On day one of Narrative Power Summit 2025, ReFrame Executive Director hermelinda cortés opened with a charge to the field — a grounding in grief, strategy, and the responsibility of narrative work in a time of rising authoritarianism.
Read More
We’re cutting through the noise to bring you the stories that shaped the discourse between Monday, October 15th and Friday, October 18th. Scroll on for an analysis of immigration, Black voters, abortion and attacks against the trans community.
.jpeg)
TL;DR Batting immigrants between both sides of the aisle is a salient theme of the 2024 election cycle. Redirect stories that target immigrants and instead target the corporations and politicians that are using xenophobia as a wedge toward anti-democratic fascism. Message discipline is key; capture testimonials from the doors and from your base to funnel pro-immigrant narratives and values. Utilize the truth sandwich to challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist dog whistles.
The dominant narratives about immigration in the last week include:
The cost of living crisis is being weaponized to spread scarcity narratives meant to influence values and beliefs about immigration. While Trump and Republicans continue to motivate their base by weaving alternate realities grounded in conspiracy theories, disinformation and fascist narratives, Harris and centrist Democrats are shifting their rhetoric on immigration from a boldly pro-immigration stance towards a more conservative approach as a fix for the “migrant crisis”.
Some of the most popular content between October 14th and 18th focuses on stories about law and order. Many of these stories come from right wing media outlets that have dedicated beats for “illegal alien crime.” One of the loudest stories during this window, is an unsubstantiated story which claims that Aurora, Colorado, is overrun by Venezuelan pandilleros or prison gangs. On top of that, Trump has outwardly claimed immigrants will replace Black communities in the United States. The stories become amplified by right wing media outlets and influencers and continue to seed hatred and discord by tapping into underlying fears of otherness and fortify existing white supremacist narratives such as the Great Replacement theory.
On the Harris campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton said “immigrants should be vetted” to work in the U.S. while continuing to assure voters that the border is secure. These stories, messages and narratives pose a significant risk to our movements because they rely on punitive law and order narratives that reinforce tropes about good versus bad immigrants. We predict that doubling down on narratives of scarcity within anti-immigrant rhetoric could result in increased antagonism from existing U.S. citizens and residents - regardless of an immigrant status, country of origin, or whether or not they migrated “the right way.” Another common theme in conversations amplifies the belief that Republicans need a boogeyman every election cycle because they have “nothing to run on.” This theme indicates there is room to combat their scarcity messages by seeding a combination of economic justice and pro-immigration narratives. Take advantage of popular stories and conversations focusing on immigrant labor and its economic impact to underscore the belief that immigrants are essential and keep the American economy afloat.
Trump and MAGA politicians have new targets this election season - Haitians, Venezuelans and Chinese immigrants. Trump’s harmful rhetoric has led to increased real-world harm, but there is an opportunity to further unite immigrant communities around narratives of solidarity and care for one another. Pro-immigration stories by movement organizations are not as dominant as xenophobic stories so message discipline is vital here. Challenge anti-immigrant rhetoric and racist dog whistles by capturing testimonials from the doors and from your base! Showcase pro-immigrant narratives and values by the fact-fallacy-fact sandwich - your best tool to combat mis and disinformation in a pinch.
.jpeg)
TL;DR We are leading from behind. Polling data only gives us a small slice of the story, and the numbers don’t align with what we know about Black men, who vote second only to Black women. Black men are voting aligned with their interests, their communities and their loved ones. Elevate stories and messages that accentuate people power and how Black men have historically shown up electorally.
Narratives in conversations about Black voters include
Black and Latine voters in battleground states are regarded as the constituencies that could sway election results one way or the other. This is a vastly different message than messages shared during the 2022 midterm election cycles, which claimed Black men were flocking to the right (they aren’t) and Gen Z were the saviors of democracy. Trump and Harris have adopted GOTV strategies to get in front of voters of color by visiting barbershops, sitting down with cultural producers like Charlemagne tha God, 20v1 game show ads, or hosting bilingual town halls.
The volume spikes on October 15th at 29,000 mentions is thanks to predominantly right wing media (Gateway Pundit, Fox News, Daily Caller, New York Post, Zero Hedge, Breitbart, and Twitchy), the Wall Street Journal, and Harris’s campaign site. Influencers in this conversation include Tom Fitton, Ben Shapiro, DL Hughley, Laura Loomer, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Lavern Spicer. Content and conversations include criticisms of Harris’ record as San Francisco DA and a belief that Harris is exploiting the Black community, pandering for votes from Black men through “weed and loans.”
Stories about voter disillusionment and exploitation, along with related conversations about Black voters feeling unseen and treated as monolithic by the political establishment, need to be challenged. There is an opening to support storytellers and influencers in a messaging strategy about Black enfranchisement and self-actualization, naming concrete policies that help chart a path toward an inclusive, multiracial democratic future. If not, stories and messages will continue to be leveraged and weaponized against Black men in future elections, likely influencing voter participation at the local, state and federal levels.
TL;DR When it comes to reproductive justice, the numbers and energy are on our side. Double down on what is at stake. We have no time to play about the right to choose, starting at the state level. Amplify how the majority, regardless of their political affiliation, believe abortion is healthcare and are unwilling to rescind their autonomy to an authoritarian agenda that uses Christianity as a trojan horse.
Narratives in conversations about abortions include:
Abortion is not just shaking up the Presidential election but local races, ballot initiatives and Senate races in New Mexico, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. Some incumbent Democrats and candidates are shifting to a conservative “state’s rights” outlook on bodily autonomy, reproductive justice and access to comprehensive primary healthcare. Currently, there is no shared agreement among the would-be elected in these states to support a national bill guaranteeing abortion rights, demonstrating how much the Overton window has shifted since Dobbs v. Jackson was overruled. There are opportunities for organizers to connect with voters galvanized around pro-choice narratives and to move a shared organizing and communications strategy that pushes local and state municipalities to protect the right to choose. We deserve governance that addresses the right to choose and promotes solutions that take into account the compounding crises that face women and femmes including maternal mortality rates, accessible and comprehensive healthcare and childcare, maternity and paternity leave and a safer environment for their children to learn, grow and thrive.
TL;DR Hide your kids, but not from some made-up “trans agenda.” Heterosexism is a tool meant to control all of our bodies while distracting us from the privatization of healthcare and Uncle Sam lurking in the medical room. Point out bait-and-switch tactics that use historically marginalized populations to manipulate people’s perceptions of queer and trans communities. Focus on stories and messages that uplift the abundance, diversity and intrinsic value trans people have in making our arts, culture, communities and world a better, brighter place.
Critical narratives this week include:
The last two election cycles have shown us anti-trans frames have flopped as important issues for voters. Still, the cultural and political backlash against queer and trans people continues without fail. From October 14th through the 18th, safety, security and protection of children are the primary narratives in anti-trans stories, messages and conversations. Evident by the Trump campaign’s ads demonizing trans people and gender-affirming care, anti-trans backlash relies on old narratives that characterize any and all LGBTQIA+ people as groomers and dangers to society, especially children.
Loudspeakers this week include Matt Walsh, The Daily Caller, Libs of TikTok, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Sinèad Watson, Colin Rugg, Alex Stein, Oli London, MJTruthUltra, Leading Report, Laura Becker and Insurrection Barbie. Their misinformation and rage-baiting content is circulating on Meta platforms, TikTok, YouTube and X. These bad actors are using stories about children and public health to target persuadable audiences, namely cis women, queer people and people of color based on ending “Left-wing gender insanity.” It’s not just the right dogpiling on anti-trans narratives, either. Influencers like Brianna Wu are providing us with a grim glimpse into how self-ascribed feminists and some LGBTQIA+ allies are using narratives of safety and security and stories around access to healthcare to punch down on queer and trans people, claiming their “radical demands” are hurting women’s access to healthcare. There is a risk that this lighter version of anti-trans hysteria will trickle into messages, stories and narratives about reproductive rights, blaming the other (trans people) for cis women’s inability to access care like abortion or birth control instead of punching up at anti-choice movements and networks.
Even well-intentioned progressives use bioessentialist visuals and messages that focus on cis-centric womanhood, making an outcast of everyone who breaks that mold. There is an opportunity to recenter the voices of queer youth, activists and grassroots organizations using winning progressive stories and narratives around autonomy, choice, inclusivity, joy, safety and security to shift the tide.
How are you communicating solutions to your base and persuadable audiences at the intersection of race, class and gender in your election strategy?
How will you use these insights to support your comms strategy?
What are you working on that can incorporate our recommendations?
.jpeg)
We’re monitoring stories, messages and narratives about voting, including voter apathy, voter disillusionment, and voter enthusiasm. We’re also monitoring narrative frames about saving democracy versus fascism, fairness and transparency in voting, and election security and defense. Look for our following Signals in the Noise: Election Edition newsletter for more insights and analysis!
This week, we're shouting out Pure Justice for their Mythbuster series on TikTok. Pure Justice is out there in Houston, breaking down barriers and tackling head-on misinformation about voting. Their latest video takes on common myths around voter eligibility and rights—because let's face it, there's a lot of noise, and not all of it is true. Check out their myth-busting magic and get informed before you head to the polls!
ReFrame is hosting free virtual training on storytelling best practices and mis- and disinformation! Register here for new approaches, tools and practical steps to support your daily work.
We’ve been here before and have many lessons to shift narratives and protect our futures. We are under attack and are under-resourced. But one of the things we offer at ReFrame is parsing through the details to pull up actionable insights. Don’t have time to scroll through hundreds of TikTok videos or read thousands of comments to understand what people are talking about and where they are being cleaved off? That’s sort of our thing.
And we know these stories, messages and narratives will likely endure throughout the end of this year and into 2025. We want to know – what’s your prediction for 2025? Click here to submit your prediction and it just might be featured in this year's report!
With Trump as President-Elect and anti-Latine rhetoric on the rise, ReFrame’s Spanish-First trainings couldn’t have come at a more critical moment for narrative power-building.
In October 2024, ReFrame launched its first-ever Spanish-First training pilot, a two-part series creating a space for Spanish-speaking leaders and organizers to tackle harmful narratives, strengthen their storytelling, and reclaim their voices in a media and political landscape that often distorts them.
This work goes beyond tools and tactics– it's about power: who tells the story, whose voices are heard, and who decides how and which narratives take root? In a U.S. climate rife with xenophobia and disinformation, multilingual leadership is more urgent than ever.
In 2024, anti-immigrant and anti-Latine narratives surged, fueled by Trump’s election as President-elect. Political campaigns leaned on fear-driven messaging, blaming immigrants for economic instability, crime, and resource scarcity. Messages like, “they’re stealing our jobs,” or “they’re abusing public benefits” were weaponized by politicians and amplified by a media ecosystem that enriches itself from mis-and disinformation and prioritizes sensationalism.
These false and dangerous stories shape public opinion, justify oppressive policies, and dehumanize communities. For Spanish-speaking organizers, the stakes are even higher as they organize to build power, skill up and fight back.
As Ricardo Ortiz from Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM) put it: “We’re tired of being talked about as a problem to solve. These trainings helped me see that we don’t have to wait for someone to give us permission to tell our story—we already have the tools to do it ourselves.”
Narrative power shapes the stories that define what’s possible. Yet, Spanish-speaking communities in the U.S. are often excluded or misrepresented. Systemic barriers such as limited capacity, insufficient funding, and lack of multilingual leadership development have sidelined entire communities. The shortage of skilled multilingual narrative strategists keeps Spanish-speaking voices underrepresented and weakens their influence in seeding inclusive narratives across the narrative ecosystem.
ReFrame’s Spanish-First work attempts to address this gap. Built on a foundation of narrative work led by pioneering and emerging leaders across social justice movements, it is grounded in real-world experience and a deep understanding of narrative strategy and storytelling. This pilot was not born from assumptions or isolated efforts but as a response to the challenges identified by those at the forefront of narrative change work.
In 2022-2023 ReFrame collaborated with AfroResistance on Proyecto Oye, a listening and research initiative in Panama and Colombia. The research and report provides transformative insights into the untapped potential of narrative ecosystems across Latin America (LATAM). Led by afrodescendant and Latine grassroots leaders across the Americas, Proyecto Oye’s research zeroed in on LATAM narrative strategies, storytelling and tactics to counter disinformation. It revealed regional nuances in how “narrative” is understood as a concept, the dominance of Western frameworks, the weaponization of disinfo and the systemic erasure of Black Latine and afrodescendant narratives. The full report is available in English and Spanish.
Proyecto Oye demonstrated that culturally specific narrative work is not only a framework for resistance but also a pathway to liberation and reclaiming cultural identity. ReFrame’s Spanish-First work builds on this legacy, spanning borders, languages, and movements to create a continuum of narrative power that can transcend diasporas.
Participants from 17 organizations joined us across seven states, including California, New York, and Illinois. While each participant brought unique perspectives, they shared a common challenge: the need for narrative tools that reflect their language, culture, and lived experiences.
The pilot series included two core sessions:
Carlos Rodríguez from Parent Engagement Academy noted, “I’ve been to so many trainings that were just translations of English programs. This was different. It felt like it was designed with us in mind.”
Our learnings can be split into three major areas: the need for foundational content, the need for regional relevance, and the need for deep engagement.
During a discussion about the stereotype of Latine people as “drains on public resources,” participants shared personal stories of how this narrative shows up in their work, from debates about healthcare access to school funding.
“These lies about us aren’t new,” shared Ana Torres from Mujeres Unidas. “But now I feel like I have a way to challenge them—not just in conversations, but in the stories I share with my community.”
The pilot trainings mark the first phase of a broader Spanish-First leadership pipeline, establishing a network of narrative strategists poised to magnify our impact over the next decade. By expanding the curriculum and laying the groundwork for an expansive alumni network, this initiative strengthens a bench of skilled Spanish-first narrative practitioners. ReFrame’s ten years of work in communications and narrative make us primed to repurpose existing cornerstone programming, addressing a major gap in the field.
ReFrame believes that when multilingual communities are at the helm of creating and implementing strategy, they can shift narratives, challenge the status quo, and organize to transform entire systems long-term. ReFrame’s Spanish-First work aims to transform the whole narrative ecosystem, unlocking new possibilities and seeding influence and power in every voice — where every community matters.
The political and media landscapes will continue to challenge our communities, but one thing is for sure: our communities are ready to fight back.
If you’re inspired by this work and want to support or learn more, email Miguel Andrade at Miguel@thisisreframe.org.
Inflation, ceasefires, and fan cams, oh my! Introducing Signals in the Noise: Election Edition, our weekly newsletter for topline narrative insights from ReFrame’s weather station directly to you.
We know it is incredibly difficult to track, synthesize, and make sense of the political and narrative landscape when you are running on all cylinders.
While content banks and messaging guides support the field during this election season, one-size-fits-all tactical tools are not sufficient at this moment. Enter - Signals in the Noise: Election Edition.
Starting today, Team ReFrame will send out a weekly Signals in the Noise: Election Edition newsletter, which will deliver top-line narrative insights from ReFrame’s weather station directly to your inbox as well a link to the full blog post. This will serve as a resource for narrative strategists and frontline workers across issues and sectors as we contend for dignity, justice and power in a world on fire.
What do we mean by weather station? The ReFrame weather station is a suite of tools and technology our Narrative Research and Action team utilizes to aggregate millions of data points (social media, legacy media, scholarly articles and so much more) to break out of our organizational algorithms so we can better understand what is really moving in the narrative landscape. What are different audiences actually talking about? What platforms are they congregating in? Where are the narrative voids we need to watch out for? What are our narrative openings and risks?
Signals in the Noise: Election edition hits your inbox weekly on Tuesdays. Sign up here.
As we get closer to wrapping up the 2024 election cycle, both presidential candidates are attempting to sway voters on a multitude of issues. This week’s newsletter dives into stories, messages, content and conversations from across the narrative landscape between Thursday, October 10th and Tuesday, October 15th. Top-of-mind issues in the narrative ecosystem about the elections include the economy, foreign policy and how both candidates are shaping their communication strategies to appeal to voters.
Narratives at play in these conversations include:
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are advancing their economic plans, trying to define themselves as the duo for the middle class as they make campaign stops in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Harris is vying for voters of color, particularly pursuing the Black male vote. In previous election cycles, Black men have been homogenized into political pawns, reduced to assertions that they are breaking for the GOP en masse. This is a false belief that the Harris campaign is circumventing with the Opportunity Agenda for Black Men. Content and conversations about Harris’ Opportunity Agenda are polarized, to say the least. Content by Black creators on platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok accuse the Democrats of talking down at them, with detailed explainers about their choices, some opting to make educational for us by us content for their audiences. Other popular stories include her remarks about weed legalization and studying the possibility of reparations.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are leveraging right wing economic populist narratives, relying on Trump’s presidential record, current inflation and the cost of living. These narratives are also being elevated by Republicans, MAGA influencers and right wing media outlets who are elevating messages about the cost of everyday goods and services like food, rent and electricity. Predictably, the Trump campaign is merging its messaging around inflation and the cost of living with xenophobic messages and narratives about a so-called “border invasion.” These attempts at painting immigrants as job killers will act as yet another racist wedge between communities based on real and perceived immigration status and identity. It feels like we’re back in the early-aughts watching a bad South Park skit.
Harris HQ is using Trump’s cognitive state as a piñata against him, utilizing hashtags like #DementiaDon on X and video-based platforms like TikTok to question his fortitude. Meanwhile, Trump and his supporters are pummeling Harris on her inability to speak to an audience sans teleprompter, touting their greater ability to speak at press conferences and rallies. In the era of coconut memes and fan cams, these types of tit-for-tat tactics are likely to continue.
Trump is turning up on the whole “enemies from within” thing, which is reminiscent of conspiracy theories and disinformation about the Deep State from the 2020 elections. Similar to the events leading up to the insurrection on January 6, 2021, his campaign is soft-launching messages and narratives about election security and defense, upholding an accelerationist view of law and order. In response, the Harris/Walz campaign has gone on the defensive, calling him a fascist threat to democracy.
The Biden/Harris administration announced its pledge to send another weapons cache to Israel on the same day they gave a 30-day ultimatum to secure humanitarian aid or risk military aid. Early content and conversations include demands for an arms embargo now. As this story develops, we are witnessing a growth in the usage of and demand for an arms embargo in tandem with calls for a ceasefire, especially as Israel’s extermination campaign expands across the region. Middle-of-the-road centrists, legacy news media and politicians are some of the narrative actors that leverage the importance of humanitarian aid. Progressive demands for ceasefire and an arms embargo are leveraged by pro-Palestinian organizations, media influencers, leftists and some liberals as they continue a year-long trend of making their political demands known. However, these same narrative actors do contribute to the overall conversation about humanitarian aid, describing it as a catch-22 or a “PR stunt” by the Biden administration.
Just like disinformation campaigns targeting “Pedo Joe” and “Beijing Biden,” we are in the throes of watching the same tactics deployed against the Vice President hopeful. Claims that Walz is an abuser and groomer are developing. Influencers spreading the disinfo include globalist conspiracy theorist Ian Caroll, self-described researcher MJTruthUltra, and Elon Musk fanboy Matt Wallace. Although there are some debunks, we can bet money that MAGA influencers and conspiracy theorists on X, TikTok and message boards like Rumble, Gab and Reddit will continue sharing it before it hits the broader right wing media ecosystem.
On a lighter note and in closing, we would like to shout out the following movement organizations and their offerings to the field:
Vertigo Variations explores the intricate tapestry of the economy, the complexities of war, the dynamics of the upcoming elections, the evolving landscape of labor and work, the transformative influence of technology and AI, and the ever-shifting realms of pop culture and sports.
Picture this: It's a crisp morning, and you’re making your way to work, pondering surging gas prices, calculating ways to support your family financially, and hoping that rumors of a recession are just that — rumors. The week’s headlines bombard you from all angles – George Santos' Cameo prices skyrocket, SCOTUS decides to go after the abortion pill, a group of workers go back to work after winning a better contract, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets courted by MLB dynasties.
Meanwhile, in cyberspace, you have a YouTuber boldly denouncing the Pantone Color of the Year, an Instagram influencer preaching the Marie Kondo treatment for holiday decor, anons on Reddit already talking about budget-friendly holiday gifts for next year, and a TikToker guides your local group of friends or fellow organizers in vision-boarding for the new year. If it feels like we’re living in multiple realities simultaneously, we are. Our fragmented media landscape means we often are not having the same conversations with the same information on top of many voices vying to make sense of similar and different stories.
No wonder the vibe is chaotic.
The narratives shaping our lives have continued to evolve in unexpected ways. Cultural tides ebb and flow and the unpredictable currents of global events have created a dynamic tapestry that demands our attention and strategic foresight. We are thrilled to announce Vertigo Variations, Reframe’s 2024 Narrative Predictions.
Our yearly narrative predictions serve as a beacon in an age characterized by uncertainty and information overload. ReFrame’s narrative predictions are strategic tools to empower you with insights into narrative themes, risks, and opportunities. We hope it becomes an essential tool as you navigate the complex narrative terrain of the future.
Our prediction reports have been on the money for the last two years. We predicted the rise of the multipolar world and watched the BRICS alliance push back against Western dominance on the global stage. We forecasted the erosion of trust in government, institutions, and elected officials and kept a pulse on the seemingly unending stories highlighting corruption and fraud. Narrative predictions provide a roadmap for understanding the evolving landscape of democracy, our economy, and society at large. We are eager to share our findings with you and engage in a dialogue that shapes the narrative landscape in service of justice, equity and liberation.
Check out Vertigo Variations ReFrame's 2024 Narrative Predictions here and join us in February for our 2024 Narrative Predictions Launch Event, where you will meet and hear from our strategists about how we came to these predictions and more.
If you can’t make it or want to let us know what you think may unfold in 2024 please drop us a line at hello@thisisreframe.org. You can also give us direct feedback!
Your continued support and engagement are crucial as we collectively navigate the unpredictable waters of 2024.
Happy New Year!
Here at ReFrame we take a small pause every quarter, check our compass, and adjust our heading to stay the course. At the end of the year, we take a longer pause to evaluate where we’ve been and set direction for the next year. Below is a summary of the activities and impacts of ReFrame’s work in 2023. Of course, we do not do this work alone, we are moving with others to build narrative power and bend the arc of justice towards justice and liberation.
We started 2023 by releasing our second-annual narrative predictions report, Catalyzing Ripples, a forecast of the terrain of meaning-making in 2023. Over 13,000 people across the world interacted with our 2023 narrative predictions adding to the over half-million interactions across all of our narrative research products. As the year progressed, we heard story after story of leaders across our movements, from philanthropic partners to narrative strategists within statewide power-building formations to leaders inside of issue coalitions who used the insights from the narrative predictions to inform their strategies and tactics over the course of the year.
As people continued to make sense of our 2023 Narrative Predictions, our team was hard at work developing our second public narrative research offering of 2023: Trans Athletes: A Narrative Analysis, Our team collaborated with Kayley Whalen, who we met at the Narrative Power Summit in 2022 and Lex Horwitz, to present our preliminary research at Creating Change in San Francisco. The report, released at the end of March on Trans Day of Visibility, is about how critical narratives about fairness and safety are shaping the landscape and who is driving the conversation and is a resource for those working to develop narrative strategies to win whether you’re an athlete, coach, policymaker or an organizer.
In the spring of 2023, we wrapped up our first-ever Senior Narrative Cohort! At the request of many strategists who were yearning for another leadership development opportunity after going through the ReFrame Mentorship or the Academy, the Senior Narrative Cohort convened 11 leaders for support towards long-term infrastructure building and to develop the next layer of narrative power leadership. We provided narrative project grants to each organization to support and create impactful work. Sebastian Saavedra, the Communications Coordinator at Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights (GLAHR) used this grant to film a documentary about Latinx communities in rural Georgia and their fight to end 287(g) and increase civic engagement. JaNaé Bates, the incoming Co-Executive Director at ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota, used this grant to resource a political education program for incarcerated folks in the Midwest.
After the Senior Narrative Cohort wrapped, we were getting ready to launch Narrative Power Now with our partners at We Make the Future. Narrative Power Now, a collaborative fellowship, ran for over 5 months training 16 new state-based narrative strategists (17, if you include a participant in our Fall Academy!). Our programming supported leaders in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Philadelphia, Texas, and Wisconsin to connect their day-to-day work to long-haul strategies of building narrative power in defense of a vibrant multiracial democracy and an economy that works for all.
In the summer of 2023, we released Down the Rabbit Hole: Demystifying QAnon Narratives and Networks. Synthesizing over 18 months of research, our team, in collaboration with Women’s March and Political Research Associates, dug into the way QAnon networks contort the truth that aim to create a new QAnon reality and understanding of the world. Our report, the content of which was interacted with by 300,000 people, delves deep into a world where things aren’t what they seem. Importantly, the report explores the impacts of QAnon networks and narratives across race, gender, and class in a way that breaks the misperception these networks and narratives are spreading in only white and rural communities. Check out this interview between two of the leaders behind this report, Bia Jackson and Ivie Osaghae!
The first half of 2023 wasn’t just full of powerful training and narrative research offerings - it was a time of exciting transition at ReFrame. In early 2023, hermelinda cortés accepted the role as our Executive Director of ReFrame as Joseph Phelan, our founding Executive Director, powerfully transitioned out of the organization. We celebrated this organizational milestone during two events in New York City. At the LGBT Community Center in New York City, ReFrame staff and alumni joined with partners across the field to engage in a visionary discussion about the future of the field of narrative power-building. Later that evening, we gathered at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to celebrate Joseph and hermelinda’s leadership as well as the powerful history and future of ReFrame.
This summer we experienced the great loss of our beloved comrade Stephanie Gasca who passed away in July. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you Stephanie Gasca was a real one – a take no shits, fierce mother and tía, organizer, and powerhouse. Stephanie did not care about performance politics; she cared about loving her people and getting her people free. She graduated from our second Mentorship class in 2016 and stayed connected with Team ReFrame after the mentorship as an active member of our alumni network, joining the ReFrame staff team in 2020; and we gathered virtually to honor her memory in August.
With another challenging election cycle on the horizon, ReFrame took a bold step by offering not one, but two parallel Academies, both in person and virtually. The 400 participants from 40 states and eight countries, including a participant joining from their phone in a car in Zimbabwe, brought insightful questions, innovative ideas, rich experiences, and experimental musings to Academy programming, infusing it with texture, energy, and innovation. The ReFrame Academy has been offered to social justice movements in various forms for the past five years, during which our world and movements have evolved, as has the conversation around narrative. While the format of the Academy has evolved, the core mission remains unchanged — equipping communicators and organizers with the skills, connections, and expertise to strengthen and establish narrative power.
That wasn’t our last training offering for 2023, as we launched Narrative Nexus: Power and Philanthropy in December! Narrative Nexus is a six-part workshop series (five virtual, one in person) designed and facilitated by Joseph Phelan, Jung Hee Choi and hermelinda cortés for 34 leaders in philanthropy about narrative power and infrastructure building co-sponsored by The California Endowment and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with support from the Melville Charitable Trust.
Amidst all of this, ReFrame went on road to build and deepen relationships across the narrative power-building ecosystem. Outside of the US, ReFrame staff went to Panama to co-present the initial findings of Proyecto ¡Oye! [Executive Summary in ENG | ESP - full report coming next year!] with our partners AfroResistance, and to Colombia for the Confluence gathering hosted by the Global Narrative Hive. In the US, we traveled to California for Creating Change hosted by the National LGBTQ Task Force and to CHANGE Philanthropy’s Unity Summit, Montana for the Small Town Summit hosted by United Today, Stronger Tomorrow, Missouri for the Roots & Remedies with the Praxis Project, Maryland for the Black Feminist Future gathering, Virginia for the closing convening of our Senior Narrative Cohort, Kentucky for our summer Staff Advance, and Georgia for our in-person Academy.
2024 is going to be another big year for ReFrame and for our movements, and we can’t wait for you to join us!
In a time of such incredible tumult and uncertainty, it is sometimes alluring to say ”if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” and we know as justice workers running campaigns, programs and projects of all types we need to not just make sure our work isn’t broken but ask ourselves what is actually needed in this time. What is actually being asked of us to meet this moment?
This summer, ReFrame asked ourselves these exact questions in regards to the ReFrame Academy, a five-day immersive narrative power boot camp. Despite the recent passing of our operations and event management expert, Stephanie Gasca, we resisted the temptation to stick with the familiar and instead embraced what the moment demanded. With another challenging election cycle on the horizon, ReFrame took a bold step by offering not one, but two parallel Academies, both in person and virtually. It was a significant gamble. Would people be willing to travel given the uncertainty of COVID and competing priorities? Would those fatigued by Zoom and online training sign up for a week-long boot camp? Could we successfully pilot a new training approach that combines live and pre-recorded sessions? Could we manage this with our limited capacity?
The TL;DR is a resounding YES. The demand for the ReFrame Academy was evident. The 400 participants from 40 states and eight countries, including a participant joining from their phone in a car in Zimbabwe, brought insightful questions, innovative ideas, rich experiences, and experimental musings to Academy programming, infusing it with texture, energy, and innovation. Our commitment to amplifying marginalized voices and honoring ReFrame’s legacy of justice communications built by LGBTQIA+ and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) was reflected in those that signed up and attended with 58% of participants identified as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and 48% self-identified as LGBTQIA+.
"It was super helpful, one of the more well-done [trainings] I have attended this past year. The modules were really helpful, the time commitment was doable, and the trainers and facilitators were superb. The attachments and worksheets will help my comms team [plan] for the future." - Citlaly Mora from Just Futures Law , 2023 ReFrame Academy Alum
The profound sense of isolation stemming from the ongoing pandemic, coupled with the internal silos many communicators and organizers across issues operate within, struck a chord. The overwhelming gratitude expressed by seasoned and emerging organizers and communicators at being able to connect with like-minded, values-aligned individuals speaks volumes. It is clear that individuals across social movements and non-profits yearn for integrated and impactful communications and organizing strategies, recognizing that narrative work is fundamental to organizing and power-building.
"As a new hire at the org I work for, the power mapping tool was very helpful, as it helped me learn the 'lay of the land' in our work. I was able to identify 'major players' in the work and where they exist in the landscape…. One major takeaway was understanding the difference between a story and narrative, as well as the difference between a strategy and tactic, and why all the aforementioned are important." - Isiejah Allen from Freedom Network USA, 2023 ReFrame Academy Alum
The ReFrame Academy has been offered to social justice movements in various forms for the past five years, during which our world and movements have evolved, as has the conversation around narrative. While there are now numerous trainings on "narrative" and an increasing number of organizations dedicated to narrative work, the response to the Academy offerings confirmed that our unique approach continues to fill a significant gap, with a training team, narrative specialists and organizational expertise in not only narrative but campaigning and local, regional, national and international organizing. We are able to ground and connect conceptual frameworks with bread and butter skill building and organizing case studies.
Our exceptional network plays a vital role in our work, including anchoring our training containers like The Academy. The ReFrame narrative network is composed of thousands of communicators, organizers, digital experts, press specialists, direct action advocates, authors, documentarians, and artists. For the recent Academy, ten ReFrame alumni served as narrative specialists, offering personalized support to small groups of participants throughout the week. This relational, political, and practical guidance enabled participants to apply the tools, frameworks, and lessons learned in the workshops to their specific contexts. This dynamic aspect of the Academy mitigates common training pitfalls, where information is simply disseminated without providing opportunities for real-time exploration and application.
At ReFrame, we emphasize building narrative infrastructure as critical to building narrative power. We know we cannot build power alone as one entity, organization, campaign or institution. Narrative infrastructure includes the individuals, organization, networks and institutions making meaning at scale. We need to continue to grow our narrative infrastructure in order to build and wield narrative power. Spaces like the Academy allow us to introduce this framework and continue to expand and fortify our shared narrative infrastructure across geography, issue, method, and identity.
"The Academy was everything and more. This group and the people I've met this week were very informative, supportive, and incredible. At times, the information was heavy to manage, but there were moments I could pull away and connect with someone ... experiencing the same heartbreak, curiosity, or even [sharing] a space of laughter. This space supports understanding narrative power and how to redirect communication during any social climate issue."
- Monti Hall from Grassroots Leadership, 2023 ReFrame Academy Alum
While the format of the Academy has evolved, the core mission remains unchanged — equipping communicators and organizers with the skills, connections, and expertise to strengthen and establish narrative power.
As we step into 2024, our mission remains clear: to equip the next generation of narrative power builders with the skills and connections needed, and to expand and activate our movement networks so that we can wield our power in the service of justice, liberation, and dignity for our communities. Want to stay connected to future ReFrame trainings and offerings? Be sure to sign up for updates here.
