May 8, 2024

A look at how the City of Baltimore successfully used principles of our targeted universalism (TU) framework to provide annual vision screenings for students and free eyeglasses.

Last month we published the second report in a series of case studies looking at how TU is being put into practice by local governments and organizations.

This latest report profiles the Vision for Baltimore (V4B) program which uses defining features of TU, even while the program itself was not designed through a deliberate application of the TU framework. V4B is a targeted strategy that helped students who were not getting vision screenings and the follow-up care they needed. At the same time, the program helped students who were failed by existing systems, as the resources were made available to everyone and ended up serving even more students.

Download this report, and see our 2020 case study of TU being put into action in Washington State's King County here. Find other resources related to TU here.

Belonging without Othering

We've just posted an excerpt to our blog page from the brand book co-authored by OBI director john a. powell and assistant director Stephen Menendian, called Belonging without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World. In it, they focus on bridging as a strategy to lay the groundwork for belonging. They write, "bridging does not mean that any individual or group must give up an identity that is meaningful to them. It is a practice for increasing empathy, compassion, and common ground that begins to erase lines drawn between groups on the basis of fear."

Check out the excerpt here, and learn more about the book and how to purchase it here.

Conference proceeds coming soon!

As you may know we hosted our 3-day Othering & Belonging Conference in Oakland late last month with more than 1,800 people in attendance. We're currently working on getting all our footage edited and will soon be sharing some high quality video clips of the different panels. We'll also have many photos from our beautiful gathering, and some testimonials left by attendees in our post-conference survey, and other resources to share with you all.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

In the meantime you can check out the livestream recordings from the three days on our YouTube page (see above). The videos include timestamps in the descriptions that will take you directly to the start of the different panels and speakers.

Last month The Los Angeles Review of Books launched an essay series led by Osagie Obasogie, who is an OBI faculty scholar in Public Health, and the Haas Distinguished Chair and Professor of Law at UC Berkeley, which explores the history of eugenics and the ways it shapes our present. Osagie's introductory essay, "Legacies of Eugenics," is now live, with many more articles soon to be published by leading thinkers in the field (we'll be including those pieces in future newsletters). This essay series is being supported by the Center for Genetics and Society, Berkeley Public Health, and our own institute.

An offering from our community

Enroll in "Theater for Social Change: Acts of Bridging & Belonging," an in-person summer workshop at UC Berkeley that explores OBI frameworks through collaborative, interdisciplinary performance. The workshop is open to students and the general public and begins July 1st — so enroll soon! The brilliant Chelsea Gregory leads the workshop; she is a member of the Belonging Resident Company and a lecturer in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Click here to learn more and register and email chelseagregory@berkeley.edu if you have any questions.

Check out our merch store for OBI swag

We're always adding new stuff to our swag catalog. We've got beanies and all types of clothing, posters, bags, mugs, and more. Visit our shop here.

In the News

• Our zoning reform tracker was cited in this NPR article, titled, "The hottest trend in U.S. cities? Changing zoning rules to allow more housing."
  
• During our Othering & Belonging Conference last month OBI transportation analyst Richard Aviles and artist Favianna Rodriguez were interviewed for the KPFA program La Onda Bajita.

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