Narratives are embodied & strategic
Narratives can be confused with communications or branding. But what we “convey” and what we do need to line up. And short term efforts to express ideas that you can't live by eventually cause harm.
Narrative should be treated as the core of program and organizational strategy.
MJN uses the word “embodied” to reflect on how our bodies, lived experiences, and daily practices actually express the truth. We seek to practice justice, notice when status quo systems don't, and noticing when decades of programming have normalized injustice in our own thinking.
First, authentic practice is obviously the right thing to do. But beyond that, it’s not a good idea to say things you don’t work to authentically live up to for 2 reasons:
It feeds oppositional narratives: Oppositional forces tear down or de-legitimize justice movements by amplifying signs of inauthenticity.
It feeds co-optation: Oppositional or less aligned perspectives can easily use your words and phrases. We can’t stop this, but we can respond by showing how we’re different in concrete and practicable terms. This should be at our fingertips. It’s hard, but it should be the whole point to the work.
