The 2023 O&B Conference in Berlin ended, but you can revisit the conversations whenever you like. Check out the archive of this dynamic gathering of changemakers, scholars, and artists committed to building inclusive and democratic futures.
Agenda
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October 26
Day One
8am | Music
Set by DJ Sarah Farina
9am | Introduction and Performance
Emcee Monika Jiang will open the day and introduce performers Jumoke Adeyanju & Darius Mick.
Christiana Bukalo will make opening remarks and introduce john a. powell.
Christiana Bukalo will make opening remarks and introduce john a. powell.
9:40am | Opening Welcome
Introducing Othering & Belonging Berlin and inaugurating our first conference in Europe
Speakers: john a. powell (USA)
11am | Reimagining What's Possible: From authoritarianism and othering to democracy and belonging
Speakers: john a. powell (USA) and Ece Temelkuran (Turkey)
Belonging in its truest sense means that people in any system or container have the right to not only be included within it, but to make demands on that system and even change the structure of that system itself. In an ideal form, democracy grants everyone the opportunity to change the nature of how our system functions—a critical component of belonging at the structural level.
And yet, democratic systems have so often generated the opposite of belonging– prioritizing majority interests over minority needs, reinforcing structural racism and economic inequality, and facilitating the election of “democratic” leaders opposed to the ideal of democracy itself. In the Global South, democracy has also been wielded as a colonial weapon, offered as a system made “for the people” but never truly “by the people.”
In this opening conversation, OBI Director john a. powell and Ece Temelkuran will grapple with the real failures of democracy—including the ways that its imperfections have contributed to deeply unjust power structures and toxic “us vs. them” binarism—but also the promise and necessity of democratic systems in sharing power and resources in pursuit of belonging. They will further grapple with the sometimes-competing demands of de-fragmentation and bridging—necessary for functioning diverse democracies—and the demands of social justice, which sometimes requires breaking with power structures and other groups to enact critical change. They will ultimately seek to envision what democracy would look like if it were rooted in radical belonging, which includes all people and the earth itself, and chart the collective path that would take us towards that vision—one built through bridging, solidarity across identity lines, and hope for what is possible when we come together.
Belonging in its truest sense means that people in any system or container have the right to not only be included within it, but to make demands on that system and even change the structure of that system itself. In an ideal form, democracy grants everyone the opportunity to change the nature of how our system functions—a critical component of belonging at the structural level.
And yet, democratic systems have so often generated the opposite of belonging– prioritizing majority interests over minority needs, reinforcing structural racism and economic inequality, and facilitating the election of “democratic” leaders opposed to the ideal of democracy itself. In the Global South, democracy has also been wielded as a colonial weapon, offered as a system made “for the people” but never truly “by the people.”
In this opening conversation, OBI Director john a. powell and Ece Temelkuran will grapple with the real failures of democracy—including the ways that its imperfections have contributed to deeply unjust power structures and toxic “us vs. them” binarism—but also the promise and necessity of democratic systems in sharing power and resources in pursuit of belonging. They will further grapple with the sometimes-competing demands of de-fragmentation and bridging—necessary for functioning diverse democracies—and the demands of social justice, which sometimes requires breaking with power structures and other groups to enact critical change. They will ultimately seek to envision what democracy would look like if it were rooted in radical belonging, which includes all people and the earth itself, and chart the collective path that would take us towards that vision—one built through bridging, solidarity across identity lines, and hope for what is possible when we come together.
12:30pm | Break
1:30pm | Performance
Performers: Movement Seven
1:45pm | Same Playbook, Different Players: Charting shared tactics of anti-democratic movements from Türkiye to Texas
Speaker: Miriam Juan-Torres (Spain)
Over the last decade, far-right populists in Europe, North America, and around the world have transformed from fringe groups into influential power players, often by deftly exploiting fear and uncertainty within the democratic majority generated by fast-changing shifts in technology, migration, culture, and climate. Their parallel successes are not happening in a vacuum, but are being developed and resourced by political strategists in different regions, many of whom are working in unique contexts but utilizing familiar tactics: maximize fear and mistrust of perceived others to cultivate sympathy for simplistic anti-democratic alternatives. In this panel, Miriam Juan-Torres, head of research for OBI’s Democracy & Belonging Forum, will offer insights into the shared strategies and connections between anti-democratic actors in diverse parts of the world, and how we might come together to effectively counter their instrumentalization of othering.
Over the last decade, far-right populists in Europe, North America, and around the world have transformed from fringe groups into influential power players, often by deftly exploiting fear and uncertainty within the democratic majority generated by fast-changing shifts in technology, migration, culture, and climate. Their parallel successes are not happening in a vacuum, but are being developed and resourced by political strategists in different regions, many of whom are working in unique contexts but utilizing familiar tactics: maximize fear and mistrust of perceived others to cultivate sympathy for simplistic anti-democratic alternatives. In this panel, Miriam Juan-Torres, head of research for OBI’s Democracy & Belonging Forum, will offer insights into the shared strategies and connections between anti-democratic actors in diverse parts of the world, and how we might come together to effectively counter their instrumentalization of othering.
2:25pm | Countering the Gender Backlash: Building coalitions against the populist playbook
Speakers: Stefánia Kapronczay (Hungary), Magda Pochec (Poland), Nim Ralph (UK), and Phillip Ayoub (moderator, Germany)
Today, far right parties in different countries are emulating each other and using similar tactics that instrumentalize othering. Yet their approaches to issues of gender are heterogenous. Some far right movements embrace gender equality and certain aspects of LGBTQ+ rights, as they serve the nativist project against an “Other” that is said to present a threat against hard won women’s and LGBTQ rights. Other far-right movements seek to return to traditional gender roles, target the LGBTQ+ community, and aim to disband protections against gender-based violence while rolling back abortion rights.
Today, far right parties in different countries are emulating each other and using similar tactics that instrumentalize othering. Yet their approaches to issues of gender are heterogenous. Some far right movements embrace gender equality and certain aspects of LGBTQ+ rights, as they serve the nativist project against an “Other” that is said to present a threat against hard won women’s and LGBTQ rights. Other far-right movements seek to return to traditional gender roles, target the LGBTQ+ community, and aim to disband protections against gender-based violence while rolling back abortion rights.
But similarities between far right movements also abound. Across the board, trans communities are vilified, having become the cornerstone of the so-called culture wars, and primarily, radical right movements focus on binary and traditional understandings of the role of men and women.
In this panel we will examine the Far Right’s gender politics across Europe and the US, as well as existing and potential efforts to counter the gender backlash, exploring questions such as: What language are far-right actors deploying around gender and sexual orientation? How are they adapting and developing their policies? When do they succeed and how do they fail? And what role can coalition-building play in avoiding backlash and advancing rights?
3:50pm | Performance and Closing Day One
4:30pm | Music
Set by DJ Sarah Farina
October 27
Day Two
8:15am | Music
Set by DJ Sarah Farina
9am | Introduction and Performance
Emcee Monika Jiang will open the day and introduce performer Aka Kelzz
9:30am | Is Democracy Equipped for This?: Renewing civic infrastructure in a time of populism and polycrisis
Speakers: Indy Johar (UK), Asma Mhalla (France), Jeff Kwasi Klein (Germany), and Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou (moderator, UK/France)
This moment is one of not a single major crisis, but of many. Indeed, some thinkers have come to call this time one of “polycrisis” (“a cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part”) or “permacrisis” (“an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events”). Whatever the term, it is clear that the manifold crises of this moment—climate crisis, forced migration, inequality, inadequately regulated technology, and othering of all kinds—are deeply interconnected and regenerating one another, ultimately offering fertile ground for anxiety and misinformation stoked by authoritarian populists globally.
And this fearmongering seems to be working: as one recent paper noted, citizens around the world are “voting away the democracies they claim to cherish,” perhaps on some level with the belief that democratic systems are unable to deliver solutions that authoritarians are offering so effortlessly. In this panel, Indy Johar, Asma Mhalla, Jeff Kwasi Klein, and Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou will explore the implications of the interrelated crises of our time on democracy and how civic infrastructure—already cracking under the weight of low trust and hostile populism—can be renewed not only to better respond to populism and polycrisis, but to protect the concerns of marginalized groups, who are so often either cast aside in times of crisis or vilified for them. Ultimately, this panel will explore how we might revitalize democracy at a time when it may seem increasingly unequipped to handle the complex and interrelated crises we face.
This moment is one of not a single major crisis, but of many. Indeed, some thinkers have come to call this time one of “polycrisis” (“a cluster of related global risks with compounding effects, such that the overall impact exceeds the sum of each part”) or “permacrisis” (“an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events”). Whatever the term, it is clear that the manifold crises of this moment—climate crisis, forced migration, inequality, inadequately regulated technology, and othering of all kinds—are deeply interconnected and regenerating one another, ultimately offering fertile ground for anxiety and misinformation stoked by authoritarian populists globally.
And this fearmongering seems to be working: as one recent paper noted, citizens around the world are “voting away the democracies they claim to cherish,” perhaps on some level with the belief that democratic systems are unable to deliver solutions that authoritarians are offering so effortlessly. In this panel, Indy Johar, Asma Mhalla, Jeff Kwasi Klein, and Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou will explore the implications of the interrelated crises of our time on democracy and how civic infrastructure—already cracking under the weight of low trust and hostile populism—can be renewed not only to better respond to populism and polycrisis, but to protect the concerns of marginalized groups, who are so often either cast aside in times of crisis or vilified for them. Ultimately, this panel will explore how we might revitalize democracy at a time when it may seem increasingly unequipped to handle the complex and interrelated crises we face.
11:20am | Turning Towards Each Other, Not Against Each Other: Bridging in Times of Crisis
Speakers: Udi Raz (Germany), Yasmeen Daher (Germany), and Cecilie Surasky (moderator, USA)
As violence continues to take the lives of more and more civilians in Palestine and Israel, communities around the world are fragmenting over profound questions like whose lives are grievable and whose are not, and who can speak and who cannot. Once-strong alliances on the left are being tested as fear of hate crimes against Jews, Muslims and Palestinians is being borne out.
In Berlin, this breaking is particularly acute. Despite real fear and pain felt by all, and despite having one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Middle East, the city has limited only pro-Palestine speech, often under the claim that it is protecting against anti-Semitic activity. Ultimately, however, this asymmetric silencing has contributed to deeper fragmentation between groups who might otherwise be in conversation. Indeed, Germany’s responsibility for the Holocaust and its own genocide of 6 million European Jews has led to strong support for present-day Israel and a censoring of criticism towards the state, even from Israelis themselves.
In this panel we’ll discuss how divisions are fueled and weaponized by leaders, governments, traditional media, and social platforms and how fragmentation ultimately most serves those seeking to dismantle democratic structures. Our goal is to model a space where we can honor each other’s pain, find ways of bridging despite the ways that groups are pitted against each other, and explore generative forms of allyship and co-liberation in moments of crisis.
As violence continues to take the lives of more and more civilians in Palestine and Israel, communities around the world are fragmenting over profound questions like whose lives are grievable and whose are not, and who can speak and who cannot. Once-strong alliances on the left are being tested as fear of hate crimes against Jews, Muslims and Palestinians is being borne out.
In Berlin, this breaking is particularly acute. Despite real fear and pain felt by all, and despite having one of the largest Palestinian communities outside of the Middle East, the city has limited only pro-Palestine speech, often under the claim that it is protecting against anti-Semitic activity. Ultimately, however, this asymmetric silencing has contributed to deeper fragmentation between groups who might otherwise be in conversation. Indeed, Germany’s responsibility for the Holocaust and its own genocide of 6 million European Jews has led to strong support for present-day Israel and a censoring of criticism towards the state, even from Israelis themselves.
In this panel we’ll discuss how divisions are fueled and weaponized by leaders, governments, traditional media, and social platforms and how fragmentation ultimately most serves those seeking to dismantle democratic structures. Our goal is to model a space where we can honor each other’s pain, find ways of bridging despite the ways that groups are pitted against each other, and explore generative forms of allyship and co-liberation in moments of crisis.
12:30pm | Break
2pm | From Climate Change to Climate Justice: A BIPOC Perspective in Europe
Speakers: Nani Jansen Reventlow (the Netherlands), Samie Blasingame (Germany), Samia Dumbuya (UK), Winta Berhe (Germany)
In this inaugural panel discussion, our aim is twofold:
We will set out to introduce and legitimize climate justice as more equitable and just approach than current methodologies used to evaluate the cause and effect of climate change and shape climate policy in Europe.
We will set the stage for forthcoming topics in the series. By doing so, we will provide audiences with a robust foundation to ground their understanding of climate justice and related concepts. Moreover, the discussion will begin to establish a shared language and narrative which we intend to develop over the course of the series.
Addressing the challenge:
We acknowledge that climate justice remains a relatively new and unfamiliar concept in the mainstream public discourse around climate change. Therefore, this breakout session will serve as an open forum – a communal space (led by BIPOC voices that are involved in community connected work) for deep exploration and the exchange of ideas related to for example, the history of climate justice, why it’s relevant for everyone, and how communities are developing real solutions to respond to the crisis.
By the end of the session, we will have an emerging shared vision and narrative of true climate justice.
Presented by Systemic Justice:
Founded in late 2021, Systemic Justice is the first Black-led, majority BPOC organisation in Europe working on strategic litigation.
We work to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice by building their power to leverage the courts in their campaigns for change and opening up their access to justice. We do this by 1) building the power of organisations and movements; 2) launching community-driven litigation; and 3) scaling impact by promoting equitable working models with the broader field of litigators.
Our central premise is that communities should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to using litigation as a tool in their campaigns for justice. They need to set the objectives, articulate the remedies, and frame the narrative, with litigators supporting the cause by doing the legal legwork that comes with it.
In this inaugural panel discussion, our aim is twofold:
We will set out to introduce and legitimize climate justice as more equitable and just approach than current methodologies used to evaluate the cause and effect of climate change and shape climate policy in Europe.
We will set the stage for forthcoming topics in the series. By doing so, we will provide audiences with a robust foundation to ground their understanding of climate justice and related concepts. Moreover, the discussion will begin to establish a shared language and narrative which we intend to develop over the course of the series.
Addressing the challenge:
We acknowledge that climate justice remains a relatively new and unfamiliar concept in the mainstream public discourse around climate change. Therefore, this breakout session will serve as an open forum – a communal space (led by BIPOC voices that are involved in community connected work) for deep exploration and the exchange of ideas related to for example, the history of climate justice, why it’s relevant for everyone, and how communities are developing real solutions to respond to the crisis.
By the end of the session, we will have an emerging shared vision and narrative of true climate justice.
Presented by Systemic Justice:
Founded in late 2021, Systemic Justice is the first Black-led, majority BPOC organisation in Europe working on strategic litigation.
We work to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice by building their power to leverage the courts in their campaigns for change and opening up their access to justice. We do this by 1) building the power of organisations and movements; 2) launching community-driven litigation; and 3) scaling impact by promoting equitable working models with the broader field of litigators.
Our central premise is that communities should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to using litigation as a tool in their campaigns for justice. They need to set the objectives, articulate the remedies, and frame the narrative, with litigators supporting the cause by doing the legal legwork that comes with it.
3:30pm | Reflections on Democracy & Belonging
Speaker: Bayo Akomolafe (Nigeria/India)
4:15pm | Performance and Closing Day 2
Emcee: Monika Jiang
Performance: Harmonizing Choir, directed by Noah Slee
The Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley brings together researchers, organizers, stakeholders, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society in order to create transformative change.
Copyright © 2023, Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley
Ashlin Malouf-Gashaw is the Deputy Director of Strategy and Program at the Othering and Belonging Institute. She is driven by the growth and development of people, teams, and systems. Whether in the role of mediator, community organizer, coach, executive director, or chief of staff, she has led by inviting people into liberatory practices of dialogue, bridging, authenticity, and power building. From her experience, when courageous conversation, storytelling, vulnerability, and self-reflection are paired with concrete and coordinated strategies, progress is made.
Since 2006, Ashlin has worked in a variety of capacities with the Faith in Action Network (previously the PICO National Network), equipping those closest to the pain with the tools and strategies to make structural change. She began as a Community Organizer in Colorado, then returned to her hometown of Sacramento where she served as the Executive Director of Sacramento ACT. Most recently, Ashlin was the Chief Formation Officer and then Chief of Staff with PICO California. During her tenure in organizing, she worked on countless campaigns including healthcare access, community benefits agreements, reinvestment of public funds, moving from punitive to restorative practices, immigration reform, and affordable housing, to name a few.
Ashlin received her BA in Political Science and Social Change and Development, and her MA in International Conflict Resolution. She lives in Sacramento with her husband Theodros and her 2 children Kayden and Davin.
Read more about her work here.
Read more about her work here.
Ashlin
Malouf-Gashaw
Ashlin is our guide to the upcoming course on Targeted Universalism. She also appears inBridging 2: A Conversation with Ashlin Malouf-Gashaw
Bridging 3: Two Studies of Bridging Across Power
Bridging 3: Two Studies of Bridging Across Power
john a. powell (who spells his name in lowercase in the belief that we should be "part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify") is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world.
john holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. He has won several awards including the 2021 Housing Hero Award, 2021 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, and the Convergence Bridge-Building Leadership Award for 2022.
He regularly appears in major media offering expert insights on a host of issues. Recent appearances include NPR and WYNC's On The Media in an episode about free speech and the constitution, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in an episode about housing segregation, and CBS Evening News where john discussed the Institute's frameworks like Targeted Universalism. john gives frequent keynotes talks at a range of institutions such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Washington State University, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Nonprofit Quarterly, Project Democracy, the Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Leadership Council, the Permanente Medical Group, and many more.
john has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The founder and director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, john has also served as Director of Legal Services in Miami, Florida and was the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions.
john has lived and worked in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, and has also worked in India and Brazil. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national and international organizations. He is also a member of the New Pluralists. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
Follow john on Twitter @profjohnapowell and read his blogs on HuffPo.
john a. powell (who spells his name in lowercase in the belief that we should be "part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify") is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world.
john holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. He has won several awards including the 2021 Housing Hero Award, 2021 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, and the Convergence Bridge-Building Leadership Award for 2022.
john holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. He has won several awards including the 2021 Housing Hero Award, 2021 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, and the Convergence Bridge-Building Leadership Award for 2022.
He regularly appears in major media offering expert insights on a host of issues. Recent appearances include NPR and WYNC's On The Media in an episode about free speech and the constitution, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in an episode about housing segregation, and CBS Evening News where john discussed the Institute's frameworks like Targeted Universalism. john gives frequent keynotes talks at a range of institutions such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Washington State University, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Nonprofit Quarterly, Project Democracy, the Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Leadership Council, the Permanente Medical Group, and many more.
john has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The founder and director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, john has also served as Director of Legal Services in Miami, Florida and was the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions.
john has lived and worked in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, and has also worked in India and Brazil. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national and international organizations. He is also a member of the New Pluralists. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
Follow john on Twitter @profjohnapowell and read his blogs on HuffPo.
john has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The founder and director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, john has also served as Director of Legal Services in Miami, Florida and was the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory. john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions.
john has lived and worked in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, and has also worked in India and Brazil. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national and international organizations. He is also a member of the New Pluralists. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
Follow john on Twitter @profjohnapowell and read his blogs on HuffPo.
john a.
powell
john guides our Introduction to Othering & Belonging's Key Frameworks course.
Additionally, he appears in the courses named below.
Bridging 1: The Risk & Possibility of Bridging, john a. powell and Judith Butler in conversation
Bridging 2: john a. powell on power and john a. powell on levels of bridging
Structural Racism: White Space, Black Hood
Bridging 2: john a. powell on power and john a. powell on levels of bridging
Structural Racism: White Space, Black Hood
Mónica Guzmán is Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels, a nonprofit working to depolarize America, founder and CEO of Reclaim Curiosity, an organization working to build a more curious world; and author of I Never Thought Of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times.
Moni is the inaugural McGurn Fellow at the University of Florida, working with researchers at the UF College of Journalism and Communications and beyond to better understand ways to employ techniques described in her book to boost understanding. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she studied how journalists can better meet the needs of a participatory public.
Her work has been featured in The New York Times, the Glenn Beck Podcast, Reader's Digest, BookTV, and EconTalk, and she is an advisor for Starts With Us and the Generations Over Dinner project.
Before committing to the project of helping people understand each other across the political divide, Mónica cofounded the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey and led a national network of groundbreaking local newsletters as VP of Local for WhereBy.Us.
She was named one of the 50 most influential women in Seattle, served twice as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, and plays a barbarian named Shadrack in her besties' Dungeons & Dragons campaign.
Visit her website to learn more about her work.
Sarah Crowell is a dancer and choreographer who has taught dance, theater, mindfulness and violence prevention for over 35 years. She recently left her position as the Artistic Director at Destiny Arts Center in Oakland where she served in different capacities including Executive Director for 30 years. She founded and co-directed the Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company, which was the subject of two documentary films, and won the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award. Sarah has facilitated arts integration, violence prevention, cultural humility and team building professional development sessions with artists and educators since 2000, both locally and nationally. She is the recipient of many awards including the KPFA Peace award, the KQED Women’s History Local Hero award, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education Milestone award. She is a four-time finalist for a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater Education.
Ashley Gallegos works as the Belonging Coordinator at the Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley. Her work is at the intersection of belonging research, application, and societal change. Ashley’s work centers the application of OBI’s unique conception of belonging which is rooted in both the feeling or sense of belonging and the necessary structural design for belonging. Ashley works closely with the director of the Institute to advance initiatives of belonging, currently focusing on Places of Belonging. This initiative works with high impact collaborators nationally and internationally to align and advance belonging in varying contexts.
Ashley creates and circulates belonging educational materials, amplifies belonging practices in motion, and uses her understanding of the Institutes frames of Belonging, Bridging and Targeted Universalism to support initiatives. Ashley engages in complex considerations of how belonging moves with and positively contributes to our world's biggest necessary shifts like that of global human rights, climate justice, cross-movement alignment and much more. Ashley is one of three co-facilitators at Belonging a Weekly Practice, a free, low barrier virtual belonging space open to all. Registration information for the sessions is available here
Before working with OBI, Ashley worked within public health and healthcare to advance health equity and racial equity in application. She directed state wide equity coalitions and believes in the power of network models to co-create momentum beyond any one entity's capacity.
While born in Southern California, Ashley was raised in Belen, NM, grew as an adult in Denver, CO, and found her way to the place where her spirit feels aligned in Oakland, CA. In her free time, Ashley enjoys spending time with loved ones, building community, experiencing and contributing to the arts, reading, being near water and maintaining a spiritual groundedness.
Asma Mhalla is an expert in Tech Politics and BigTech Geopolitics, she is a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, Columbia GC and Polytechnique where she teaches the political and geopolitical issues of data economy. She is also an associate expert for the European Research Executive Agency (REA), mandated by the European Commission to support the EU Research and Innovation policy. On an academic level, she works on the new forms of power between structuring platforms (Big Tech) and States, with a focus on the associated democratic and sovereignty issues. She also advises governments, public institutions in their tech strategy.
Asma
Mhalla
Asma will be on the following panel: “Is Democracy Equipped for This?” (Day Two)
Dr. Bayo hopes to inspire what he calls a “diffractive network of sharing” and a “politics of surprise” that sees the crises of our times with a posthumanist lens.
In 2014, Dr. Akomolafe was invited to be the Special Envoy of the International Alliance for Localization, a project of Ancient Futures (USA). He left his lecturing position in Covenant University, Nigeria to help build this Alliance. Bayo has been Visiting Professor at Middlebury College, where he taught on his own formulated concepts of ‘transraciality’ and postactivism. He has also taught at Sonoma State University (CA, USA), Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada), and Schumacher College (Totnes, England) – among other universities around the world. He currently lectures at Pacifica Graduate Institute, California and University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont as adjunct and associate professor, respectively. He sits on the Board of many organizations including Science and Non-Duality (SAND).
Now living between India and the United States, Bayo is a father of Alethea Aanya and Kyah Jayden Abayomi. He is married to EJ, his dear life-partner of Indian descent.
The convener of the concepts of ‘postactivism’, ‘transraciality’ and ‘ontofugitivity’, Bayo is a widely celebrated international speaker an award-winning public intellectual, essayist and author of two books, These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak. He is also the Executive Director and Chief Curator for The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course, ‘We Will dance with Mountains’. He is writing his third book about the spirituality and emancipatory lessons of the transatlantic slave journeys, called “The Times are Urgent, Let us Slow Down”.
Find him at https://www.bayoakomolafe.net/
Bayo
Akomolafe
Bayo will be present the following talk: “Closing Keynote: Reflections on Democracy & Belonging” (Day Two)
Ece Temelkuran is an award-winning Turkish novelist, a political thinker, and a public speaker whose work has appeared in the Guardian, New York Times, Le Monde, La Stampa, El Pais, New Statesman, and Der Spiegel, among several international media outlets.
She won the Edinburgh International Book Festival First Book award for her novel WOMEN WHO BLOW ON KNOTS and the Ambassador Of New Europe Award for her book TURKEY: THE INSANE AND THE MELANCHOLY. She is the author of the internationally acclaimed book HOW TO LOSE A COUNTRY and her most recent book, TOGETHER was shortlisted for the Terzani Award in Italy. Ece Temelkuran lived in Beirut, Tunis, Paris, to write her novels. She was a visiting fellow at Saint Anthony's College Oxford to write DEEP MOUNTAIN: ACROSS THE ARMENIAN TURKISH DIVIDE. She lived in Zagreb after the military coup attempt in Turkey in 2016 and after her fellowship at The New Institute in Hamburg, she is currently a fellow at Robert Bosch Foundation, working on a project/book "Home: A new definition for the 21st Century.” She ran lettersfromnow.com, a digital communication project based on her book TOGETHER. She is on the advisory board of Progressive International and Democracy Next also a regular contributor to Internazionale magazine. She wrote libretto for opera and her novels are adapted to stage both in and outside Turkey.
She won the El Mundo Award for her body of work in 2023.
Ece
Temelkuran
Ece will be on the following panel: “Reimagining what’s possible: From authoritarianism and othering to democracy and belonging” (Day One)
Indy Johar is co-founder of Dark Matter Labs and of the RIBA award winning architecture and urban practice Architecture00. He is also a founding director of open systems lab, seeded WikiHouse (open source housing) and Open Desk (open source furniture company).
He is focused on the strategic design of new super scale civic assets for transition - specifically at the intersection of financing, contracting and governance for deeply democratic futures.
Indy is a non-executive international Director of the BloxHub, the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization. He is on the advisory board for the Future Observatory and is part of the committee for the London Festival of Architecture. He is also a fellow of the London Interdisciplinary School.
Indy was 2016-17 Graham Willis Visiting Professorship at Sheffield University. He was Studio Master at the Architectural Association - 2019-2020, UNDP Innovation Facility Advisory Board Member 2016-20 and RIBA Trustee 2017-20.
He has taught & lectured at various institutions from the University of Bath, TU-Berlin; University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MIT and New School.
Indy Johar is an RIBA registered architect, serial social entrepreneur, and Good Growth Advisor to the Mayor of London. Indy was born in Acton, West London & is a lifelong Londoner.
He was awarded the London Design Medal for Innovation in 2022 and an MBE in 2023.
Indy
Johar
Indy will be on the following panel: “Is Democracy Equipped for This? Renewing civic infrastructure in a time of populism and polycrisis” (Day One)
Jeff Kwasi Klein is a Co-Director at the Multitudes Foundation, where he supports individuals and initiatives across Europe in reimagining more inclusive, representative and human politics. Before this role, he led the community-based funding project May Ayim Fonds and Germany's first anti-discrimination counselling centre for Black, African and African Diasporic people at Each One Teach One (EOTO).
Jeff is currently a member of the Berlin Equality Advisory Board (Gleichstellungsbegleitgremium or GBG), which focuses on combating anti-Black racism in Berlin, and he serves as a board member of the Migrationsrat Berlin. In these roles, he advocates for the interests of Black communities and various (post-)migrant self-organizations. Jeff is dedicated to addressing structural and institutionalized forms of racism, focusing on empowerment, leadership, and community building.
Jeff
Kwasi Klein
Jeff will be on the following panel: “Is Democracy Equipped for This? Renewing civic infrastructure in a time of populism and polycrisis” (Day One)
john a. powell (who spells his name in lowercase in the belief that we should be "part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify") is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world.
john holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. He has won several awards including the 2021 Housing Hero Award, 2021 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, and the Convergence Bridge-Building Leadership Award for 2022.
He regularly appears in major media offering expert insights on a host of issues. Recent appearances include NPR and WYNC's On The Media in an episode about free speech and the constitution, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in an episode about housing segregation, and CBS Evening News where john discussed the Institute's frameworks like Targeted Universalism. john gives frequent keynotes talks at a range of institutions such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Washington State University, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Nonprofit Quarterly, Project Democracy, the Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Leadership Council, the Permanente Medical Group, and many more.
john has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The founder and director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, john has also served as Director of Legal Services in Miami, Florida and was the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory.
john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions.
john has lived and worked in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, and has also worked in India and Brazil. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national and international organizations. He is also a member of the New Pluralists. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
john holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, African American Studies, and Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. Previously, he was the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. He has won several awards including the 2021 Housing Hero Award, 2021 John W. Gardner Leadership Award, and the Convergence Bridge-Building Leadership Award for 2022.
He regularly appears in major media offering expert insights on a host of issues. Recent appearances include NPR and WYNC's On The Media in an episode about free speech and the constitution, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in an episode about housing segregation, and CBS Evening News where john discussed the Institute's frameworks like Targeted Universalism. john gives frequent keynotes talks at a range of institutions such as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Washington State University, the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, Nonprofit Quarterly, Project Democracy, the Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Leadership Council, the Permanente Medical Group, and many more.
john has written extensively on a number of issues including structural racism, racial justice, concentrated poverty, opportunity-based housing, voting rights, affirmative action in the United States, South Africa and Brazil, racial and ethnic identity, spirituality and social justice, and the needs of citizens in a democratic society. He is the author of several books, including his most recent work, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Concepts of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society.
The founder and director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, john has also served as Director of Legal Services in Miami, Florida and was the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory.
john led the development of an “opportunity-based” model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and is well-known for his work developing the frameworks of “targeted universalism” and “othering and belonging” to effect equity-based interventions.
john has lived and worked in Africa, where he was a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa, and has also worked in India and Brazil. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council and serves on the board of several national and international organizations. He is also a member of the New Pluralists. john has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
john a.
powell
john will present the following talks: “Opening Welcome and Introduction to Othering & Belonging Berlin” and “Reimagining what’s possible: From authoritarianism and othering to democracy and belonging” (Day One)
Julia Roig has more than 30 years of experience working for democratic change and conflict transformation around the world, is best known for her ability to convene diverse coalitions and her facilitative leadership of global networks. An organizer at heart, in her role as Chief Network Weaver at The Horizons Project, Julia is committed to bridge-building across sectors, disciplines, and cultures. Throughout her career she has been called upon to translate between theory and practice, while seeding new approaches, organizing principles, and mindset shifts for social change. After serving for almost 14 years as the President and CEO of PartnersGlobal, one of the preeminent international democracy and peacebuilding organizations – in 2022 Julia launched The Horizons Project to focus on the intersection of peacebuilding, social justice, and democracy in the United States.
Julia
Roig
Julia will be on the following panels: “Turning towards each other, not against each other: Bridging to counter authoritarianism & advance belonging” (Day Two)
Karolína Miková has worked in Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) since 1996, starting as a volunteer, then a project manager, trainer and facilitator and today as executive director.
She studied urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava and took a one-year study program at the Institute for Public Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A. She completed PhD. studies at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University in Bratislava.
In 2011/2012 she worked as the head of the Office of the Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society.
As an expert she deals mostly with public conflict resolution and prevention, citizen participation in public issues decision-making, the development of civil society, deliberative democracy, community development and cross-sector cooperation.
She has trained and consulted internationally in over 35 countries.
She studied urban planning at the Faculty of Architecture of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava and took a one-year study program at the Institute for Public Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, U.S.A. She completed PhD. studies at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Philosophy of the Comenius University in Bratislava.
In 2011/2012 she worked as the head of the Office of the Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society.
As an expert she deals mostly with public conflict resolution and prevention, citizen participation in public issues decision-making, the development of civil society, deliberative democracy, community development and cross-sector cooperation.
She has trained and consulted internationally in over 35 countries.
Karolína
Miková
Karolina will be on the following panels: “Turning towards each other, not against each other: Bridging to counter authoritarianism & advance belonging” (Day Two)
Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou is a Glasgow-born, London raised, British-Nigerian political scientist. She is currently Director of the Politics and Governance Programme, at ODI, a leading Global Affairs Think Tank. She gained a PhD in politics and international relations from Oxford University in 2006 and has for over twenty years written and published extensively about politics and conflict in Africa about which she is a widely acknowledged expert. She is particularly interested in power of narratives to generate individual and group identities and to transform lives and political fortunes, particularly in the contexts of struggles for environmental and racial justice.
Kathryn
Nwajiaku-Dahou
Kathryn will be on the following panels: “Is Democracy Equipped for This? Renewing civic infrastructure in a time of populism and polycrisis” (Day Two)
Magda Pocheć is a feminist and resource justice activist. In 2018 she initiated and co-founded the Feminist Fund in Poland which is a community-led, trust-based, particapatory grantmaker supporting grassroot and frontline organizers. Magda has a background in transformative philanthropy. In the past few years she’s been involved with FRIDA The Young Feminist Fund, FundAction and Fenomenal Funds. A cross-cultural psychologist by training, Magda co-authored and co-edited two subsequent alternative reports on the implementation of CEDAW (the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) in Poland.
Magdalena
Pocheć
Magda will be on the following panels: “Countering the gender backlash: Building coalitions against the populist playbook” (Day One)
Mamobo Ogoro is a Social Psychologist and award winning social entrepreneur. As the first Sanctuary PhD Fellow at the University of Limerick, Mamobo’s research investigates migrant identity construction in Ireland and how systems of inclusion and exclusion affect migrant communities in Ireland. Mamobo is on a personal mission to unify the world. She is the Founder and CEO of GORM, an award winning social enterprise on a mission to unify across differences and advance belonging for marginalised communities. Mamobo has been heralded for her work with GORM on countless occasions, and most recently won the ‘Catalyst Award’ in the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year Awards 2022 for bringing about social change in Ireland.
Mamobo spends most of her time working with organisations around the world, helping them develop intercultural leaders.
She lives in Dublin, Ireland, and considers herself as your friendly bisexual plant loving neighbour, who loves to read and take care of her home forest. She loves music, singing jazz and R&B, and spending with family & friends.
Mamobo
Ogoro
Mamobo will be on the following panels: “Turning towards each other, not against each other: Bridging to counter authoritarianism & advance belonging” (Day Two)
Míriam Juan-Torres is a multidisciplinary social scientist with expertise on polarization, authoritarian populism, conflicts, and human rights. She currently works as the Head of Research of the Democracy & Belonging Forum, Senior Advisor at More in Common, where she was the co-author of “Hidden Tribes: A Study of America’s Polarized Landscape” and the lead author of “Britain’s Choice: Common Ground and Division in 2020s Britain” and as associate professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona where she teaches a course on human rights. She has also contributed as a consultant to a variety of projects across the globe. Míriam has fieldwork experience in Ghana and Colombia, where she worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and interned at the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She holds a master in Global Affairs from Yale University and a law degree from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. She has received several awards, including the Fox Fellowship from Yale University and the la Caixa Fellowship in Spain. Míriam is also yoga student and teacher, is fascinated by yoga philosophy and Buddhist teachings, and loves food and cooking.
Míriam
Juan-Torres
Miriam will present the keynote: “Same Playbook, Different Players: Charting shared tactics of anti-democratic movements from Türkiye to Texas (Day One)
Monika Jiang is a curator, community organizer, and experience designer sensing into what revives a shared reality in a lonely, polarized neoliberal age.
Over the past five years, she held the position as head of curation and community at the House of Beautiful Business, a global network for the life-centered economy. As a main host, facilitator, and contributor to both events and thought leadership content and publications, she covered topics ranging from climate action and relationships in the age of AI to diversity and inclusion in Web3, business’ social and political responsibility, the future of work and leadership, and more.
A highly intuitive, fantastical soul, and second-generation Chinese immigrant based in Berlin, Germany, she’s committed to reaching to the margins, asking essential questions, and gently stepping into the reality of others to make more feelings known, more faces seen, more voices heard.
Connect with Monika via LinkedIn.
Photograph is by João Noguiera.
Monika
Jiang
Monika will be our graceful and gracious emcee for the two days.
Nim Ralph is a UK-based trans writer, educator and activist. They have led campaigns and organised extensively for queer and trans liberation in Britain's toxically transphobic cultural landscape, and work with activists around the world. Nim has spent time coordinating with trans folks globally to develop organising and comms strategies to fight against the populist playbook. Outside of trans organising they've been active in organising around anti-racism, disability and climate justice for over nearly 20 years. Additionally, Nim works as an educator in social movements on movement building strategy, anti-oppression and political education. They are designer of multiple activist training programmes with an approach to education that centres relationship and connection. They have bylines in Gal-Dem and OpenDemocracy and were recently featured as a trans activist in GQ.
Nim
Ralph
Nim will be on the following panels: “Countering the gender backlash: Building coalitions against the populist playbook” (Day One)
Phillip M. Ayoub is a professor in the Department of Political Science at University College London and Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender. He is the author of three books, including When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility (Cambridge University Press, 2016), and his articles have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, the European Journal of International Relations, the European Journal of Political Research, Mobilization, the European Political Science Review, among others. Among a variety of awards, he has received the Janice N. and Milton J. Esman Graduate Prize for distinguished scholarship, the George McT. Kahin Prize for research in the areas of international relations and foreign policy studies judged to hold the greatest promise as a contribution to the discipline, and honorable mention for the 2023 Henrik Enderlein Prize.
Learn more about Phillip's work at his website.
Phillip M.
Ayoub
Phillip will be on the following panels: “Countering the gender backlash: Building coalitions against the populist playbook” (Day One)
Stefánia Kapronczay currently serves as the Director of Strategy at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (since April 2023). Previously, she had been the Executive Director of the HCLU for ten years during transformative years for the organization. During these ten years, the organization has adapted to the closing democratic space in Hungary by broadening its previously predominantly legal tools and topics addressed. During these ten years, the HCLU has also seriously diversified its budget from being dependent on one institutional donor to having several institutional donors and 30% of its funding from Hungarian private donors.
Kapronczay graduated cum laude from the Faculty of Law at ELTE as a lawyer and completed a five-year master's program in sociology in 2010. Stefania started working at the HCLU in 2005. She was the Head of the Patients’ Rights Program from March 2008 to August 2012; as program director, Kapronczay led HCLU's effort to stop restrictions on reproductive rights and criminalization of homelessness and to foster the rights of persons with disabilities.
Between August 2012 and July 2013, she was a scholar at Stanford University, attending courses on human rights and public interest work and graduating as Master of the Science of Law. Stefania wrote her dissertation on the sexual and reproductive rights of people with disabilities. She was elected co-chair of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations in May 2014.
Currently, she is a member of the board of the digital rights organization Access Now and the advisory board of Lakmusz, a Hungarian fact-checking website. She was a German Marshall Fund fellow in 2015. Stefania is an advisory board member to the School of Public Life, a community-based research and training center, and a former member of the Rajk László College for Advanced Studies advisory board. She is a 2018 European Young Leaders (EYL40) program class member.
Stefánia
Kapronczay
Stefánia will be on the following panels: “Countering the gender backlash: Building coalitions against the populist playbook” (Day One)
Sarah Farina is an international DJ, music producer, curator and activist. She hosts and curates the interdisciplinary Berlin event series Emergent Bass with her friends, which focuses on the historical awareness of cultural contexts of music and celebrates and uplifts the Afro-diasporic influences in underground club culture.
She’s innovative, she’s skilful, and she’s the smiling antithesis of genre cliques and sour scene elitists and sprinkles positivity over the darkest bass.
What you hear is all you need to know. And what you’ll hear from Sarah Farina’s sets and music productions are seamlessly blended bass-heavy frequencies and futuristic beats with fearless forays through the hardcore continuum and beyond.
It’s inclusive, forward-thinking and unrestrained. It’s a genre-rejecting style that she’s named Rainbow Bass.
She’s vocal about the issues of current club culture and runs the project „Transmission“ with researcher Dr. Kerstin Meißner, which aims to make the political relevance and history of international sound, club and rave culture audible and visible.
DJ Sarah
Farina
DJ Sarah Farina will be spinning danceable, grounding music on both days of the conference.
The Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley is thrilled to invite the co-founders of A Song For You, Dhanesh Jayaselan & Noah Slee, to produce and curate the Arts & Culture mainstage program for the Othering & Belonging Berlin conference.
A Song For You:
A Song For You is a vocal ensemble project rooted in the Berlin neo-soul/RnB/HipHop scene, consisting of approximately 60 vocalists and a dynamic band. Founded by singer Noah Slee and creative director Dhanesh Jayaselan, the group aims to celebrate the abundant talent present in Berlin's live soulful music scene while providing a platform for BiPOC & underrepresented voices to shine in their own artistic medium.
In late 2022, the ensemble dedicated their efforts to crafting their debut album, which was recorded at Limusic Studios in Limoux, France, and Brewery Studios in Berlin, Germany. Guided by the expertise of producer S. Fidelity, the album features captivating collaborations with artists like Theo Croker, Annahstasia, Moses Yoofee, and others. Simultaneously, ASFY has created a captivating live performance experience that seamlessly combines music, dance, storytelling, and visual installations. ASFY made their grand debut on March 8, 2023, at Volksbühne in Berlin. The performance, entitled "Matriarch," was a 90-minute theatrical production that paid tribute to International Women's Day. Through the powerful mediums of song, dance, and visual imagery, the ensemble conveyed the story of the "Matriarch." The show featured a lineup of 34 singers, an eight-piece band encompassing strings and a rhythm section, as well as five talented dancers from “Movement Seven”. Notably, "Annahstasia" made a special guest appearance. The overwhelming response to ASFY's announcement led to the show selling out all 800 tickets within a mere two weeks, marking a momentous achievement for the group.
Following their successful debut, ASFY has also graced the festival frontlines at XJAZZ! 2023 and MELT festival's Mainstage, meanwhile performing at the historical “Expressions: In The Garden”, which saw them reimagine the music of Noah Slee, Kelvyn Colt, and LARY, alongside their house band and The Expressions Orchestra - to close out the summer, the group performed a conceptual show as a headline act at this years’ Pop-Kultur. A Song For You explored a new pathway with a recent collaboration with Soundwalk Collective, wherein they were invited to co-create and perform a choral arrangement and choreography of the Soundwalk Collective’s score on the recent film “All The Beauty & The Bloodshed” - at Berlin’s newest feature performance space - Reethaus. With their captivating performances, dedication to amplifying underrepresented voices, and their commitment to pushing the boundaries of live soulful music, A Song For You continues to leave a lasting impression on Berlin's music scene.
Dhanesh Jayaselan
Malaysian born, of Indian heritage, raised in Melbourne Australia - Jayaselan, 26, is a multidisciplinary artist who explores his concoction of identities through a variety of story-telling artistic mediums such as music, film, and events. Jayaselan focuses his attention and passion towards creative production of projects that explore the contemporary cultural landscapes, navigating an aesthetic that showcases organic beauty, intimate and poetic storytelling, and his own experience as a person of colour - using his position to platform the beauty of culture and ethnic experience.
Jayaselan also finds himself working alongside the flourishing Neo-Soul/NuJazz scene in Berlin as a musical and event curator, producer, and project commissioner. Standout projects include his role as the curator of the opening night of “Expressions: In The Garden'' as part of Kultursommerfestival 2023 program, XJAZZ 2022/2023, Cassette Head Sessions event curator, and artist manager of the Selassie and, previously, phenomenom, Moses Yoofee. Alongside these musical projects, Jayaselan has worked with artists such as, but not limited too, NOWNESS, Soundwalk Collective, Wayne Snow, Noah Slee, Jesper Munk, ZFEX, Abase, WizTheMC, Rodes Rollins, James Chatburn, JuJu Rogers and more; solidifying his role in the Berlin Jazz scene.
Noah Slee
Noah Slee is an artist for whom the term ‘community’ is a defining factor in his creativity. Be it in the relatively recent sense of belonging found as part of the free-thinking, queer community of Berlin, the community he is forever tied to through his Tongan roots, or the artist community he cultivates through running grass-roots events which strives to support home-grown Berlin talent.
Known for slick and evocative vocals, Slee was well and truly put on the map with the release of 2017 debut album Otherland (Wondercore Island / Majestic Casual), for which he was awarded two prestigious Pacific Music Awards in 2018. Fast forward a couple of years, a couple of international tours and tens of millions streams later and Slee continued pushing boundaries with his 2019 EP TWICE. The EP was crafted largely by Slee himself with help from his Berlin dynasty of trusted creatives but also showcasing talent from all corners of the globe.While the indie-club artist holds nostalgia for growing up in a Tongan household in West Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Slee is resolute about his choice to pack up his life and move to Germany in 2015. It’s a long way from home but ‘a big part of being in Berlin was coming into myself ’ he admits. Slee’s work has seen support from the likes of Zane Lowe, BBC1, Clash, Complex and Nylon. Relishing in the potential forces of the arts, Noah Slee is as determined as ever to create wavy ground swells with his heart opening breezy rnb dance jams.
Malaysian born, of Indian heritage, raised in Melbourne Australia - Jayaselan, 26, is a multidisciplinary artist who explores his concoction of identities through a variety of story-telling artistic mediums such as music, film, and events. Jayaselan focuses his attention and passion towards creative production of projects that explore the contemporary cultural landscapes, navigating an aesthetic that showcases organic beauty, intimate and poetic storytelling, and his own experience as a person of colour - using his position to platform the beauty of culture and ethnic experience.
Jayaselan also finds himself working alongside the flourishing Neo-Soul/NuJazz scene in Berlin as a musical and event curator, producer, and project commissioner. Standout projects include his role as the curator of the opening night of “Expressions: In The Garden'' as part of Kultursommerfestival 2023 program, XJAZZ 2022/2023, Cassette Head Sessions event curator, and artist manager of the Selassie and, previously, phenomenom, Moses Yoofee. Alongside these musical projects, Jayaselan has worked with artists such as, but not limited too, NOWNESS, Soundwalk Collective, Wayne Snow, Noah Slee, Jesper Munk, ZFEX, Abase, WizTheMC, Rodes Rollins, James Chatburn, JuJu Rogers and more; solidifying his role in the Berlin Jazz scene.
Noah Slee
Noah Slee is an artist for whom the term ‘community’ is a defining factor in his creativity. Be it in the relatively recent sense of belonging found as part of the free-thinking, queer community of Berlin, the community he is forever tied to through his Tongan roots, or the artist community he cultivates through running grass-roots events which strives to support home-grown Berlin talent.
Known for slick and evocative vocals, Slee was well and truly put on the map with the release of 2017 debut album Otherland (Wondercore Island / Majestic Casual), for which he was awarded two prestigious Pacific Music Awards in 2018. Fast forward a couple of years, a couple of international tours and tens of millions streams later and Slee continued pushing boundaries with his 2019 EP TWICE. The EP was crafted largely by Slee himself with help from his Berlin dynasty of trusted creatives but also showcasing talent from all corners of the globe.While the indie-club artist holds nostalgia for growing up in a Tongan household in West Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand, Slee is resolute about his choice to pack up his life and move to Germany in 2015. It’s a long way from home but ‘a big part of being in Berlin was coming into myself ’ he admits. Slee’s work has seen support from the likes of Zane Lowe, BBC1, Clash, Complex and Nylon. Relishing in the potential forces of the arts, Noah Slee is as determined as ever to create wavy ground swells with his heart opening breezy rnb dance jams.
A Song for You
A Song For You will be performing and curating art on both days of the conference.
Berlin-based singer-songwriter Aka Kelzz has always loved making music. Growing up in the UK, coming from a musical family and heavily influenced by Neo-Soul artists such as Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and India Arie, Kelzz always dreamt of creating their own music.
Whilst growing up and working to find their own voice, Kelzz faced several difficulties being told their voice was not at the same standards as others. Plus being a fat dark-skinned teen with limited representation in the media, Kelzz was unable to see where they would fit in and be visible.
Having to deal with these difficulties, Kelzz then started journaling as a form of empowerment and resistance to write their feelings and emotions in a safe space, which would then help create songs in the future.
It took leaving their home in the UK - their personal and musical base - and moving to Berlin, when Kelzz decided to try music again and find new artists to collaborate with. After many failed band attempts, the pandemic seemed to be the perfect time to learn and produce their own music.
Finding Rafa Mura, seemed to be the final link to the start of their career and now Aka Kelzz has become a household name in Berlin in the Soul music scene. And after a successful year supporting the likes of Pip Millet and Madison Mcferrin, Aka Kelzz is set to skyrocket and continue to build and share their caressing vibe, which allows people “to feel what I feel with my creations.-”
When you look at me, remove any assumptions that you may have and enjoy the simplicity and creativity of the music.
Aka Kelzz
Aka Kelzz will perform on Friday, October 27 at 9am.
A Song For You presents a session of collective harmonizing, inviting the audience to tap into the spirituality of singing together. Led by singer and choir director, Noah Slee, the collective harmonizing session will be presented as a micro-workshop on how to find and express one’s own voice and blend it in a group setting.
Harmonizing Choir
The Harmonizing Choir will perform an audience choir session on Friday, October 27 at 4:15 pm.
Jumoke Adeyanju is an interdisciplinary multilingual writer, curator and dancer. Under her alias mokeyanju, she occasionally performs as a vinyl selector and aspiring sound artist. Jumoke is the founder of The Poetry Meets Series [est. 2014], co-curator of Sensitivities of Dance at SAVVY Contemporary and hosts her own radio show sauti ya àkókò on Refuge Worldwide.
Her multidimensional sound, words and movement art has been commissioned by Arthouse Foundation Lagos, AAF Lagos, CUNY NYC, Kölnischer Kunstverein and Deutschlandfunk Kultur & PUNGWE collective amongst others.
She has presented her artistic works at international literary festivals performing in English, German, Kiswahili and Yorùbá.
Jumoke's poetry and translation work will be published as part of the anthology "Kontinentaldrift: Das Schwarze Europa" (ed. Fiston Mwanza Mujila) in 2021.
As an allround-artist, Jumoke’s approach touches on topics like diaspora nostalgia, memory, spiritual liminal spaces, sonic tonalities, and how various elements of expressive art forms interrelate and incorporate the potential to (re-)create moments of reviving other or displaced selves.
Her multidimensional sound, words and movement art has been commissioned by Arthouse Foundation Lagos, AAF Lagos, CUNY NYC, Kölnischer Kunstverein and Deutschlandfunk Kultur & PUNGWE collective amongst others.
She has presented her artistic works at international literary festivals performing in English, German, Kiswahili and Yorùbá.
Jumoke's poetry and translation work will be published as part of the anthology "Kontinentaldrift: Das Schwarze Europa" (ed. Fiston Mwanza Mujila) in 2021.
As an allround-artist, Jumoke’s approach touches on topics like diaspora nostalgia, memory, spiritual liminal spaces, sonic tonalities, and how various elements of expressive art forms interrelate and incorporate the potential to (re-)create moments of reviving other or displaced selves.
Jumoke
Adeyanju
Jumoke Adeyanju will perform on Thursday, October 26 at 9:20 am.
Movement Seven is a multifaceted dance ensemble, birthed by A Song For You, that comprises of excelling BiPOC dancer talents from Berlin and beyond, led by Stephanie Ilova. At the very core of the groups work lies the premise of dance existing as a universal language of communication – if one has a body one will refer to dance. Movement Sevens mission is to put the storytelling at the center of their works and build the narration by highlighting every movement artists unique body language. Choreography and Improvisation work hand in hand with exploring the interconnectedness of dance and live music, creating an experience that people not only witness but experience.
Movement Seven is going to showcase a research based dance piece exploring every dancers movement practice while creating moments of encounter. A piece rooted in rhythms and seeking to express what speaks through us and what we mirror when we move and let go. The ensemble invites Ricco-Jarret and Maelle Fiand as dancers and will be led and joined by choreographer Stephanie Ilova.
Movement Seven
Movement Seven will perform on Thursday, October 26 at 1:30pm.
Multifaceted New Zealand talent Noah Slee is widely regarded as a community leader. The storyteller identifies as a musician, songwriter, producer, artist, and director. Combining traditional soul influences with electronic production, Slee’s music defies genre boundaries while allowing him to express himself vulnerably and empowering community and culture.
Noah Slee’s music will be accompanied by a string trio Neneh Sowe, Yassin Sowe and Eurico Ferreira joined by Käthe Johanning on piano. All string parts written by the talented composer and conductor Zacharias S. Falkenberg. This will be an explorative journey through Slee’s catalogue focusing on a soulful, intimate rendition taken from his previous works.
Noah
Slee
Noah Slee will perform on Thursday, October 26 at 3:50 pm.
Yasmeen Daher is a feminist activist and a writer. She holds a Doctorate degree from the department of philosophy, University of Montreal with focus on ethics and political philosophy, she had taught previously in different institutions including Bir-Zeit University in Palestine and Simone de Beavour Institute in Canada. She is currently the co-director and editorial director of Febrayer - A Network for independent Arab Media Organizations, based in Berlin.
Yasmeen
Daher
Yasmeen will be on the following panel: “Turning Towards Each Other, Not Against Each Other: Bridging in Times of Crisis” (Day Two)
Udi Raz is a doctoral fellow at the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies. There she investigates the contemporary self-understanding of Germany, as a nation state, as emerges through public attempts to regulate encounters beween 'Muslims' and 'Jews'. She grew up in Haifa, between Tel-Aviv and Beirut. Her work is shaped by local and global, anti- and decolonial, as well as queer liberation movements. She has lived in Berlin since 2010, where she first studied Culture and History of the Middle East and then Islamic Studies at the Free University Berlin. Raz is a board member of the Germany based organization Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East.
Udi
Raz
Udi will be on the following panel: “Turning Towards Each Other, Not Against Each Other: Bridging in Times of Crisis” (Day Two)
Cecilie Surasky is the Communications Director at the Othering & Belonging Institute. She brings two decades of movement-building strategy and communications experience to her position which she started in the spring of 2020. She worked most recently on a range of justice and equity issues including prison exoneree advocacy, LGBTQ health, Palestinian legal rights and climate justice in indigenous communities. Before that, Cecilie spent 13 years building the largest progressive Jewish grassroots organization in the United States, Jewish Voice for Peace, where she designed and led high-impact communication and advocacy campaigns to leverage influencers and shift narratives with the aim of building grassroots support for policies that uphold the inalienable human rights of Palestinians. Cecilie has also been a columnist for an East Coast daily newspaper, host of one of the country's first LGBTQ commercial talk radio programs, and a videomaker whose work has been shown at NY's Museum of Modern Art and in festivals around the world.
Cecilie
Surasky
Cecilie will be on the following panel: “Turning Towards Each Other, Not Against Each Other: Bridging in Times of Crisis” (Day Two)
Christiana Bukalo is a social change maker, speaker and co-founder of Statefree. Statefree is a non-profit organisation which follows the mission of empowering stateless people by creating community and belonging. End of 2021 the organisation launched the first global community platform for stateless people and their allies. Statefree.world allows stateless people to connect with each other, share stories and discuss questions. As a stateless person born from Germany, Christiana has had first-hand experience with the lack of transparency around statelessness and aims to fill this void by offering a space for stateless people to participate in the conversations that concern them. Furthermore Christiana has the honour of serving as a trustee and member of the Advisory Committee of the European Network on Statelessness and has been awarded the Echoing Green Fellowship (2022/2023).
Indy is a non-executive international Director of the BloxHub, the Nordic Hub for sustainable urbanization. He is on the advisory board for the Future Observatory and is part of the committee for the London Festival of Architecture. He is also a fellow of the London Interdisciplinary School.
Indy was 2016-17 Graham Willis Visiting Professorship at Sheffield University. He was Studio Master at the Architectural Association - 2019-2020, UNDP Innovation Facility Advisory Board Member 2016-20 and RIBA Trustee 2017-20.
He has taught & lectured at various institutions from the University of Bath, TU-Berlin; University College London, Princeton, Harvard, MIT and New School.
Indy Johar is an RIBA registered architect, serial social entrepreneur, and Good Growth Advisor to the Mayor of London. Indy was born in Acton, West London & is a lifelong Londoner.
He was awarded the London Design Medal for Innovation in 2022 and an MBE in 2023.
Christiana
Bukalo
Christiana will make opening remarks on day one, Thursday.
Winta Berhe (they/them) is a climate justice organizer with a background organising with the climate movement in Germany. Currently, they are actively involved with an anti-fascist and anti-racist group in Frankfurt, Germany. Their work prioritises climate justice education and the establishment of accessible community spaces led by and for BIPOC activists. Their work is driven by an abolitionist and system-change perspective that prioritises fostering global collaboration between Black, indigenous, and communities of colour in both the Global North and South to mobilise around climate justice.
Winta
Berhe
Winta will be on the following panel: “From Climate Change to Climate Justice: A BIPOC Perspective in Europe” (Day Two)
Samia Dumbuya (she/they) is a freelance consultant, facilitator and community organiser focusing on community and movement building for climate justice. They are also currently a Master's student at UCL studying MSc Sustainable Resources: Economics, Policy and Transitions observing the flow and availability of global natural resources using tools from multiple disciplines, such as economics, political science, environmental science, engineering and more. Samia's background is centring community care and empowerment in their professional experience. They co-authored Towards Climate Justice: Rethinking the European Green Deal from a Racial Justice Perspective, a project led by Equinox: Initiative for Racial Justice. Samia has the drive to weave different approaches led by communities and green organisations to eliminate silos, as working in silos brings us further away from climate justice.
Samia
Dumbuya
Samia will be on the following panel: “From Climate Change to Climate Justice: A BIPOC Perspective in Europe” (Day Two)
Samie Blasingame (she/her) is a social justice facilitator with a background in environmental policy, intercultural studies, and creative communications. She regularly curates, hosts, and facilitates events on topics related to sustainability, environmental justice, intersectional organizing, and network mapping. She is the Creative Director of Food in my Kiez, sits on the board of Greenbuzz Berlin with whom she runs the #FeedingBerlin series, and organises with the Berlin-based climate and environmental justice collective, Black Earth. Her work and political ethos revolves around community building and collective imaginations toward a just and resilient future.
Samie
Blasingame
Samie will be on the following panel: “From Climate Change to Climate Justice: A BIPOC Perspective in Europe” (Day Two)
Nani Jansen Reventlow is an internationally recognised human rights lawyer specialised in strategic litigation at the intersection of human rights, social justice, and technology. She is the founder of Systemic Justice, a new organisation that seeks to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice. Previously, Nani founded and built the Digital Freedom Fund, where she initiated a decolonising process for the digital rights field. She is Adjunct Professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government, an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers, and has been an Ashoka Fellow since 2021.
Nani
Jansen Reventlow
Nani will be on the following panel: “From Climate Change to Climate Justice: A BIPOC Perspective in Europe” (Day Two)
Dr. Charles Chip Mc Neal is an award-winning, international educator, researcher, civic leader & activist – engaging in transdisciplinary practice across art-forms and genres, with a focus on arts, educational equity, social justice, community engagement, and cultural competency. He guides government agencies, non-profits, and schools on change-management, creative collaboration, program creation, equitable arts policies, diversity, and organizational cultural competency.
Mc Neal has over 30 years of senior leadership experience and flexibly negotiates the intersection between creativity, new technologies, and professional learning. He has trained in multiple culturally responsive practices including; restorative justice techniques, social-emotional learning, and Teaching Tolerance curriculum (from the Southern Poverty Law Center). He is an accredited Integrated Learning Specialist and a certified Oral Historian. A frequent and sought-after conference presenter, Mc Neal has lectured on arts, education, social justice, multiculturalism, and equity for The Edinburgh International Festival, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Mr. McNeal is the first-ever Director of Diversity, Equity and Community for the San Francisco Opera. A pioneering leader in the field of arts, McNeal is ostensibly the first director of diversity for an opera company in the United States. Mr. McNeal has operationalized a new department in a major arts organization for the second time. In his role, he leads internal and external initiatives aimed at developing diverse audiences, creating a safe, and diverse working environment and facilitating the further advancements of the organizational mission. He is tasked with creating a culture of belonging and acceptance, we’re diverse peoples on value and inspiration in the arc of Opera. He is guided by the goals and objectives outlined in the 2019 Strategic Plan – to place develop diversity, and equity inclusion at the core of arts and business practice. Mr. McNeal works organization-wide to advise, consult, and mentor on diversity and equity initiatives.
He also continues training teaching artists, conducts arts research, develops novel initiatives, and advises on artistic content, culturally responsive pedagogy, creative collaboration and more. He designs and curates accredited professional development training for credentialed educators who partner with the San Francisco Opera.
A celebrated dance educator, Mr. Mc Neal is the former Director of Education for San Francisco Ballet where he established the distinguished, San Francisco Ballet Center for Dance Education, engaging over 30,000 people annually through 1,500 culturally diverse events.
Mc Neal served as a Transformative Learning Coach, Leadership Advisor and Arts Integration Specialist for Alameda County Office of Education where he developed culturally responsive, inquiry-based, social justice curriculum. He is a founding member of the San Francisco Unified School District’s Arts Education Master Plan Advisory Committee. McNeal is on the Leadership Council of Create California, a statewide-advocacy consortium, where he Chairs the Equity Committee – working to creating a sustainable, equitable, arts learning eco-system for the state of California.
Mr. Mc Neal holds two bachelor’s degrees – in psychology, and sociology from Excelsior University, and a master’s degree in education from Lesley University. Dr. Mc Neal holds a Ph.D. in Transformative Studies in Education from the California Institute for Integral Studies in San Francisco. Mc Neal’s research focuses on Critical Pedagogy, Culturally and Linguistically Responsive studies, and Artistic Inquiry and lies at the intersection of arts, cultural responsiveness, and educational equity as he devises solutions to the pressing issues of education reform and racial equity in the arts.
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