As our national politics grow increasingly polarized, Judy Woodruff explores one approach to transforming divisive conversations into meaningful dialogue.

It's part of her series, America at a crossroads.

I've been an activist since I was 16 years old.

Loretta Ross was once known for her fiery temper, shaped by more than 50 years on the front lines battling racism, sexism, and sexual violence.

But by the time I got to my 60s, I began to feel that how we did the work was more important than the issues that we worked on.

Ross, now 71, so she came to understand there's a more effective way to engage people

she disagrees with. That realization is at the heart of her new book, calling in, how to

start making change with those you'd rather cancel.

When you're calling people out, that means you're intentionally, publicly blaming and shaming

them for something. You think they've done wrong and you want to hold them accountable.

But the problem with the call out is that instead of inviting them into a conversation,

you've invited them into a fight.

When I started thinking about calling in, I said, we can achieve accountability, but we don't

have to be angry to do it.

Because I think I've had as many blessings as I've had obstacles in life.

A survivor of childhood rape, Ross managed to channel her trauma into a driving force for her advocacy.

Because I'd been through so much as a child, I had to make the decision that what I'd been through wouldn't determine what I would become.

I mean, I couldn't let the man who committed incest against me just make me a teenage statistic pregnant

with no options. I just couldn't let these other people's dirty fingerprints determine

who Loretta Rosses could. And do not ask me where it comes from. When somebody told me I couldn't,

that fueled my passion for I could.

In 1979, at just 25 years old, Ross became the executive director of Washington's

...