Illustration of enslaved Israelites in Egypt in ancient times
  • Blog
  • July 25, 2022
Understanding 'Replacement Theory'
Most Americans probably encountered the insidious notion of "replacement theory" for the first time in the wake of the horrific mass murder of 10 African Americans in Buffalo, New York in May. The shooter targeted a Black neighborhood for reasons...
Racist covenant
  • Blog
  • June 30, 2022
Racist Language Should Not Be Purged From Property Deeds
Note: This blog is being published on the occasion of California law AB 1466, which is related to this topic, going into effect. The last few years have brought much greater awareness of the degree to which racism is embedded in our society. Although...
Mitch McConnel, Brett Kavanaugh,Mike Pence, and another guy standing for a photo
  • Blog
  • June 27, 2022
Rightwing power grab renders Supreme Court illegitimate
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization an illegitimate, radical, rightwing court overturned half a century of settled law established by Roe v. Wade to advance a political agenda. But why do I refer to the current US Supreme Court as...
A guy holding a sign that reads "Go Fund Me is not a Healthcare Plan"
  • Blog
  • June 1, 2022
All Policy is Health Policy
Where we live shouldn’t determine the length or the quality of our lives. We all belong in communities whose conditions allow us to live the healthiest lives possible. These conditions include stable housing, access to quality healthcare, jobs with...
belonging real in tech food delivery worker
  • Blog
  • May 18, 2022
Six Actions to Make Belonging Real in Tech
What would it take to collectively own our data? How could we regulate the environmental impact of resource-intensive technologies? These are just some of the big questions about technology facing us on a global scale. In our 2021 landscape scan on...
Illustration of richmond
  • Blog
  • March 15, 2022
Taking Equitable Development to the Next Level
An ordinance recently passed in Richmond, California, shows a new pathway to ensure that major economic development projects in low-income communities of color are designed for more equitable benefits by delivering local jobs, inclusive hiring, and...
Protesters
  • Blog
  • February 16, 2022
Radicalism or pragmatism? A look at another divide in racial justice advocacy
Today we launched the “Structural Racism Remedies Project,” a vast repository of scholarship, advocacy, and policy ideas for interventions to dismantle structural and systemic racism. The policies contained in this repository take many forms and...
Darrow (left) and Bryan (right) during the Scopes trial
  • Blog
  • January 28, 2022
“Inherit the Wind” Redux
Nearly a century ago, the state of Tennessee prosecuted a high school teacher for instructing students on the theory of evolution in violation of a state law. The state law was based on a fear that teaching evolution would undermine religious...
Lani
  • Blog
  • January 12, 2022
A tribute to my dear friend, Lani Guinier
As we begin to settle into 2022, my heart and mind are weighed down by the losses we suffered at the end of 2021 and the beginning of this year. With the normal flow of life and death I know there are always those passing on and those joining us...
US Capitol barriers erected after Jan. 6 riot
  • Blog
  • January 5, 2022
Blog: Jan. 6 happened because we ignored George Washington's final warning
Many Americans across the political spectrum would readily admit that political polarization and extreme partisanship have become major problems in our society. Partisanship and polarization are not the same thing (you can have one without the other)...
Illustration of people
  • Blog
  • December 8, 2021
#PandemicTruths: A declaration of interdependence
Othering and belonging seem to me to be the critical issues for our species at this point in our history. I am recently retired. For the past 30 years, I worked in food banking. In that time, I have had a chance to observe and appreciate the way our...
Crowd from above
  • Blog
  • December 8, 2021
#PandemicTruths: Moving beyond our safe spaces
If we truly believe in humanity, in the possibility of the evolution of the human spirit, this must be a time of expanding our reach in a way that ensures everyone's most basic needs are met, their birthright to dream and become, supported and...
Protesters holding Hands
  • Blog
  • December 1, 2021
Poem: A Love Supreme
Across seven seas and barren borders, we are all connected and conjoined. Through the pain and the pandemic, the exploitation and the expropriation, Through the crisis of the changing climate and the desolate deserts without food, Through the oil...
Little Girl Visits Grandparents Through Window stock photo
  • Blog
  • December 1, 2021
Covid-19: What Will We Remember?
What will we care to re-member about the era of the Covid-19 pandemic? Some events become a generational marker, an experience shared by so many in such profound ways that the ripples last decades. The “Great Depression” of the 1930s and the US war...
Protesters outside the courthouse in Kenosha
  • Blog
  • November 19, 2021
Can we disarm vigilantes by bridging?
Today, another vigilante escaped justice. Somehow, a jury in Wisconsin found that Kyle Rittenhouse was justified in driving across a state border and killing two protesters, wounding a third, and firing on a fourth with a semi-automatic rifle. I can...

Explore Othering and Belonging

An illustrated laptop depicts floating shapes and images
  • Video
  • August 12, 2021
Animated Explainer Video Series
Our animated explainer videos break down some of the key principles that guide our work at the Othering & Belonging Institute. Follow the links below to view the videos, to read transcripts of the audio, and to learn more about each concept.
Recharge promo graphic
Aug
8
  • August 8, 2022, 11:30am to 12:30pm PT
OBI Presents: Recharge
There is so much in our histories and communities that inspires us, but even still, many of us face despair and depletion in the face of multiplying crises. We invite you to join us in co-creating an online gathering to help us nourish our selves, our communities and our planet. Entry is limited to 200 guests, so reserve your slots soon.
Illustration of a flower holding up and presenting a human to another flower.
  • Newsletters
E-Newsletter Archive
An Archive of past issues of our bi-weekly newsletter.