It's been 10 years since the Chevron refinery fire sickened 15,000 people in Richmond, CA. |
As part of the Community Belonging and Climate Futures series, our Taking Stock: Visioning Beyond the Refinery report asks city residents to consider what it will take to break their dependency on the mega-polluter. Created in collaboration with community members from Richmond, the report looks at the harms and benefits of the city's century-old Chevron Refinery, and what it will take to move towards a just transition from fossil fuels.
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The harms and dependencies of the fossil fuel industry in Richmond are far-reaching, from the air pollution affecting local residents’ health, to the payments of taxes and fees that fund city services, to the jobs and influence on government and policies. This research takes a deep look at this complicated relationship between the city's refinery and its residents. Click here to read this report.
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Case Study: Housing as Reparations?
In a research brief published last week, our summer fellow Connor Nakamura analyzed three cases in different cities across the country in which affordable housing and right-to-return principles were being used as a form of reparations for Black Americans. In the report, Nakamura looks at how cities like Evanston, Illinois, Santa Monica, California, and Berkeley are attempting to remedy their histories of housing discrimination and displacement through various programs intended to benefit people affected by those policies. Check out this fascinating research here.
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Blog: We Can't Have Climate Justice Without Global Justice
Earlier this month President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which is the single largest US policy effort to address the climate crisis, while also investing in jobs. In a new blog post, OBI policy analyst Dr. Hossein Ayazi takes a more critical view of the legislation, and US energy policy at large, placing them within a capitalist framework that undermines international movements for justice and belonging. Read this important opinion piece here, and see Dr. Ayazi's new journal article published in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, which provides the theoretical foundation for his argument.
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UCB students: Enroll in a course on Bridging! |
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If you're a UCB student looking for a one-credit course, boy do we have one for you! This Fall there's a new, student-led course which uses our othering and belonging framework to examine bridging. Throughout the semester students will learn from each other and help to better understand various lived experiences with the intent to develop empathy, compassion, and understanding for all walks of life. Learn more about this course here, and please help us spread the word!
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Podcast: Building Bridges Over the Hills |
Tune into Who Belongs? for a new episode of the Bridging to Belonging miniseries. OBI summer fellow Nicole Li spoke to Sharon Dunn and Gwen Johnson — two members of Hands Across the Hills, a grassroots group building bridges between rural Massachusetts and Kentucky coal country. They share their experiences of overcoming difference and building empathy through structured dialogue and cultural exchange.
Listen to the show here or wherever you get your podcasts. Li also authored a case study on the group's bridging experience that you can read here.
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Film Screening: “Refuge”: A Story of Facing Hate With Humanity
Come together online or in-person in San Francisco for a World Affairs watch party happening today, Wednesday, August 31 at 5:00 PM PT and enjoy a screening of the award-winning film "Refuge", a story about fear and love in the American South, and post-event discussion and Q+A which will include OBI Director john a. powell. As cultural and political divisions continue to stretch local and global community bonds toward a breaking point, what can we learn from a story of hate and hope, difference and reconciliation? Learn more here.
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Event: Solidarity and Belonging: Our Economy, Our Planet, Our Movements
How can understanding othering and belonging give us tools for full economic inclusion? Join us September 7, 12 - 1:30 PM PT / 3 - 4:30 PM ET for a conversation featuring john powell, Manuel Pastor, and Jung Hee Choi that will explore the intersections of belonging and solidarity — the tools we need to create thriving families and communities. The hour-long discussion will be followed by a half hour discussion in breakout groups for participants to get to know each other's work and to deep dive into the potential for belonging and solidarity economics.
Learn more about belonging here and about "solidarity economics" here. |
Event: Can we belong in a world of othering?
Taking the promise of getting along as an entry point into an exploration of authoritarian populism, racism, activist burnout, hope, and the hidden costs of victory, we invite you to join us for the Democracy & Belonging Forum's first event in the ongoing series The Edges in the Middle: Rethinking Justice, Hope, and Belonging on September 6, 2022 (8:00 AM - 9:00 AM PST / 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM CET), where Democracy & Belonging Forum Global Senior Fellow Dr. Bayo Akómoláfé and OBI Director john a. powell will examine mainstream assumptions that reduce belonging to a “we-all-get-along” inclusivity.
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Event: Indigenous Memory and Nature Interact — Native Californian Stories
Join indigenous leader and author Greg Sarris and literature professor Beth Piatote on Friday, September 2, 2022 at 11:30am in the Osher Theater at BAMPFA for a conversation (in-person and virtual) on how literature and nature intersect with stories of Bay Area Native American history. Sarris will share insights about Coast Miwok culture and landscapes to frame a dialogue about Native American resistance and persistence. This is the first talk in the series A Year on Angel Island, with subsequent events every Friday. Check the project's event calendar for more info.
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Students and faculty are invited to join a weekly Townsend Working Group to develop storytelling, performance and art about migration and incarceration. Meetings start Wednesday, September 7 from 10 am-12 pm at the BCNM Commons, 340 Moffitt (outside the Free Speech Movement Cafe). Learn more here.
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Pick up some of our stuff!
We have so much cool stuff in our swag store we know you're going to love! Posters, clothing, bags, mugs, and more! Visit our shop here! |
We currently have one staff position and two student positions open:
For all current openings, check our jobs page. |
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