The pandemic was a global trauma that left many of us oscillating between fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and other grief responses. Almost five years later, many of us are trapped in this frenetic energy, jumping from one response to another, and our bodyminds are paying the price. Not only are we navigating what we have lost, but many of us are mourning what could have been. Grief has become a pervasive thread woven into every aspect of our lives, showing up in deeply visceral ways that shape how we move through the world.

Let’s take a moment to name it: We’ve lived through the pandemic as a mass disabling event, the ongoing violence of prison and military-industrial complexes, mass shootings in our schools and shopping malls, corporate price gouging, the fracturing of media and genocide streaming in 4K like a dystopian blockbuster. Then came the 2024 presidential election — a prequel to what looks like the sequel no one asked for: another Trump presidency, complete with rising authoritarianism. If it feels like we’re being pummeled into another collective grief spiral, that’s because we are. And yet, here we are — trying to figure out how to grieve, resist and rebuild all at once.

Grief isn’t just personal — it’s political. Acknowledging it is the foundation for turning our politics into praxis and building long-term organizing and narrative strategies that push back against systemic oppression. By rejecting the isolation of mourning, we can confront our collective grief through communal practices that deepen our connections, fortify our resilience, and deflect the tendencies of atomization and elitism that plague our movements so that we can fight back. The pandemic’s devastation, the echoes of historic violence fueling today’s genocides, and the relentless assaults on marginalized communities all stem from the same thread of systemic oppression. Recognizing these intersections reframes our grief as not just a reaction but a call to action — one that demands solidarity and collective power to change our trajectory.

As MediaJustice titan and current ReFrame board member Malkia Devich-Cyril reminds us, “Grief can be a landscape for liberation; it’s a terrain for transformation.” Acknowledging grief, understanding its interconnectedness with systemic oppression, and working together to transform grief into a framework for resistance are essential for fostering solidarity and resilience in our movements. Grief is not merely an emotional response but a shared experience shaped by historical injustices. Collective grief is often overlooked in social and political movements, avoided mainly for the sake of “getting the work done.” But as the adage goes, “Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.” It’s time to sharpen our oyster knives and be a menace to our enemies. 

Although story trends change, the narratives that undergird them are enduring, lasting decades and spanning generations. Because story trends are enduring and repeated, they are also our entry point into shifting narratives. Here, we can chart our strategy and see where our openings and opportunities lie. We hope you find inspiration to strategize, organize and communicate more powerfully, with renewal and sustainability for the long haul. As you read, we invite you to remember and reflect on grief beyond the individual experience into a collective endeavor. 

Narrative predictions are crucial for understanding the evolving landscape of public discourse and sentiment. By analyzing current trends and projecting future ones, we can identify opportunities to shape narratives and outcomes that align with our values and visions. Narrative predictions provide the strategic foresight needed to be more proactive and realistic as we navigate permacrisis. Our predictions and insights serve as a guiding light, empowering you to build narrative power to pursue freedom, liberation and justice. Sign up here if you want to join us this year for more narrative research and updates on our predictions and upcoming trainings and other offerings to social movement leaders, organizations and networks.

ReFrame’s annual predictions are not a messaging guide, but you can tailor our research and recommendations to fit your organization’s mission, vision and values. It can also inform campaigns, organizing, communications and funding strategies. Like all of ReFrame’s narrative research, predictions provide a 50,000-foot view of the narratives, values and beliefs in the media ecosystem that inform our organizing, political and material conditions. Narrative is a process and not a product. If we try to influence common sense, we must crack open space so that new meaning can fuel the breakdown of trust in some narratives while establishing confidence and hope in others.

ReFrame’s predictions are rooted in research and analysis and our experiences as organizers, cultural workers, policy wonks, narrative strategists, and practitioners. This year's report uses data visualizations and charts that represent the volume of conversations over time and are critical to our overall narrative analysis. Our methodology page explains how to interact with these visuals and their data sources. Please reach out to us at hello@thisisreframe.com if you have questions, feedback or thoughts on this report.

Informed by our Narrative Predictions from 2022, 2023 and 2024, we landed on key narrative fronts, or broad areas that serve as the backdrop to narrative battles. They are the points of contention where multiple factions compete for the power to make meaning at scale and to govern our lives based on their values and worldviews. Narrative fronts include democracy and governance, economy and labor, gender and the body, and climate, with immigration, art, media and technology related to these four fronts. Understanding that the distinct narrative fronts have proven crucial for navigating the complex narrative ecosystem. Each front represents a battleground where narratives shape our beliefs and actions, influencing policy and impacting material conditions. The interplay of these narrative fronts emphasizes just how interconnected our struggles truly are. By engaging with these intersections, we can develop holistic strategies that address immediate concerns and contribute to long-term systemic change, creating a foundation for a healthier, more just society for everyone.

Let's enter the portal together.