Podcast: Building Bridges Over the Hills

In this episode, we speak with Sharon Dunn and Gwen Johnson — two members of Hands Across the Hills (HATH), a grassroots group working to build bridges between communities in rural Western Massachusetts and in the Eastern Kentucky coal country...

john a. powell presents before the World Health Organisation

A global webinar was held on 31 August 2022 to: Shed light on the injustices and systemic discrimination that people of African descent often face and its impact on health; Describe how processes of “othering” influence the health of people of...

Taking Stock: Visioning Beyond the Refinery

Richmond, CA has been called a "refinery town" because of the widely-felt presence of Chevron's oil refinery in the city. But what is the actual web of relationships between the oil refinery and the Richmond community?

We Can't Have Climate Justice Without Global Justice

On August 16, 2022, US President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law. The IRA is the largest explicit investment for mitigating climate change in federal history, and a concerted effort to mitigate the pronounced economic pressures faced by Americans...

Affordable Housing as Local Reparations for Black Americans: Case Studies

This case study report seeks to illuminate the activism, parameters, and intended outcomes of city programs for property redress as a form of reparations.

Introducing our inaugural Global Senior Fellow

We are proud to announce that author, poet, and public intellectual Báyò Akómoláfé has joined the Democracy & Belonging Forum as its inaugural Global Senior Fellow . In this role, Bayo will act as the Forum’s “provocateur in residence”, guiding Forum...

Answering the Call to Build Equitable Housing

On August 11, Assistant Director Stephen Menendian participated on a panel organized by SPUR on the legacy of housing discrimination in the Bay Area, and discussing the new statewide policy to purge racially restrictive covenants from housing deeds.

Video: The 'Perfect' Baby?: The Dangers of Gene Editing in Assisted Reproduction

Gene editing technology like CRISPR may have potential to treat diseases, but does editing future generations go too far? In this August 9 event, we heard renowned bioethicist Françoise Baylis, reproductive justice activist Nourbese Flint, and...

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...

The Pervasiveness of Islamophobia in the United States

This report was submitted in July 2022 to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in review of the US government’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Othering and Belonging in a Europe in crisis

In the age of the politics of emotions, the feeling of belonging has a lot to do with individual experiences. Confidence in the future, or the perception of lack of opportunities, can be a determining factor in a citizen’s relationship with their community...

Exclusionary zoning covers 77 percent of Sacramento region

Seventy-seven percent of residential land in northern California's Sacramento region is reserved for single-family housing, according to this new study.

Single-Family Zoning in the Sacramento Region

Introduction The authors would like to thank Othering and Belonging Institute graduate student researcher Shahan Shahid Nawaz for his invaluable assistance in helping build the repository of municipal maps that made this analysis possible as well as...

Cash for Californians

Introduction To meaningfully advance economic justice, we must enhance existing government systems and create new supports targeted to residents most impacted by inequality. In 2019, more than one in three California residents was considered poor or...

Engineering For Perfection

Download a PDF of this report. CRISPR and other methods of gene editing have captured the public imagination, spurring countless lectures, articles, and think pieces about how this technology can shape humanity. Many of these conversations are...

Explore Othering and Belonging

Targeted Universalism Case Study: Vision for Baltimore

Vision for Baltimore (V4B) is a successful program at Baltimore City Schools (BCS) designed to provide annual vision screenings for all students and, when necessary, to provide follow-up eye exams and eyeglasses at no cost to families. Download PDF...
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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...

The Power of Bridging

A research-backed guide for building bridges across difference in any area of our lives, from esteemed civil rights scholar john a. powell. We don't want to live in a society in turmoil. In the US, 93 percent of people want to reduce divisiveness...