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Home with a Purpose, A History of the Safe Return Project
How did a group of formerly incarcerated people develop the power and capacity to lead an effort that made Contra Costa County the only county in California to reject a proposed jail expansion? This report answers these questions and more by analyzing the formation, development, and impact of the Safe Return Project.
Comprised of Richmond residents addressing the needs of formerly incarcerated individuals as they return to society, the Safe Return Project offers a case study on how the power of the community can transform strikes against some of their members into assets that produce positive results that not only help their own but also influence policy that helps heal. The community around the Safe Return Project can help refocus and rewrite the national narrative around incarceration and reentry.
This report offers an in-depth analysis of the Project, including challenges, successes, and key lessons from the organization's work in Richmond. Read the report.
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This Is How Trump Convinces His Supporters They’re Not Racist
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In a powerful and evocative op-ed published by The Nation, Racial Politics Project Director Ian Haney López details how Republican Presidential candidate Donald's Trump rhetoric is overtly racist while still maintaining a discreet dog whistle that convinces his supporters that his words and stances are not. Disagreeing with pundits that Trump is no longer using dog whistle politics to evoke fear of the Other in the hearts of his followers, López noted, "They’re right and wrong—Trump has jettisoned one part of dog-whistle politics, but continued another." The current language being used is both more egregious and offensive, yet he is still maintaining similar levels of attention and command. López notes, "Were Trump to campaign explicitly on white solidarity, he would come nowhere near winning the three or more in five white votes that he needs to become president." Read the article.
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Expanding the Circle of Human Concern
Racism and the Narrative of Biological Inevitability
“Does my having implicit bias invalidate my egalitarianism?” “Will other people think of me as racist?” “Am I, at a deep and unconscious level, immutably racist?”
These are some of the questions that people ask of themselves when confronted with concept of implicit bias. In a new piece by Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton and Amanda Danielle Perez, the idea of unconscious bias being a barometer for internalized racism is challenged with the help of neuroscience. The authors explore what racism is, and what it isn't, and how we can change the narrative that we've been implicitly and explicitly taught. Read the article.
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Our New Othering & Belonging Journal
Combining research, editorials, the arts, and other projects, pieces, and reflections on creating a more inclusive society, the Othering & Belonging journal is a fresh look at where we are and where we want to go.
This first issue features pieces such as "Trump, The Tea Party, The Republicans and the Other," "The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging," "Reflections on Policing: Organizers in Five Communities Speak Out," and more. Read and share.
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Can We Tell a Different Story?
In a widely shared piece about recent events that have "ripped at the heart of America," our Director john a. powell urges us to reach for a new story. He wrote, "This story requires a new language that is not binary. A language that can hold respect for the police while challenging structures that do not serve us well. This requires dropping the impossible demand that blacks must first prove that their lives matter. This requires being willing to ask more of the black community, but not the impossible.This requires asking more of the white community, but not the impossible. This requires recognizing that the black, white, brown, Asian, Native American, and mixed race communities are all our America. This requires that we be willing to do things differently, whether it’s in how we fund and populate our schools and police departments to how we approach guns and violence in our society." Read the article.
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Hope to see you tomorrow at Paul Pierson's Thinking Ahead event.

We are thrilled to host a conversation and social mixer in downtown Oakland tomorrow night at Citizen Engagement Laboratory with UC Berkeley professor Paul Pierson. Paul's 2010 book "Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class," co-authored with Jacob Hacker, was described as “the clearest explanation yet of the forces that converged over the past three decades or so to undermine the economic well-being of ordinary Americans” by the New York Times. Tomorrow, Paul will be discussing his new co-authored book "American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper" which covers how an effective government once helped us achieve unprecedented prosperity and how it can again today tackle extreme inequality and end racial economic exclusion.
Stop by after work tomorrow for discussion and social time with Paul and fellow community members engaged in "Thinking Ahead" for big ideas to tackle extreme inequality, end racial economic exclusion, and create lasting change. RSVP at: haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/thinkingahead.
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Journal Editor for Othering and Belonging
We are seeking an Experienced Editor with demonstrated publishing and editorial experience to help launch and grow a new online and print publication entitled Othering & Belonging: Expanding the Circle of Human Concern. Learn more about this position and how to apply.
Deadline: August 19, 2016.
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Agroecological Fellows Program
The UC Gill Tract Community Farm (UCGTCF) is excited to announce the launch of our new Agroecological Fellows Program (AFP) for current UC Berkeley students for the Fall 2016–Spring 2017 academic year. The main goal of the AFP is to provide valuable experiential learning opportunities for the growing number of students interested in: food justice, agroecology, urban farming, community-based organizations, non-profit administration, and equitable economies; allowing them to become successful change-makers.
Each fellowship position is for 10 hours per week, with a remuneration of $12/hour for undergraduate students or $15/hr for graduate students. The fellowship starts in September 2016 and ends in April 2017.
Fellows Positions: Farm Management, Campus and Community Partnership, Outreach and Communications, Fundraising. Details of the application and each position, in our website.
Application Deadline: Monday August 29, 2016, 5:00 PM.
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