th annual National African American Read In and ALANA Preview Day on Feb. 26. Scholar, activist, and 2022 MacArthur Award recipient Loretta Ross presented a talk on “calling in” instead of calling people out.
Ross drew on her experience as a human rights activist for half a century to show students that compassion, not criticism, has the power to create lasting change. In order to bring more people into the human rights movement, she said, activists need to disrupt oppressive spaces and not replicate a system that doesn’t work. “How we do the work is as important as the work we do,” she said.
Ross laid out different strategies for dealing with someone causing harm. “You have choices about how you want to show up,” she said. You can choose to “cancel” someone, which only causes more harm and doesn’t change anyone’s mind, or you can try to create a dialogue that hopefully gets people to think about the harm they’ve done and try to do better.
In her career, Ross has had successes and failures. Her mantra, she said, is “Don’t let success go to your head, and don’t let failure go to your heart.” She said anyone who works in human rights must seek balance in their life and take time to have fun. “I’ve never lost my joy of life,” she said, “even though I’ve spent my career looking at the ugliest things humans can do to each other.”
“You’re never too young to stand up against what you think is wrong,” Ross said. “And you’re never too old. It doesn’t matter when you start. It matters that you don’t give up.”
Worcester State University has participated in the National African American Read-In since 2014. This movement, established by the National Council of Teachers of English, centers the contributions of African American authors to literature and encourages communities to read together. ALANA Preview Day offers high school students the opportunity to preview university life, with an Admissions presentation, a campus tour, and a chance to speak with faculty and BIPOC/ALANA students.
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