john a. powell contributes to new volume on Black history

Ninety scholars, among them OBI Director john a. powell, contributed to a volume just released on the history of Black people in the United States, beginning with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to Virginia in 1619.

Muslim Ban rescinded, but other Islamophobic laws remain

The Othering & Belonging Institute welcomes President Biden's rescission of the infamous Muslim Ban, but urges that much more be done to reverse the proliferation of anti-Muslim policies at the federal and state levels over the past two decades.

Berkeley scholars dissect Trumpism in new volume

A pair of UC Berkeley research institutes on Thursday co-released a collection of essays from influential scholars that examine the political conditions that led to the rise of Donald Trump and some of the consequences of his presidency on US society and the world.

Why Trump's diversity training ban is unconstitutional

On September 22, 2020, the Trump administration issued an Executive Order entitled “Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping” (E.O. 13950, 85 FR 60683). This long and comprehensive measure is ostensibly aimed at curbing racist or sexist...

Poll: OC residents want more housing support for homeless

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 7, 2020 BERKELEY: Across lines of race and ethnicity, majorities of Orange County residents say they support building housing with supportive services for people experiencing homelessness, including in their own...

Poll finds broad, multi-racial support for policies to transform policing, economic inequities

Majorities of Americans across racial and ethnic backgrounds support meaningful changes to policing, including requiring officers to live in the communities they police and involving community-resource workers in certain emergency calls, a new national poll found.

Report: Puerto Rico's mass closures of public schools eroding communities

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BERKELEY, CA: Public schools in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have been shuttered at a higher rate than any region in the U.S. over the last decade and a half, presenting a serious harm to the students and communities who rely...

Poll: Californians confident in mail-in voting despite partisan attacks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 18, 2020 With increased familiarity, Californians’ confidence in voting by mail grows, despite national Republican attacks; but many still need in-person assistance at the polls and education about options. BERKELEY, CA...

Report: Single-family zoning dominates Bay Area housing, presenting barrier to integration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 11, 2020 BERKELEY, CA: Opening up restrictive communities to multiplex housing may be a key strategy to promote racial residential integration in the Bay Area, new research from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging...

Study: Inland Empire police budgets swelled to $1 billion annually after Great Recession

New study shows that, following the 2008-2009 foreclosure crisis, Inland Empire police budgets ballooned to a whopping $1 billion annually, with increases unrelated to violent crime rates. Jurupa Valley, with 100,000 residents, tops the list with 37...

California approves latest 'opportunity map' for affordable housing sites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BERKELEY, CA: A California state agency has approved for the third consecutive year the use of an opportunity map developed by the Othering & Belonging Institute and partners designed to guide the siting of affordable housing...

The 2020 uprisings and the Kerner report

The Othering & Belonging Institute on Tuesday re-released a report originally published last year on government failures to address the recommendations of the 1968 Kerner Commission report.

Heat map reveals racial disparities in Covid-19 by state

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 11, 2020 BERKELEY, CA: A new interactive “heat map” released Monday shows how different states across the country are experiencing disparities in infection and death rates by race, which may offer clues in how state-level...

2019 Inclusiveness Index Highlights Anti-trans Violence, Fake News, and De-democratization as Key Challenges to Inclusion in US and World

The Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway took the top spots in the 2019 Inclusiveness Index, our annual ranking of global inclusion that classifies 132 countries and all 50 US states according to policies and laws that challenge or promote belonging.

New report calls for international convention to protect climate refugees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A new report by UC Berkeley’s Othering & Belonging Institute finds that temporary and permanent displacements caused by the climate crisis are increasing, but that no legally binding international mechanisms exist to protect...

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Transformative Research Toolkit

Introduction We have seen and participated in transformative research strategies that defeated proposed jail expansions, won millions of dollars for community-prioritized programs, and built new community-led organizations that changed a political...
Apr
6

Depolarization Day

Want a chance to hear from experts studying the root of what’s driving us apart and how we come back together? Eager to build the skills to listen empathetically, elicit narratives of connection, and interview professionally? Looking for a chance...

Book Talk: Before Gentrification, with Tanya Golash-Boza

Dr. Tanya Golash-Boza's book Before Gentrification: The Creation of DC's Racial Wealth Gap explores how redlining, incarceration, anti-blackness, and gentrification have resulted in DC becoming an extremely unequal city. She presented her book...