We're mapping vulnerable regions in California
As part of the response to the current pandemic our Equity Metrics team has developed several sets of maps that identify at-risk populations throughout California who could suffer disproportionately as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak. This week we released more than 100 maps that look at:
- K-12 students using free or reduced-price meals
- High risk senior communities
- Hospital beds per capita by county
We are sharing these maps with aid organizations, government agencies, and media for both outreach and reporting to identify areas and populations most impacted by this crisis. "Given the urgency and importance of this unfolding pandemic, our team moved quickly to begin assessing the most at-risk populations and to provide policymakers and the public with critical information that may shape the response," says Stephen Menendian, assistant director of the Othering & Belonging Institute. "We plan to add much more to this in coming weeks and days."
Also: In case you missed it, read a letter sent out last week from our director john a. powell on the need for human connection during a time of spatial separation. The call for social solidarity will remain relevant and critical throughout the current pandemic.
|
|
New paper collection from our civic engagement project
 This week we published “Civic Engagement for Empowerment and Belonging,” a collection of papers that offers lessons to help organizers, strategists, donors, and others strengthen their work to expand participation in civic and political life. As Josh Clark writes in the collection’s introduction, whether people participate civically “is about socio-political systems and structures, and whether and for whom they confer a sense of civic belonging.” The collection includes previously-published pieces from Alicia Garza, Bob Fulkerson, Leo Murrieta, Marleine Bastien, Michael McBride, and Blueprint NC that make critical interventions on how civic engagement work can better extend belonging and build the power of under-represented groups.
|
|
Interactive timeline documents 400 years of African American history
Earlier this month we published an interactive timeline of African American history spanning 1619-2019 as part of UC Berkeley's 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice initiative. It includes almost 200 entries that chronicle legislation, court cases, battles and insurrections, foundings of Black institutions and social movements, as well as tragedy and struggle.
|
|
Ian Haney López on Bernie Sanders & the Race-Class Message
In a new episode of our Who Belongs? podcast Ian Haney Lopez, a professor of law at UC Berkeley and author of the new book Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America, gives us his take on the messages he hears coming out of the 2020 Democratic primary contest between Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, and what he thinks Bernie can do to strengthen his appeal for a multi-racial movement. Click for a recording and transcript of this interview.
|
|
|
|
Elise C. Boddie presents her research on school segregation.
|
|
The Struggle for the Soul of Public Education
On March 6 Elise C. Boddie, a Professor of Law at Rutgers Law School, presented a talk titled "The Struggle for the Soul of Public Education." She drew lessons from the frontlines of the battle to integrate public schools in New Jersey and discussed the peculiar challenges of northern integration and the demand it creates for multiple solutions that move beyond a strict focus on court-centered remedies. We've posted a video recording and transcript of the talk on our website. This talk was part of our institute's Research to Impact series, as well as UC Berkeley's 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice initiative.
|
|
News & Media
Eli Moore, manager of our California Community Partnerships program, was quoted in an article examining why Oakland has a small city within it.
Research by faculty cluster member Hilary Hoynes was featured in an article published on NYMag.com entitled "Coronavirus Exposes the Sickness of America’s Shoddy Welfare State."
Faculty scholar Karen Chapple was quoted in a Mercury News article entitled, "Poor grades for California cities on granny flats."
Research by scholar Emmanuel Saez was featured in an article about how income inequality has risen in Canada, but not evenly over time.
Saez also authored an op-ed in The Guardian entitled "This crisis calls for massive government intervention: here's how to do it," laying out a blueprint for how the state could respond to the economic downfall caused by the COVID-19 virus.
Faculty scholar Tina Sacks and a research collaborator won a grant to study the persistence of racial health disparities between upwardly mobile African Americans and whites.
Senior Fellow Mina Girgis was featured in an article published by San Francisco Classical Voice about Bay Area musical luminaries who are planning a tribute to Nubian musician Hamza El Din.
Faculty scholar Jesse Rothstein was quoted in a CalMatters blog entitled, "Virus crisis changes how we work."
|
|
Upcoming Events
Events that had been scheduled for March and April are either being cancelled, postponed, or evaluated due to the current pandemic. We'll be updating our event listings as we receive information from event organizers.
|
|
Positions at the Institute
B4B/Network Field Coordinator
The Institute’s Blueprint for Belonging (B4B) project is focused on analyzing and informing the development of strategic narrative infrastructure in California. The Field Coordinator will liaise with community partners, manage events and projects, and carry out qualitative research and data analysis or digital strategies. Learn more about this position.
|
|
|
