DBM Ep 74: A Conversation w/ Loretta Ross: Abortion, Activism, Reproductive Justice & Black Motherhood
Release Date: 11/20/2025
DBM Ep 74: A Conversation w/ Loretta Ross: Abortion, Activism, Reproductive Justice & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama & Magic Makers, What if we told you there is an elder alive today who has the blueprint for this moment? Mamas & Magic Makers, if you don’t do nothing else before the end of the year, sit at the feet of an elder and LISTEN. Keyword LISTEN. Find an elder or make yourself available to one who is willing not only to share their wisdom but also to be vulnerable, sharing their mistakes, regrets, and healing journey. And this is why we're grateful for our conversation with the brilliant, brave, and vulnerable Loretta Ross, one of the architects of...
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DBM Ep 73: Sex, Shame, Black Kids & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mamas & Magic Makers What if I told you your child was born a sexual being? What if I told you that when it comes to sex and our children, we should focus on preparation instead of prevention? What if I told you intimacy and pleasure for your child were on the other side of your fear of them making a mistake? What if I told you resting in that fear erases a part of your child’s humanity and as Black mamas we MUST provide space for our children’s full humanity to be embraced. Those were the aha moments guided me to, cause ya girl has been struggling to talk...
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DBM Ep 72: Back To School & Black Motherhood w/ Dr. Fred Smith
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mamas & Magic Makers What if I told you the collision of declining birth rates in the U.S., the rise of anti-intellectualism, and the rollback of reproductive rights are having a profound impact on your child’s potential college experience? How do we help prepare our children for the future when the world we know is crumbling before our eyes? In this episode, we talk with one of our favorite kiki partners and Associate Vice President for Equity & Community Inclusion at San Francisco State, , about the changing landscape of higher education, the challenges, and...
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DBM Ep 71: Black Keisha, Black Mamas & Forever
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, What if I told you much of the growth our children may need to show up in the ways we’re nurturing them to show up comes through falling in love? When we tell our children not to focus on love, are we parenting out of fear? What message does that send to our children about the priority to place on intimate relationships, and what generational impact does that have on our culture? How do we raise children who know how to love? In this raw and reflective episode, we take a deep dive into the using it as a powerful springboard to unpack the complexities of Black...
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DBM Ep 70: Communtity, Culture, Books & Black Motherhood w/ Alliah Agostini
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, What if I told you the saying, “real gs move in silence is killing your dream? What if I told you to tell everyone and anyone you know what you want to do? What if I told you your notes app and Evernote are the keys to the manifestation of your dreams? What if I told you every time we tell our stories, we reclaim what was stolen? Every time we create, we declare: We are still here. These are our takeaways from our conversation with prolific children’s book author, , who wrote The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States...
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DBM Ep 69: Clarity, Reclaiming Space & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, What if I told you your mess tells a story, and your clutter can block your clarity? What if I told you to reframe cleaning as a way to express gratitude, practice self-care, and create a sacred space where your spirit can operate effortlessly and creativity flows freely? What have you put down that you need to put away? What items are you holding onto that no longer serve you? These are the questions our guest professional organizer, of , brought to the forefront. In this episode, she gently stepped on our toes and helped us reframe our approach to...
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DBM Ep 68: All About Annie, Sinners & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mamas & Magic Makers, Lissen yall Sinners was all about Annie for us! We ain’t gon hold you with our normal intro. In this episode we dive into: Annie, power, and Black motherhood Loss, longing, and sex Black humanity, spirituality, and grief in Ryan Coogler’s films Black migration & the resurgence of Southern Roots PLUS - we have social proof that a Black mama would have made a COMPLETELY different decision than Grace. And we’re excited to have some listeners on The Muthaship, live inside the Black Mama Magic room for this episode. We welcome: , doula and...
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DBM Ep 67: Noncustodial Parenting & Black Motherhood with Erica M. Freeman
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, What if I told you Black mamas aren’t superheroes, that the cape is choking us, and our backs are brittle? What if I told you motherhood ain’t killing us, though, but the narratives we buy into hook, line, and sinker are? What if you had the option not to be the primary custodial parent? Would you decline out of obligation to the belief that a good Black mama would never choose to leave their children in the care of others, even the other parent? How does a Black mother respond when what’s best for her or her destiny clashes with cultural norms? ...
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DBM Ep 66: The 92%, Boundaries & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, How do we resist the urge to rescue when we’ve been taught our whole lives to be saviors? How do we set boundaries when the world is burning? What do we do when we’ve been deemed the backbone of the community, but our backbones are brittle and breaking? Since the election, these are the questions and conversations black women have been having online and, especially, in group chats. So, we decided to explore what this line in the sand means for Black mothers in the midst of state-sanctioned brutality. In this episode, Thea and I explore the parallels...
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DBM Ep 65: Marriage, Hot Topics & Black Motherhood
Dem Black Mamas Podcast
Dear Mama, What do Telvin Osborne, Black marriage, generational wealth, Altadena, data as currency, the TV show Paradise, and white women in Idaho have in common? We cover them all in this episode. Yup, it’s hot topics, and we got hot takes well, not hot takes. We got Black Mama takes on all the above. In this episode, we talk: ✨How Telvin Osborne is relevant to Black women resting ✨The real problem when it comes to marriage & Black folx ✨Why Paradise gets kudos & white women in Idaho don’t PLUS - we talk all things Black Maternal Health, ...
info_outlineDear Mama & Magic Makers,
What if we told you there is an elder alive today who has the blueprint for this moment? Mamas & Magic Makers, if you don’t do nothing else before the end of the year, sit at the feet of an elder and LISTEN. Keyword LISTEN. Find an elder or make yourself available to one who is willing not only to share their wisdom but also to be vulnerable, sharing their mistakes, regrets, and healing journey.
And this is why we're grateful for our conversation with the brilliant, brave, and vulnerable Loretta Ross, one of the architects of the reproductive justice framework and one of the founders of the reproductive justice movement, about her new book, Abortion & Reproductive Justice: An Essential Guide for Resistance. With sobering honesty, she shares how her personal journey mirrored the evolution of her role in the feminist movement and why, after retiring from the frontline, she’s chosen to focus on HOW we do the work.
This is the quietest we have ever been in an episode as Ms. Ross shares:
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Motherhood, aging out of the front lines, and the necessity of matching radical analysis with radical love
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How Black women’s care and solidarity have literally kept her alive
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Fear of a Black Planet & how American feminism began with enslaved Black women
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Why we can’t afford for fights within movements to be fatal
PLUS, we give a praise report to Vanessa Baden Kelly, who wrote a Black ass episode of The Morning Show that touches on Black Maternal Health and Black women's relationships in the workplace. In our Black Mama Say segment for this episode, where we put our twist on sayings from Black mamas, and the saying we're twisting this episode is “Keep Livin.”
ABOUT LORETTA ROSS
Loretta J. Ross is an activist, professor, and public intellectual. In her five decades in the human rights movement, she’s deprogrammed white supremacists, taught convicted rapists the principles of feminism, and, as National Co-Director, organized the second-largest march on Washington (in April 25, 2004, March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C., surpassed in size only by the 2017 Women’s March).
Loretta was one of the first African American women to direct a rape crisis center in the 1970s, launching her career by pioneering work on violence against women, as the third Executive Director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center. As part of a 50-year history of social justice activism, she retired from community organizing in 2012. She was the National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective from 2005-2012 and co-created the theory of Reproductive Justice in 1994.
Her many accolades and honors include a 2022 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2024 induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Today, Ross is an associate professor at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and is the founder of LoRossta Consulting, with which she runs “Calling In” training sessions online and for organizations around the country.
Loretta is a rape survivor, raised her child born of incest, and is also a survivor of sterilization abuse at age 23. She is a model of how to survive and thrive despite the traumas that disproportionately affect low-income women of color.
Loretta is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Connect with Loretta Ross:
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Read Loretta Ross’s Latest Book: Abortion & Reproductive Justice: An Essential Guide for Resistance
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Upcoming Events w/ Loretta Ross: Calling In Conversations: Action for Human Rights, Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 7:00 PM 9:00 PM
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Loretta Ross Other Books
💗Black Mama Magic Card Deck: Card #32 “Bliss Awaits” 💗
Episode Playlist: Ep 74 Companion Playlist
EPISODES MENTIONS/RELEVANT TO THIS EPISODE:
🎙️DBM Episode 24 Birthing Freedom w/ Chauntel Norris co-founder & Director of Alabama Prison Project
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To expand knowledge and combat misinformation and disinformation, we create a syllabus (s/o to Melissa Harris-Perry), a list of references/sources for our listeners to dive into. This list includes any books, videos, podcasts, etc. that we've mentioned in the episode or that will help you gain a well-informed perspective. For our complete syllabus, check out our website: demblackmamas.com