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Professor Loretta J Ross delivers inspirational talk at inaugural ‘Lady Ademola Lecture’

We were delighted to welcome so many guests to our inaugural ‘Lady Ademola Lecture’ which is part of the College’s series celebrating the life and work of alumna, Kofoworola Ademola Moore (English, 1932).

Guest speaker, Professor Loretta J Ross, gave a talk entitled ‘Appropriate Whiteness’ which is a lecture series based on Professor Loretta Ross’ experience doing anti-Klan and anti-white supremacy organising.  Professor Ross’ lecture, which is directed at young people who want to move beyond the hurtful, hardened racial patterns of the past and live more intersectional lives, explores how technology can play a role in easing and crossing rigid boundaries. It addresses situations of racial awkwardness and fears of “messing up”, and helps normalise discussions of race with a frank analysis of what to do and not to do in moving forward difficult dialogues.

Professor Loretta Ross is an Associate Professor at Smith College in Northampton (USA), MA in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender. She teaches courses on white supremacy, human rights, and calling in the calling out culture. She has taught at Hampshire College and Arizona State University. She is a graduate of Agnes Scott College and holds an honorary Doctorate of Civil Law degree awarded in 2003 from Arcadia University and a second honorary doctorate degree awarded from Smith College in 2013. She also has credits towards a Ph.D. in Women’s Studies from Emory University. She serves as a consultant for Smith College, collecting oral histories of feminists of colour for the Sophia Smith Collection, which also contains her personal archives.

The Lady Ademola Lecture is delivered annually by an eminent speaker of black, African, or Caribbean heritage who can speak on any topic related to their expertise or experience. The lecture is named for Kofoworola Ademola Moore, who arrived at St. Hugh’s College in 1932 to study English and became the first black African woman to achieve a degree at Oxford in 1935. Lady Ademola, as Kofoworola would become, was a lifelong advocate for women’s education and social reform

Below is the recording of Professor Ross’ lecture.