Also catalogued elsewhere

A starting point for anyone committed to disentangling and unraveling harmful narratives and to weaving new ones grounded in racial solidarity. Here, folks will find key concepts and definitions, practical tools for integrating narrative strategy into your work, and frameworks that illustrate how Race Forward is investing in long-term narrative change.

“The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.” – James Baldwin

Overview

Narrative IS power.

The stories, messages, and narratives we repeat over time and across communities shape mindsets, actions, policies, outcomes, culture, and material conditions. Narratives rooted in our collective values shape our analysis of problems and solutions, and guide our actions.

For generations, communities of color have understood and wielded the power of narratives – interwoven stories, messages and images – to shift peopleʼs hearts and minds and (re)shape public institutions and policies in service of ending systemic racism. We have used this power to make our vision of a liberated future deeply felt, one where everyone can thrive through community self-determination and have a democratic say in the governance of our communities.

In this moment of continued escalating attacks on racial equity and vulnerable communities through division and wedge narratives, we need narrative strategies that activate solidarity as a practice, co governance, and collective action towards racial justice across all of our work.

But, narrative works both ways.

Narrative Tool

We need narratives that activate solidarity thinking and practice and that emphasize the need for interconnection through equitable systems, policies, and cultures that benefit all of us.

This Narrative Strategy Worksheet is an example of how we can align our deep narratives, narratives, stories, and messages to align with our visions for equitable futures.

Definitions

‘Deep Narrative’

Narratives, in turn, are held together by underlying frameworks and values we call “deep narratives.” These deep narratives constitute values and worldviews, the ways in which people understand their world.

Narrative Change

While strategic communication is important in narrative change, the two are not the same. Narrative Change is longer term work that aims to shift societal values and worldviews in order to achieve some type of large scale social change. Strategic communications is one of multiple strategies that is time bound and can be enacted for narrative change.

Narrative Power

Building narrative power means reshaping the stories that define our society—amplifying those rooted in that define our society—amplifying those rooted in equity, purpose, justice, and liberation until they rise equity, purpose, justice, and liberation until they rise above the harmful ones we’ve inherited.

When we above the harmful ones we’ve inherited.

When we change the narrative, we change culture—transforming beliefs, values, and everyday practices to reflect the world we know is possible.

Narrative Ecosystem

We define a narrative ecosystem as a network of connected individuals and organizations that can share knowledge, expertise, skills, ideas, capacities, and work to advance a narrative change and build narrative power across a diversity of fronts and along different timelines. Narrative change requires a narrative ecosystem where we each have a role to play in weaving new narratives of racial solidarity.

Narrative Infrastructure

Consists of a collection of coordinated and organized systems, resources and capacities, relationships, and systems, resources and capacities, relationships, and platforms and institutions needed to build, strengthen, scale and sustain narrative power.

A narrative strategy that builds power requires more than disseminating helpful narratives into mainstream consciousness. Building power requires a long-term infrastructure that will sustain our work to shift mindsets and enable us to scale.

That infrastructure includes: research, convening, curricula and training, membership networks, coalition curricula and training, membership networks, coalition, building, cohorts for support and strategizing, labs, evaluation/learning loops, iterative practice, leadership development, shared toolkits and research.

At the heart of a strong and sustainable narrative infrastructure are diverse narrative ecosystems rooted infrastructure are diverse narrative ecosystems rooted in solidarity between communities and institutions who all play a part in narrative change.