Tasia Ahuja Smith

Connected Freedoms: Narrative Strategies for the Liberation of Queer and Trans People

Narratives, stories, and messages not only shift people’s hearts and minds, they also shape institutions and policies. As it turns out, they also influence elections. 

Narratives rooted in racist, transphobic, and sexist beliefs were at the core of Trump’s second win. These narratives also helped dismantle key equity policies, such as Affirmative Action and Roe s. Wade.

There is good reason to believe that the LGBTQIA+ community will be one of the nation’s most vulnerable groups in the next few years. This election cycle was filled with homophobic and transphobic narratives that undermined the community’s dignity and humanity, with trans people of color being impacted in a disproportionate way. In our analysis, these narratives deploy a binary construction of gender  to police and control peoples’ bodies, and are deeply rooted in fascism and authoritarianism. A true multiracial democratic society must foster our collective freedoms, including those of queer, trans, and non-binary people. 

This session will offer narrative tools that can be applied to many issue areas and topics, using narratives centered on queer and trans folks both as case studies and ways of surfacing narrative strategies that advance gender and racial equity. 

In this session, attendees will:

1. Learn to use tools and analysis that can be used to develop narrative and messaging strategies for equity within their organizations and communities. 
2. Engage in deep analysis of the core narratives at the root of homophobia and transphobia while outlining their connections to fascism, racism, and other systems of oppression.
3. Practice crafting narratives that recognize and advance the dignity, humanity, and liberation of LGBTQIA+ communities. 

A clear narrative strategy rooted in our values of equity, love, and justice will be key not just to our survival but also to our collective liberation.

Beyond Backlash: Strengthening Racial Equity Capacity Building Amid DEI Pushback

Advancing racial justice is challenging, particularly in the midst of attacks on DEI, antagonistic Supreme Court decisions, and intensifying political divisions. This session is an opportunity to share experiences with other capacity builders and use the Systems Thinking Iceberg to explore factors that enable progress, even in this climate. We will explore:

A) Visions for racial justice work: what are you and the people you work with trying to achieve? We begin here because if we don’t know where we're going, any road will get us there! We will create space for you to share your dreams and goals with other participants.

B) Examples of where you’re making progress, holding ground, or losing ground as you work toward those visions. We know that progress toward racial justice isn’t a straight, upward-trending line. Even in the best of times, progress is uneven, and ground can be lost if we aren’t proactive in protecting our gains. We will create space for you to share highlights from how you are making progress, holding ground, and/or losing ground in your work.

C) Systems thinking tools to identify leverage points for enabling progress. We will introduce the Systems Thinking Iceberg and use it to explore examples of progress and determine where we can strengthen our approaches.