LYNN ROBERTS has a BS in human development from Howard University and a PhD in Human Services Studies from Cornell University. The City University of New York has been her academic home since 1995, and she is currently assistant professor in the department of Community Health and Social Sciences at the Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy. Prior to joining CUNY, she oversaw the development, implementation and evaluation of several prevention programs for women and youth in NYC. She has also served on the board of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective. Her current activism and scholarship examine the intersections of race, class and gender in adolescent dating relationships, juvenile justice and reproductive health policies; as well as the impact of models of collaborative inquiry and teaching on civic and political engagement.
Human and women’s rights activist LORETTA ROSS co-founded and served as National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, a network that organizes women of color in the reproductive justice movement. In fact, Ross is one of the creators of the term “Reproductive Justice,” which envelops human rights and social justice into one movement. In 2004, Ross served as National Co-Director of the March for Women’s Lives in Washington DC. It became the largest protest march in US history with more than one million participants. Ross is the co-author of Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice and author of “The Color of Choice” chapter in Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. She has also written extensively on the history of African American women and reproductive justice activism.
PAMELA BRIDGEWATER TOURE was an activist lawyer and legal scholar specializing in issues related to reproduction, sexuality, identity, poverty and women’s health. She received her JD from Florida State University, and participated in the US Supreme Court case Judy Madsen et al. v. Women’s Health Center Inc. Aware Woman Center for Choice, Inc. She went on to obtain an LL.M from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and while in Wisconsin, she developed a lifelong scholarly interest in the relationship between reproductive freedom and black emancipation. As a lawyer, Pamela provided legal defense of reproductive health care clinics, service providers and activists, and also provided pro bono legal service and consultation on matters such as estate planning for poor people and people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as legal services for peace activists and activists within the fair trade and globalization movements. She taught as professor at Northeastern University’s School of Law and at American University’s Washington College of Law. She passed away in 2014.