Civic Engagement Narrative Change

This report reviews the central work of the newly founded Rise Up for Justice Narrative Hub. The Hub brought together researchers, strategists, creatives, and digital communication specialists to support the civic participation of underrepresented groups and engage some of the leading Black- and Latinx-led power building organizations across the country.

This brief summarizes key insights and applications from research on strategy for expanding the electorate and fostering bridging across lines of difference for greater civic belonging.

This animated short exposes how the unmitigated power of US corporations is bolstered by divide and conquer tactics wielded to distract from the harm these companies do to society and the environment—and generate enormous profits for the wealthy few...

Introducing our new video series: (Ill)Logic: Rethinking the Covid-19 Story.Few things have illuminated the interconnected nature of our world as acutely as the Covid-19 crisis. The virus has not only triggered an urgent medical crisis, but also...

Throughout 2019, the Othering & Belonging Institute commissioned papers on the lessons and persistent challenges coming out of the 2018 electoral cycle. This collection of papers brings to bear decades of frontline experience from authors who have...

These videos, produced by the Othering & Belonging Institute and its partner organizations, were designed to encourage civic engagement and voting. Their aim is to project a more inclusive “We” and to reach disaffected nonvoters and infrequent voters...

By Alicia GarzaThe term “identity politics” was first coined by Black feminist Barbara Smith and the Combahee River Collective in 1974. Identity politics originated from the need to reshape movements that had until then prioritized the monotony of...

By Pastor Michael McBrideIn his historic 1984 speech at Tindley Temple Church in Philadelphia, Rev. Jesse Jackson declared, “Our defeats are characterized by the margin of despair and the fracture of our coalitions.” In an effort to explain both the...

By Leo MurrietaIn November 2017, Make the Road Nevada (MRNV) launched its operations in the state by leading a mile-long march through the neighborhoods of East Las Vegas. The March started around Desert Pines High School, in some of the densest...

By Judia Holton, Emelia Cowans-Taylor, Erin Byrd, Roxane Richir, and Ivanna Gonzalez (Blueprint NC)In 2006, Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a Winston-Salem based philanthropic organization, called on several civic engagement and advocacy groups to have...

By Bob FulkersonThe Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) is a permanent, statewide progressive coalition founded in 1994 by 12 member groups including the Nevada AFL-CIO, Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada, Nevada Women’s Lobby, and the...

When most people in Florida close their eyes and think of the places most affected by climate change, overwhelmingly, the image drawn in their mind’s eye is one of a beach. One can hardly expect otherwise given the treatment mass media gives the...