Blueprint for Belonging (B4B)

B4B is a collaborative project whose work is informed by a deep and ongoing analysis of how racial inequality, dominant narratives, and our too-often siloed movements aren't meeting the challenge of shifting California to be equitable and inclusive for all. The project has defined the need for and advances work around: developing a responsive and visionary strategic 'meta-narrative'; building alignment around work that advances that narrative; and building a sustainable infrastructure with the capacity and nimbleness to work deeply and at scale. By working at intersections that shape Californians' views and opinions on policy and of each other, B4B aims to generate infrastructure that results in a new broader and inclusive "we" underpinned by a strategic narrative that can withstand the strategic othering and racism that fuels politics and government.

B4B works in community power building, civic engagement, government, media, labour, philanthropy, faith, advocacy, academia, policy, and legal. In the first year of the project, B4B built a network of organisations and networks engaged in the work of strategic narrative and gathered insight into questions they deem critical for developing a framework for understanding meta-narrative. B4B also created and tested original expressions of a new meta-narrative.

Some of the outcomes of this process are shared on the B4B hub on the Haas Insititue website. For example, among the B4B papers is Rashad Robinson's Changing Our Narrative About Narrative, which presents a high-level outline of some of the components of strategic thinking for creating "the right story about narrative change within the progressive movement, with a focus on the components related to building the infrastructure we need to build what [Robinson] call[s] narrative power."

Also available at the B4B hub are various B4B videos, such as the one below, and audio files, including a conversation between Haas Institute Director john powell and Christina Livingston, the Executive Director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). Called "The Battle of the Narratives: Organizing for Transformative Change," this conversation focuses on issues facing 21st century social justice movements, highlighting the need for advocates to organise around a shared story that has a radical analysis and that resonates with people's lived experience.

In December 2017, B4B fielded a statewide public opinion poll to better understand the interaction of Californians' intergroup and identity perceptions with their attitudes towards several policy goals, social values, and responses to messages based on a strategic narrative. The "California Survey on Othering and Belonging: Views on Identity, Race and Politics" gathered and analysed data on Californians' attitudes in various areas, such as racial equity, immigration, and the role of government, and how those attitudes interact with individual and group identities and unconscious biases. To read more about it, click here.

The next major phase of the B4B is focusing on analysing and building the movement's infrastructure to shift meta-narrative, and developing and piloting the tools to do so. B4B is also continuing the collaborative process of refining expressions of the meta-narrative and offering meta-narrative 101 trainings. As part of this process, B4B has created a curriculum on strategic narrative that is designed to build the capacity of people in the social justice movement field to analyse and strategise using the B4B framework for strategic narrative. Designed to be accessible and relevant to community organisers and communications specialists, it includes 1) facilitator agendas that leaders can customise and use in trainings and strategy sessions; 2) a slide deck that covers basic concepts related to strategic narrative and strategic analysis; and 3) supporting materials like images, handouts, worksheets, supplemental readings, and videos that complement the training.

Conferences such as Othering & Belonging gatherings, whose topic is "how do we think about, talk about, and give birth to a world where all belong?", help establish deeper relationships and an interactive feedback loop designed to support and disseminate the work of B4B and strategic narrative.

Democracy and Governance, Narrative Change, Rights

The following words from the Haas Institute explain in part the B4B focus on the state of California: "Following the 2016 US presidential election, which saw the election of a candidate notorious for his exclusionary views and statements on people of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities, California quickly became known as the de facto face of opposition. Progressive leaders and organizations in the Golden State, long known as a bastion of new ideas and richly diverse people, worked swiftly to organize against the new president's anti-inclusion, pro-corporate, agenda, which included attacks on DREAMers [young people impacted by the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act] and a travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries."

The Haas Institute brings "leading researchers and substantial resources across disciplines to bear on society's pressing and pivotal issues related to equity, inclusion, and diversity. The institute will serve as a national hub for a vibrant network of researchers and community partners and will take a leadership role in translating, communicating, and facilitating research, policy, and strategic engagement to produce change and make a meaningful impact. While the Haas Institute clusters engage in high-impact, interdisciplinary research, the institute itself will respond to issues that require immediate action and will engage in innovative communications that re-frame public discourse."