Reframing Narratives for Equity and Justice
Narratives at this moment are critical to helping us make sense of these uncertain times. They can strengthen our resolve, inspire us to act, and finally address systems of inequality and injustice. With so many lives lost and so much at stake, how can we ensure we craft stories that don’t unintentionally propagate stereotypes but instead elevate people and show a new way forward filled with promise and possibility?
Last week, Threespot participated in an equity training workshop led by Trabian Shorters. Trabian is a social entrepreneur, author, and CEO of BMe Community. He consults with major foundations, associations, and journalism networks to operate more equitably. Trabian led us in a masterclass to identify stigmatizing narratives and outlined a practical framework to help us create empowering stories that speak to people’s aspirations.
He began the session with behavioral science, and he referenced the work of Daniel Kahneman, someone who has greatly influenced me. With 95% of our mental decision making occurring before conscious thought, Trabian explained that our cognitive system responsible for “fast thinking “ is where associative and unconscious bias arises. Crisis narratives and “dog whistles” work because they unwittingly tap into mental processes in our unconscious mind.
With this foundation, he led us through a series of exercises that challenged our preconceptions and surfaced our hidden biases. Through a power-dynamic exercise, he had us questioning answers we knew were true, and within minutes had us doubting ourselves by taking advantage of weaknesses in how our mind works.
To overcome our own biases, Trabian stressed that we need to incorporate a fuller set of narratives. He cautioned that the type of narratives we adopt matter and that even the best of us working in the social impact space could unintentionally fall into a trap of developing stigmatizing narratives. How many times have we seen campaigns in the nonprofit sector use disempowering language to describe a community like low-income, at-risk, underserved, under-resourced, disadvantaged, etc.? Trabian calls these types of narratives “deficit-framing,” which defines people by their problems, ignores their contributions and marginalizes them to always remain in their situation. These stories tell a half-truth about people we want to help, which fundamentally undermines any case for equity and perpetuates stereotypes.
Instead of these stigmatizing narratives, Trabian champions an “asset-framing” approach that defines people by their aspirations, which respects their dignity while showing their continued benefit and value in society.
One of the best-known uses of asset-framing was the successful movement for marriage equality. When leading voices shifted their messaging from a civil rights focus to a simple and clear message about couples living in loving and committed relationships, public opinion began to change. This “love and commitment” frame gained momentum to where now, most Americans support marriage equality, which led to the Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
I highly recommend you check out his work. Trabian gave a keynote at ComNet this week, and there are many resources available online. I’m thankful for everything he shared and left the training inspired and ready to put what I learned into practice. Over the past few months, it’s been daunting to know where to start, let alone figure out how to tackle the many systemic challenges we face. Armed with an “asset-framing” approach, I see practical ways to incorporate an equity mindset and employ asset-informed personas in our work so that we can truly craft narratives worthy of the causes that we create for clients.
