Over the past few weeks, visiting associate professor Loretta Ross hosted two workshops entitled “Calling Out: Holding Ourselves Accountable” and “Calling In: Building Unity Through Love.” These events sought to begin a conversation about ‘call out’ culture, which will culminate in a symposium of the same name. Organized in conjunction with Professor Carrie Baker from the Department for the Study of Women & Gender, the symposium is set to take place on Feb. 22, 2020.
Ross has been a self-proclaimed “professional feminist” for over fifty years. Upon briefly recounting her life’s work, Ross told the crowd, “I’ve had a ball.” Ross’s relationship with Smith spans many years and takes many forms. She served as an ‘activist in residence’ in February 2013 and the Sophia Smith Collection of Women’s History holds the Loretta J. Ross papers, a collection of documents detailing her life’s work. Currently, Ross is teaching a popular class called “White Supremacy in the Age of Trump.”
During the two workshops held on Sept. 25 and Oct. 2, Ross explained how to switch from a ‘calling out’ to a ‘calling in’ perspective. She defined ‘calling out’ as public criticism with the intention of demanding a change in someone’s behavior. The recent Me Too movement, where high profile celebrities like Harvey Weinstein faced public sexual assault allegations that resulted in his arrest, are examples of successful ‘call outs.’ While this instance may have required a public ‘call out,’ Ross argued that this kind of action isn’t always necessary. She said we need a different approach when dealing with smaller scale interactions because the ‘call out’ method is often used as a way to merely circumvent difficult discussions that inevitably arise in social justice work.
Ross’s intention is to help teach people the skills necessary to practice ‘calling in,’ which she defines as a tool box for having uncomfortable discussions—with the aim of respecting the humanity of everyone involved. She said that people tend to defer to ‘calling out’ because then they can avoid potential discomfort. In response she said, “if you’re not uncomfortable doing social justice work, then you’re not working hard enough.”
Ross said that the goal of learning how to ‘call in’ is primarily to expand our options. What are the proper guidelines and protocols? How do you hold someone accountable without alienating them? How do you respond to a microaggression versus a threat, and how do you know the difference? Above all, how do you maintain cognizant of everyone’s humanity, even if they have hurt you? All of these questions are the essence of what ‘calling in’ aims to achieve.
“We are at the beginning of these kinds of conversations,” Ross said. Social justice movements are only just beginning to experiment with this idea of ‘calling in.’ This practice takes on many names, such as restorative justice, which focuses on communal impacts, or transformative justice, which focuses on healing and identifying the root causes of issues. No matter what you call it, ‘calling in’ is still in its primitive stages of development. As Ross said in reference to ‘calling in’ in social justice work, “it’s all a big experiment — so we’re going to mess up!”
The upcoming symposium in February 2020 is open to the public — students, faculty, staff and community members alike. Ross’s upcoming book, titled “Calling In the Calling Out Culture,” will be released sometime in the upcoming year and include many of the methodologies used in these past workshops and the February symposium.
