| Ross wows and witnesses
By Stephanie Biesheuvel
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO Dr. Ross's first book explores the relationship of faith and activism.
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The Rev. Dr. Rosetta Ross is her own example. Ross came to Calvin Wednesday to promote her first book, “Witnessing and Testifying,” and to speak about the links between black women, civil rights, and religion. Her examples of women whose faith pushed them to social action included Ella Baker, Virginia Durr and Fannie Lou Hamer. As some of the most prominent figures in the fight for social justice for African-Americans, these women “took up civil rights practices as a way of living out their faith,” said Ross.
Add Rosetta Ross to the list of women who are moved by their faith to make a difference in the lives of others. Ross is ordained in the United Methodist Church and is also a McVay Associate Professor at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. “My primary vocation is teaching,” Ross said. “And my discipline is ethics.”
Ross hopes to make a positive impact on the way people live out their faith. Teaching Christian ethics is one way of doing that. Writing a book is another.
“I’m looking at religion and black women’s activism,” she said. “It’s a book about religious dimensions of [the women’s] work.”
Why is this topic important to her? “It’s a tradition in which I see myself standing,” she said. Also, religion is an aspect of the civil rights movement that is often overlooked. “Religious traditions are an important part of social life,” she said. “Even though there’s controversy sometimes, I do think that it’s important that those commitments are a part of our dialogue.”
Ross hopes to answer questions regarding faith and life such as, “What difference does it make that I say I’m a person of faith?” She said, “The conviction for me is trying to explore and understand the relationships of people’s professions of faith and their practices in the world.”
The topic of religion and social practices is not often addressed. According to Ross, “in spite of the significance of women’s roles in the civil rights movement,” there has been until recently very little attention paid to it and to the connection of faith and social activity. There has even been denigration of speaking of things from a religious perspective.
One of Ross’s goals in putting the stories of these women of faith into public writing is to encourage others to follow in their paths. “My hope is that seeing models will encourage and inspire and support others who have contributions to give,” she said.
In the Commons Lecture Hall, Ross spoke about those who made such contributions to the civil rights movement. These were “women who helped to initiate and birth the movement.” Many social action groups grew from women’s religious groups.
Ross underlined the fact that many of those who made a difference in the movement were college students. These students taught people to read and write, which was a big step in the voting process. Hamer, one of the most famous women of the time, lost her job and her family lost their home as a result of her fight for civil rights. Ross said, “She was a person who was barely literate, who grew up in almost abject poverty in a share-cropping family,” yet she participated in political events such as the Democratic National Convention. According to Ross, it was Hamer’s faith which pushed her to social action and gave her the motivation to fight for rights.
The women who were active in civil rights showed a Christian attitude toward each other. “These women supported and believed in one another and they encouraged one another,” Ross said. They may not have been “literally related to each other” but they treated each other like family. This is yet another example of how faith influenced their actions.
Jacque Rhodes, assistant dean of multicultural student development, attended the lecture and was impressed with the call to action that Ross conveyed.
“Women in general across the globe have done phenomenal things,” Rhodes said. Lectures such as these give us a chance to hear about those women and “the contributions of all of God’s children.” Also, she hopes that hearing their stories will “serve to motivate students.”
The main thing is to realize that faith must be put into action.
“Being Christian doesn’t mean you sit in church on Sundays,” Rhodes said. “It means you get out there and do the work.”
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