Joe Tolbert, Jr.

Building Narrative Power to Support Collective Liberation

Too often, philanthropy gets in the way and old habits die hard. The importance of funding narrative power building in support of liberation and racial equity is critical—but how?

In this session, participants are invited to join the Weissberg Foundation for a panel discussion with Black and Indigenous movement organizers using narrative strategy as a tool for liberation. Speakers include:
- Savannah Romero (Eastern Shoshone), the co-founder of BLIS Collective
- Joe Tolbert, Jr., the Executive Director of Waymakers Collective
- hermelinda cortes, the Executive Director of ReFrame

We’ll discuss the importance of narrative strategy in the Reparations and LandBack movements, their vision for a just world, and how the work of organizers reaches both within and across communities to offer a collective vision of a path forward.

Throughout the panel, learn from speakers as they draw from their experiences working on issues at both state and national levels, the power of challenging narratives that support oppressive systems, and the work we still have to do to build solidarity across communities.

Lastly, we’ll discuss how philanthropy has created barriers to this work but how the field can shift and find better ways to support narrative power building for collective liberation.