A rebellious brand born in Barcelona sways the weight of language

The seas off the coast of Spain are starting to warm up, and in a day of calm seas, migrants set out to Europe, packed tightly into light boats called ‘cayucos’. It is a difficult trip, but one worth it...

Study: Hawaii most inclusive state for 4th straight year; Sweden tops global rankings

BERKELEY: Hawaii is the most inclusive state in the country, a new study from UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute finds, followed by Nevada and Rhode Island. The rankings for 2021, released Tuesday, gave Hawaii the top spot for the fourth...

Video: Cultures of Care launch event

On April 4, 2022 we celebrated the launch of our Cultures of Care project with a fantastic panel of care practitioners who talked about what care means to them, and why it matters more than ever today. This project was initiated in the fall of 2020...

Video: Guide to Mapping Race and Housing Segregation in the US

This instructional video shows users how to use our interactive segregation mapping tool which was released in 2021 as part of our Roots of Structural Racism project. The mapping tool allows users to view the levels of segregation anywhere in the US...

Video: Rifts and Revelations

On March 31 we hosted this conversation about how religion has shaped responses to Covid-19 in the United States. It looked at the impact of the pandemic on religious communities, ideas of health and wellness, and the relationship between law and...

Video: Local Histories of Segregation

On Wednesday, March 30 we hosted three brilliant authors who have helped create reports on local histories of segregation for the San Francisco Bay Area and Hartford, Connecticut. They shared their stories as well as their research processes and...

2021 Annual Report

At OBI, we aim to not just produce new research or analytical frameworks, but to share that knowledge to our communities and develop practices for building just futures. This report recaps the work we did in 2021 — summarizing just some of our key events, publications, and activities — and features a letter penned by Director john a. powell.

Citizens not Consumers or Subjects

“The poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he,” said Rainsborough, “and therefore truly, Sir, I think it’s clear that every man that is to live under a government ought first by his own consent to put himself under that government...

Radical Kindness

In March 2020, just eight days into the first coronavirus lockdown, Janet Lymer, like thousands of others across the UK, was setting up a volunteer group to support people in need in her local area of Calderdale. Calder Community Cares mobilised...

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...

Video: The Defiant Middle book talk

On March 14 we hosted author Kaya Oakes for a book talk about her recently published The Defiant Middle: How Women Claim Life's In-Betweens to Remake the World. This talk was followed by a conversation with History professor Ronit Stahl, Interim...

Video: Keeping it Unreal Book Talk

On March 10 we hosted OBI faculty scholar Darieck Scott and colleagues from across the country for an online conversation about his new book, Keeping It Unreal: Comics and Black Queer Fantasy.

Motherwork in Sweden's racialized suburbs

In 2015 a group of Swedish-Somali mothers came together to organise as mothers against the deadly violence in their neighbourhood and to promote safety by night patrolling and conducting other community-based activities. The mothers live in one of Sweden’s racialised suburbs...

Berkeley study: 78 percent of LA region residential land zoned for exclusionary housing

Single-family housing dominates residential zoning in six-county LA region, producing unequal health, educational and income outcomes, and creating opportunity barriers for low-income, Black and Latino residents. BERKELEY: More than three-quarters...

Single-Family Zoning in Greater Los Angeles

Single-family housing dominates residential zoning in six-county LA region, producing unequal health, educational and income outcomes, and creating opportunity barriers for low-income, Black and Latino residents.

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E-Newsletter Archive

An Archive of past issues of our bi-weekly newsletter.
Jun
30

Structural Racism Book Launch

Join us on June 30 for a virtual conversation among three Berkeley experts on the nature and causes of racial inequality, how to think about the problem of racial inequality, and what should be done about it. They will be...

Blog: Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter tour is a reclamation of belonging in America

Othering and Belonging Institute’s Jose Richard Aviles reflects on their experience at “Queen Bey’s” Cowboy Carter tour performances in L.A., and how it helped them to radically imagine a new world. I didn’t grow up with much country music—save one...