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...
Illustration of Panel of Good Conflict
  • Blog
  • October 21, 2021
The Role of Religion in Bridging Work
"When I took my shahada," said Curtis Toler, "my past sins were erased and I could start a new life." Curtis had spent many years as a high-ranking gang leader in Chicago, and he had hurt many people. But he had reached what author Amanda Ripley...
A young Black child wearing glasses smiles a big toothy grin while hanging on a playground bar.
  • Blog
  • October 26, 2021
Reimagining Revenue Measures by Centering Community Voices
Introduction California’s convoluted system for raising revenue is not transparent, and confusing to the general public. Unless they closely follow wonky budgeting and legislative news, most people typically don’t learn about upcoming revenue...
Haitian refugees
  • Blog
  • September 23, 2021
Blog: The US Owes a Debt to Haiti and to Haitian Migrants
The scenes of Haitian migrants being herded like cattle and whipped like slaves by Border Patrol agents on horseback at the US-Mexico border at Del Rio, Texas are typical of how Haitians have been treated since the 1804 Haitian revolution. Haiti is...
A worker pondering
  • Blog
  • September 13, 2021
Blog: Locating a Dignified Future in the Future of Work
There is solid basis for concern when setting sights on a dignified labor sector in the future from the vantage point of current indignities suffered by many workers. The impact of technology in labor has a long history in economic analysis. The rise...
Voting Booths
  • Blog
  • July 30, 2021
Blog: Should Non-citizens be Allowed to Vote in Local Elections?
This past Tuesday evening, upon invitation, I spoke before the Richmond, California, City Council on a topic upon which I conducted considerable prior research: non-citizen voting in municipal elections. The experience was one of the most...
Anti- CRT protesters
  • Blog
  • July 13, 2021
Blog: The backlash is here: Behind the absurd attacks on 'Critical Race Theory'
In mid-April, I noticed something strange was happening. Across mainstream media, but especially conservative/ right-wing media, there was a spate of articles and op-eds attacking the notion of “equity.”
Blog: From Tulsa, Texas, to Turkey: The Price of Denial
  • Blog
  • June 2, 2021
From Tulsa, Texas, to Turkey: The Price of Denial
There has been a spate of recent media coverage and documentaries to mark the 100-year anniversary of the massacre. But this panorama of coverage is in striking contrast to how this event was originally covered by the media, let alone addressed by public authorities.
George Floyd memorial protesters
  • Blog
  • May 25, 2021
Blog: Pain of police killings ripples outward to traumatize Black people and communities across US
It’s been one year since George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer set off the largest protests in U.S. history and a national reckoning with racism. Beyond the protests, every police killing – indeed, every violent act by police toward...

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.
Cover of book
Feb
16
  • February 16, 2022, 5pm PST
The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes Religious Freedom

This hybrid event will be held in person at Social Science Matrix, 820 Social Sciences Building, on the UC Berkeley campus. Physical attendance will be limited to 35 guests.

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.