Are you looking for an antidote to authoritarianism? Check out the latest from the Bridging for Democracy (B4D) project, a coalition of grassroots organizations that canvass door-to-door nationwide to bridge differences. Full story: https://belonging.berkeley.edu/long-bridging-rewiring-democracy

Join us Thursday, Feb 5, 9:30 am PST as we share innovative strategies for bridging across differences in CA and around the country. What happens if we organize beyond our usual base? Register today! bit.ly/oc-bridging

#OBI director john powell: There are moments when a society must pause — not to look away, but to look more carefully. Moments when we are asked not simply to react, but to reflect. To ask what kind of people we are becoming, and what kind of world we are quietly consenting to build.

In Minnesota, amid fear and violence, we see courage and connection. Where terror attempts to isolate, a powerful multiracial movement of neighbors has responded with linked arms. Full OBI statement: belonging.berkeley.edu/what-fierce-...

I'm thrilled to share this episode of the @obi-belonging.bsky.social's Real Solutions podcast, in which Sierra Kos of @weathersurvivors.bsky.social & I discuss climate-related disasters & solutions to increase community resilience & household financial safety nets. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...

"The choice is actually more up to us than it is up to them." - Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, speaking at What I Saw in Gaza: A Surgeon's Account In "What I Saw in Gaza: A Surgeon’s Account," Dr. Sidhwa provides eyewitness testimony as a trauma surgeon serving in the Gaza Strip.

Great work happening at the Othering and Belonging Institute @obi-belonging.bsky.social. #Belonging #Othering belonging.berkeley.edu/belonging-wi...

"Reclaiming spaces that once confined women against their will…can itself serve as a form of reparations." nonprofitquarterly.org/reclaiming-t...

The global effort to decarbonize is speeding up, but who is setting the rules? New research from OBI's Global Justice Program reveals how communities across the Asia-Pacific are rejecting "green growth." Read the report here: belonging.berkeley.edu/asia-pacific...

📌📢IN-PERSON EVENT📢📌Join us Dec 2 for the launch of 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦: 𝘌𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘜𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘶𝘯 𝘝𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦, a new book from Jason Corburn and DeVone Boggan exploring how community-based approaches can end gun violence. Register for free at https://bit.ly/advancing-peace-dec2

In our latest blog post OBI's Equity Metrics director Samir Gambhir reflects on a recent trip to the Holocaust Museum in Berlin, and the pledge we made as an international community to "Never Again" repeat the horrors of that experience. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/never-again

Registration for #BuildingTogether2026 is now open! Join me in Seattle, May 4-7, to explore the skills, strategies, and relationships needed to connect and collaborate across differences. Register now. cof.org/building-tog...

Important Announcement: #OBCONF26 will now take place on October 9-10, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. We understand this change may affect your plans, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact us at [email protected] if we can assist in easing any difficulties.

watching this talk on the new(-ish) Belonging Without Othering book from @obi-belonging.bsky.social and i just love it so much it gives me so much hope for the world, more hope than anything stereotypically radical ever has

This is excellent, by john a powell at the Othering & Belonging Insitute @obi-belonging.bsky.social. "We must also be careful not to slip into demonizing those we disagree with." belonging.berkeley.edu/what-we-do

another thing i like to do (when not raising alarms abt #CrisisLines) is share beautiful, important, human, creative, hopeful, voices. What you might not otherwise find. Starting w #NaimaGreen but explore the project #CulturesOfCare @obi-belonging.bsky.social belonging.berkeley.edu/cultures-of-...

@PolicyWise.com is sharing resources to empower the social-serving community. Explore a new toolkit by @obi-belonging.bsky.social aimed at empowering community leaders to gain influence, reshape narratives, and drive policy change through transformative research. Learn more at: buff.ly/MLBDmsx

🎨 Welcoming America 🎨 The Center For Third World Organizing 🎨 @gmfus.bsky.social 🎨 @worldcitiesculture.bsky.social 🎨 Narrative Arts 🎨 @obi-belonging.bsky.social 🎨 People's Action 🎨 The Opportunity Agenda 🎨 Berkeley Media Studies Group 🎨 @narrativepower.bsky.social 🎨 Transgender Law Center

Structural racism — or the way systems like housing, education, employment and justice create racial disparities without overtly racist actors — is a concept that is often “deeply misunderstood,” according to Stephen Menendian at @obi-belonging.bsky.social. news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/14/w...

"A belonging story also honors and celebrates difference—race, gender, religion, and all types of group identity are not rendered invisible in service to a larger, universal story or short-term political project." - john a. powell Full #FightForward Essay: belonging.berkeley.edu/belonging-st...

We're hiring! Assistant Professor — Disparities and Education Policy. This faculty position is for someone whose scholarship addresses the goals of the Education Policy Cluster of the @obi-belonging.bsky.social. aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF04211

@PolicyWise.com is sharing resources to empower the social-serving community. Explore a new toolkit by @obi-belonging.bsky.social aimed at empowering community leaders to gain influence, reshape narratives, and drive policy change through transformative research. Learn more at: buff.ly/MLBDmsx

Who Is Included in and Who Will Fight for “We the Civic”? nonprofitquarterly.org/who-is-inclu... - john a. powell, @obi-belonging.bsky.social - @npquarterly.bsky.social

Excellent from john a powell at @obi-belonging.bsky.social at Berkely, where bosses acceded to Trump's demand for list of names. "To fight forward means to defend rights not simply to preserve the past, but to carve out a future where belonging is real." belonging.berkeley.edu/fighting-for...

Stephen Menendian, the director of research at @obi-belonging.bsky.social, has spent over 15 years studying structural racism. Watch him explain how most of the mechanisms that form structural racism have taken shape in the post-Civil Rights era. youtu.be/y1DA6P3QQNM?...

(En)Gendering Authoritarianism: This project explores how authoritarian movements leverage and weaponize gender to divide society and opposition movements, and lay the groundwork for authoritarian power consolidation and violence. belonging.berkeley.edu/engendering-... by @obi-belonging.bsky.social

What's Gender got to do with Authoritarianism? Theory: (En)Gendering Authoritarianism belonging.berkeley.edu/engendering-... Practice: Texas Professor Fired After Accusations of Teaching 'Gender Ideology' www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/u... @obi-belonging.bsky.social

We are hiring for three positions: Development Director, Research Associate, and Climate Agrarian Justice Student Research Assistant. You can find full details about each position, including pay and benefits, here: belonging.berkeley.edu/positions-ot...

Research director of UC Berkeley’s @obi-belonging.bsky.social Stephen Menendian explains how a complex web of systems perpetuates racism — and proposes policies to right these wrongs in his new book. news.berkeley.edu/2025/07/28/f...

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our horror and outrage at Israel's forced starvation and ceaseless bombings of Gaza. We invite people from all institutions to sign onto this letter, or use it to create your own. Sign #StopStarvingGaza Letter now: belonging.berkeley.edu/letter-stop-...

🧵1/4 This Resource Guide for Belonging-Builders by the @obi-belonging.bsky.social (OBI) is just what I needed to read this week. 🌟Download their free guide acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:...

We’re excited to share our Resource Guide for Belonging-Builders, a helpful tool that summarizes these frameworks and assists you in applying them within your communities. Your involvement is not just appreciated; it's vital. Read the guide today: belonging.berkeley.edu/resource-gui...

ICYMI: Preparing for AI + Foundations Fight Back + Asking for Help is Good + Jobs — Read our June Newsletter here: mailchi.mp/comnetwork/j... Special shoutouts to @apnews.com, @obi-belonging.bsky.social, @propublica.org, @kff.org, @easibey.bsky.social, @gailfuller.bsky.social, and more!

I'm listening to webinar introducing a book titled "Structural Racism" hosted by @obi-belonging.bsky.social. I encourage others to watch when you get time. belonging.berkeley.edu/structural-r...

From @obi-belonging.bsky.social's book talk conversation about @smenendian.bsky.social's new book

ooooh watching the premiere of the book launch for “structural racism” by the author (steven menendian (sp?)) and creator of the concept (john a powell) from the othering and belonging institute!!! @obi-belonging.bsky.social

This is really useful, by Miriam Juan-Torres González at the Othering and Belonging Institute @obi-belonging.bsky.social #Authoritarianism #Resources belonging.berkeley.edu/authoritaria...

Crisis reveals who we are. #OBI director, john a. powell, cuts through the noise: the "immigrant crime wave" is a manufactured lie designed to divide + dehumanize. Our strength is in our shared humanity. Read john's powerful take: belonging.berkeley.edu/john-powell-...

🎙️ON AIR: We're speaking w/ @ucberkeley.bsky.social's @owasow.bsky.social and @wired.com's @couts.bsky.social to look back at times when protests have been successful instigators of change, and times when protests may have hurt a movement. ❓How do protests persuade audiences? 📻 Listen:

Si te preocupa la deriva autoritaria que vivimos, esto te interesa: Míriam Juan-Torres (@obi-belonging.bsky.social‬) explicará cómo los ataques de la derecha reaccionaria a los movimientos feministas y LGTBIQ+ son una avanzadilla de su estrategia antidemocracia. ✍️ us6.list-manage.com/survey?u=8d0...

5/12 6pm @kalwradio.bsky.social Lew Stringer shares efforts to support rare butterfly return to SF @presidiosf.bsky.social Stephen Menendian @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @obi-belonging.bsky.social institute joins us to discuss fair housing. Travel tips from Matt Kepnes @nomadicmatt.bsky.social

Join us at ComNet25 Denver for a Learning Lab from @obi-belonging.bsky.social! Attendees will: - Join a exploration of how well-intentioned efforts may be causing harm - Reimagine the frontline role comms plays - Learn tools and framing strategies - Hear research about zero sum thinking

New research on racial segregation in the San Francisco Bay Area from @smenendian.bsky.social @obi-belonging.bsky.social finds a strong correlation between restrictive zoning & racial segregation: belonging.berkeley.edu/race-racial-...

Anyone else tuning in later today?

Our North American Equity Data Convening begins tomorrow! This free, day-long event will feature researchers, activists, journalists, and practitioners from across North America to explore how data can advance social equity and belonging. Register for #naed25 belonging.berkeley.edu/north-americ...

"I think we are in a crisis of imagination, and so I feel like the more we imagine and we ping pong to each other ideas that are out of what we are, programmed to think, the better we can raise our own liberation as a collective." -Siouar Douss from our Rights, Equity, Dignity & Social justice

#OBI Impact Story: How Libraries Can Be Places of Belonging Author and public space advocate Shamichael Hallman discusses how the frameworks of belonging inspired him to rethink the role of libraries as vital spaces for connection and community. Read more: belonging.berkeley.edu/impact-story...

You don’t have to “poet” alone. You can join @ageedubb.bsky.social for a free Inclusion Poetry Workshop at today's OBI Book Club. Time: 11:30 to 1:00 PM PT. Full details are on OBIU.org.

CGS and @obi-belonging.bsky.social are co-sponsoring a conversation with Diane Tober @dianetober.bsky.social on her new book, Eggonomics: The Global Market in Human Eggs and the Donors Who Supply Them on Friday, April 18 from 12-1:30 pm PT. Register here: belonging.berkeley.e...

Five years after COVID-19, Berkeley researchers are documenting the human story of its global toll on specific communities within the Asian American diaspora. news.berkeley.edu/2025/03/21/t...