Whether we realize it or not, the stories we see and hear daily shape how we view the world. Over time, the patterns that emerge from the most popular of these stories form narratives that shape our values and beliefs. Most importantly, these narratives either convince us to accept the status quo or inspire us to pursue change.
That’s why The Opportunity Agenda has programs like the Narrative Innovators Lab (NIL), our signature cohort experience that bridges arts and culture with traditional advocacy and communications. At the NIL, we equip artists and advocates with tools to disrupt the harmful narratives which block progress and replace them with affirmative stories that show how social justice benefits everyone.
Our most popular NIL tool? The narrative strategy framework. In short, this framework helps our fellows analyze values and assumptions in current conversations about key issues. Based on their analysis, we support fellows in finding creative ways to connect with their audiences through shared values, while changing the way the story is told.
We call these “narrative interventions” because they’re designed to shift how people think about important issues like immigration, democracy, and racial justice. Curious how narrative change starts? Watch the below reflections from the 2024-2025 NIL cohort for examples of real-world narratives and simple communications tips that can transform conversations on the issues we all care about.
At The Opportunity Agenda, we believe everyone should have a say in the decisions that impact our lives. It’s why we work to help artists and activists tell better stories so that policymakers and community members alike see the world in a new light. When we shift the narrative, we can inspire people toplay an active role in building an inclusive America where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive.
America needs a better way of talking about immigration. The dominant narratives we see circulated over and over do not reflect the values many of us share and are eroding public support for the kinds of policies our communities need. All the while, immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation cost taxpayers billions and lines the pockets of corporate interests. To distract and divide us from true solidarity, negative discourse has opened the door for dangerous and divisive proposals that serve no one beyond a narrow set of anti-immigrant activists. And while polls have shown that these groups don’t represent the public’s views, they do tell a consistent, values-based story that has caught on in public discourse, popular culture, and political dialogue. In other words, they exploit fear rather than actually working towards a future where we all prosper.
We need a new story around immigration, infused with solution stories and values that are meant to connect and liberate us all. We need to reclaim this conversation and infuse it with our solutions, our stories, and most importantly, our values.
General Messaging Guidelines
This flexible, values-based framework provides a foundation for more productive conversations about immigration. It is based on public opinion research, insight from media monitoring and analysis, and the experience of a broad range of immigration advocates, activists, and immigrant themselves. By starting from the following principles, we can move past fear and build towards consistent messaging that resonates and builds power for our communities.
Emphasize Workable Solutions:Americans across the political spectrum are beginning to see the true horrors of our broken immigration system and deportation and enforcement industry. Not only are current policies inhumane and unreasonable, but they also don’t actually build towards permanent solutions for immigrant communities. Our communications should promote solutions that enable full economic and civic participation, while helping our communities thrive. Given the difficulty of the national climate, focusing on impactful solutions at the local and regional narrative level is important.
Infuse Messages with Values:Americans are most likely to support policies that welcome immigrants when we connect them to our shared values of opportunity, community, equality, and shared responsibility. “Transactional” arguments about the costs and benefits of immigrants just reinforce the anti-immigrant frame of newcomers as a potential burden.
Stand Together:Anti-immigrant groups are actively working to drive a wedge between immigrants, Black Americans and other communities of color, and low-wage workers. We must rally around the values that we share and our common interests to expand opportunity for everyone—e.g., combining an earned pathway to citizenship with enhanced civil rights enforcement, living wages, and job training for communities experiencing job insecurity. When we unite and embrace immigrants push against the false narratives that blame immigrants for economic inequality and structural problems. Together, our vision of a shared, prosperous future becomes not just possible, but inevitable.
Remind Audiences that Immigrants are a Part of Us:Instead of describing immigrants as outsiders who benefit us, remind audiences that immigrants are and always have been integral to our communities and our nation. (Note that this is different from saying “we’re a nation of immigrants,” which is off-putting for many Black American and Native American audiences).
Understanding the Dominant Narrative
Anti-immigrant spokespeople are consistent in using two dominant themes, regardless of their specific point:
Criminality and Law and Order Narrative
There is an inherent criminality to immigrating to the U.S.
“What part of ‘illegal’ don’t you understand?”
Threat of Terrorism, drugs, and danger
Stealing “our” resources and avoiding contributing
While our core narrative should remain the same and its themes should weave throughout all of our communications, we can build effective messages for different issues and audiences using The Opportunity Agenda’s signature VPSA (Value, Problem, Solution, and Action) framework:
Value
History shows that we move forward as a country when we welcome new immigrants and work together to improve our communities.
Problem
Our broken immigration system makes legal immigration nearly impossible for many. This allows unscrupulous employers to exploit workers, undermining rights and wages for everyone while reducing tax revenue. Our current system harms both immigrants and American citizens. For immigrant communities, we’ve created a climate of fear and deep unsafety through our enforcement. For all Americans, it diverts money from needed government services while increasing the wealth of private detention center owners.
Solution
We need sensible immigration policies that recognize reality – immigrants are already contributing members of our communities. They are a crucial part of our economic engine and the social fabric of our society. They are part of the future of our country. The obvious solution – and one that most Americans support – is to fix our immigration system so that everyone who lives here can contribute and participate fully and without fear.
Action
Support policies that help our communities welcome immigrants and solve problems together. Call out those that profit from this immigration enforcement effort.
Key Talking Points
The talking points below show how to bring our shared story to life. We know that immigration advocates speak to different communities with unique regional concerns and challenges. What connects us are our common values. Try weaving these themes into your own words and style. This approach helps create a consistent message that resonates with the public while giving you the flexibility to communicate authentically in ways that work for your audience.
Workable Solutions
We must emphasize that we are proposing reasonable and practical solutions that address our community and our nation’s needs. By focusing on what actually works, we can reveal how anti-immigrant activists push harmful policies that divide us and distract from the real challenges we all face together. We can also build power across issues by showing that many of the villains in our fights for justice are the same or aligned.
Building border walls or treating immigrants so badly that they’ll somehow “go home” have been tried and failed.
Anti-immigrant extremists are preventing a legal immigration system that works and distracting us from addressing our real challenges to education, health care, and employment.
Mutual Aid
Given the attack on people who immigrate or settle in the United States, we will need to see the activation of a robust system of aid and resources to protect these community members.
Engaging in mutual aid support for immigrant justice helps us build new models of social support and justice. Given the difficulties in the immigration climate currently, this model allows us to flip the script on who can support and uplift these communities.
Local Anti-Immigrant Policies
Policies that isolate and divide people fail everyone. We need workable, inclusive policies that serve all residents across our state, even as we continue pushing the federal government to fix our broken immigration system.
Our cities and states are havens for our immigrant communities and are best suited to help them both survive and even thrive in this difficult time.
Due Process
In America, the punishment should fit the crime. Not allowing judges to consider the circumstances of a case violates this principle and fails to resolve the problem of undocumented immigration. Judges need the freedom to look at the circumstances of each individual case and make decisions based on what’s best for that situation. These systems only have integrity when they are applied equitably and fairly.
Immigration Reform
We need a realistic pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Immigrants want to come to America legally, but our current system makes that almost impossible. This system is impossible for a reason – intentionally leaving millions of people in limbo as our government hoards resources and divides communities across the country.
Creating a clear path to citizenship and protecting the rights of all immigrants helps everyone in America, especially working families. When people are forced to live in the shadows without basic rights or opportunities, it drives down wages and jobs for all workers. This goes against what America stands for. By bringing everyone into our shared economy, we can rise together.
Uphold Our Values
Research shows that people react positively to messages that connect with their deeply-held values – especially those they see as fundamental to America. We can tap into this by underscoring that all immigration policies must reflect:
Community
Equality
Shared Responsibility
Opportunity
Justice
Human Rights
Immigrants are part of the fabric of our society—they are our neighbors, coworkers, friends. Reactionary policies that force them into the shadows haven’t worked and contradict our values. Those policies hurt all of us by encouraging exploitation by unscrupulous employers and landlords. We support policies that help immigrants contribute and participate fully in our society.
From its founding to today, America represents a promise of opportunity. We need an immigration system that welcomes those who come here ready to work hard, contribute their fair share, and become part of our shared American story.
Every person deserves dignity and fundamental rights, regardless of where they were born. Standing against exploitation and upholding human rights reflects our deepest values as Americans.
Due Process
Due process, fair hearings, and access to legal representation are cornerstone American values. These principles have guided our justice system since our founding and must remain at the heart of our immigration policies. These systems only have integrity when they are applied equitably and fairly.
Raids
Militarized raids on families and workplaces, brutal detention facilities, and the lack of due process are un-American and a national shame. The United States was founded to reject violence and repression, not repeat it. This enforcement is coming at the expense of American taxpayers – all to help line the pockets of private prison companies and government contractors.
Family Reunification
Some propose that we ignore family ties in our immigration system. But keeping families together resonates deeply across political and cultural divides—it’s a value Americans recognize in ourselves and admire in others. Welcoming newcomers but separating and splitting their families is contrary to who we are as a nation.
Help Us Move Forward Together
Our shared value of community reminds us that America thrives when we recognize our interconnectedness. When discussing people who immigrate, emphasizing our common bonds creates ground for productive conversations, putting others in an open frame of mind to consider immigration policies. Additionally, having trusted messengers share the ways that their immigrant neighbors keep their communities thriving is key.
By highlighting how shared prosperity benefits everyone, we can move beyond divisive rhetoric toward solutions that honor both our diversity and our unity. Remember: focusing on our collective strength doesn’t minimize our differences—it acknowledges that our varied perspectives and experiences create a more resilient and innovative society when we work together.
We are for solutions that benefit communities, strengthen our economy, and create a system that works for everyone.
We need shared solutions to improve health care, education, jobs, and the economy for everyone who lives here. Immigrants have a stake in those systems—we are caregivers and health professionals, teachers and students—and we are a part of the solution.
Generations of immigrants have come to America in search of opportunity and have contributed to our shared prosperity. Preserving that tradition is essential to our future in an increasingly connected world.
Immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, are a part of our state’s economic engine, and, most importantly, a part of our communities.
Immigrants play a vital role in our communities, our culture, and our economy. We go to church, we volunteer with the PTA, we pay taxes and work at hard jobs that our economy needs.
Our economy and our trade and immigration policies aren’t working for anyone but a select few. Instead of scapegoating immigrants and terrorizing families and communities, we should make America work for all of us.
Mix and Match
To effectively advance a positive narrative about immigrants and immigration, we can determine which elements are the most effective to the point we need to make and then weave them in. It’s the cumulative effect of these messages that will ultimately create the narrative we need to start to put the immigration story back on track.
Crafting effective immigration messaging requires strategic selection from our narrative framework. By identifying which elements resonate most powerfully with specific audiences and contexts, we can tailor communications that advance our broader goals. Each message becomes a building block—contributing to a cohesive story that, through repetition, helps reshape public understanding. This layered approach creates momentum over time. As consistent themes echo across different channels and messengers, they reinforce one another, gradually shifting the immigration conversation toward more productive and humane ground. Remember that narrative change is cumulative—each communication adds another thread to the new tapestry we’re weaving about America’s immigration story.
We need to move from our broken immigration system to one that is orderly, workable, and productive. We can do that by allowing people who are part of our communities and families earn a pathway to citizenship. Along with reforms like increased civil rights enforcement and sanctions for employers that exploit workers will raise wages and expand economic opportunity for everyone.
A pathway to citizenship and human rights for current and future immigrants is crucial to the interests of our country and, especially, to the interests of working Americans. If our government keeps people in the shadows, without rights or a shot at the American Dream, it will depress the wages and job prospects of all workers in this country. And it will continue to violate the values we hold dear. But if we move those people into the economic mainstream, we can rise together.
The immigration experience, one of moving from a familiar home to an uncertain future, takes incredible courage. While attacks on immigrants are dispiriting, to say the least, they can’t defeat that hope and search for opportunity. America has grown stronger because of newcomers who bring fresh ideas, valuable skills, and rich cultural traditions. Our country works best when everyone can participate and contribute, regardless of where they we born. We must continue to connect to these core values and protect them against those seeking to exclude and divide.
Here are five quick tips for talking about immigration in the face of attacks. These approaches will help you tell a hopeful story that looks toward a future over fear and celebrates opportunity for all.
Start with shared values. Talk about the America we all want to live in. Say things like: “This is about treating people with dignity and giving everyone a fair chance—values that make America special.” Before jumping into policy details, connect immigration to values most people share. When we start with what matters to all of us, people are more open to hearing us out and ready to listen to specific ideas. Also, talk about values outside of immigration – this will allow you to explain how the exploitation of people who immigrate is related to a range of issues and values we all care about.
Focus on common sense solutions. Recent executive orders and proposed legislation reflect backwards thinking and won’t serve us in the future. Emphasize that we need practical approaches that work for today’s world, not angry rhetoric that divides us. Try saying: “Instead of harsh policies based on fear, we need smart solutions that strengthen our communities and economy rather than enriching a select few billionaires.”
Show how these issues affect everyone. Immigration isn’t just an issue for immigrants—it impacts all our communities. Explain how unfair policies hurt everyone by saying: “When our neighbors live in fear, it makes our whole community less safe and less prosperous. Standing up for fair treatment benefits us all.”
Tell an affirmative story.Too much focus on correcting wrong information can just reinforce it in audiences’ minds. Instead of spending time correcting myths or misinformation, focus on sharing accurate, positive information. For example: “Immigrants start businesses at higher rates than people born here, creating jobs in our communities.” It also helps to have trusted community members share how they’ve built lives and communities with their immigrant neighbors.
Highlight how everyone’s participation makes us stronger.We all thrive when everyone can fully contribute and participate, gearing up our economic engine and moving us all forward together. Try saying: “When everyone has the chance to work, start businesses, and participate in community life, we all benefit from new ideas and stronger local economies.”
When discussing how our criminal justice system treats immigrants, the words we choose and the frameworks we use can make the difference between meaningful dialogue and unproductive debate. In today’s polarized climate, advocates need practical, values-based communication strategies that bridge divides rather than widen them. This guide offers five essential tips for discussing immigration justice issues, along with ready-to-use sample messaging that connects deeply held American values with practical solutions. Whether you’re speaking with policymakers, community members, or the media, these approaches can help you make a compelling case for a system that upholds both accountability and human dignity—one that truly reflects our nation’s highest ideals while creating safer communities for everyone.
Tips
Talk about the values that should guide our criminal justice system. Start by talking about what most Americans believe in: equal treatment under the law, keeping communities safe, and using common sense approaches that match our values. When we begin with these shared beliefs, people are more likely to listen.
Outline how current policies are failing us. Vague criticisms like “the system is broken” can make problems seem insurmountable. Therefore, be specific in which policies need to change and who needs to change them. For example: “When local police are forced to act as immigration agents, it makes immigrant communities afraid to report crimes.”
Avoid myth-busting. Don’t waste time repeating false claims even to correct them. This only makes people remember the myths better! Instead, simply share accurate information: “Immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than people born here.”
Offer clear solutions.Don’t just say what we shouldn’t be doing. Suggest better approaches that will prevent future tragedies. For example: “Providing legal representation to immigrants in detention would ensure fairer outcomes and save taxpayer money in the long run.”
Acknowledge the need for accountability when people make mistakes.While many people are caught up unfairly in the criminal justice system, we need to acknowledge that there still must be a fair and reasonable plan for those who have made mistakes, or even committed serious crimes, to move forward.
Sample Message #1
Value: We all make mistakes. But most Americans believe that people deserve a second chance, and that most mistakes shouldn’t ruin our lives and the lives of our loved ones.
Problem: Yet our criminal justice system does exactly that to many immigrants. Even if you’ve lived here for years, you can be deported if you’ve been accused of a low-level offense like shoplifting. Many immigrants in the system don’t get access to lawyers, and thousands are detained for indefinite amounts of time with no hearing. While there’s no question that we all should be held accountable for our actions, indefinite detention or permanent banishment from the country for minor offenses clearly don’t match the severity of the mistake.
Solution: We need to re-examine how our justice system treats everyone here and align that with the values we hold dear. We need a fair system that makes sure we don’t punish people without a hearing or access to lawyers. Those rights are central to our values.
Action: You can help create meaningful change in our immigration justice system. Start by contacting your congressional representatives today and urging them to support legislation that guarantees legal representation and timely hearings for all immigrants facing deportation. Sign our petition at [website] calling for an end to indefinite detention without due process. Join our community advocacy network to connect with others working for change in your area. Share these stories on social media to raise awareness about how current policies affect real families.
Sample Message #2
Value: America works best when our laws reflect our shared values of equity, fairness, and appropriate accountability.
Problem: But our criminal justice undermines these principles by creating two separate and unequal legal frameworks—one for citizens and another for immigrants. When someone who wasn’t born here faces a completely different legal process with fewer protections, regardless of how minor or serious their offense or how long they’ve contributed to our communities, we’ve abandoned our commitment to equal justice. While everyone should face appropriate consequences for wrongdoing, the stark disparity in treatment creates a troubling double standard that doesn’t just harm immigrants—it weakens the foundation of our legal system for everyone.
Solution: By reforming these policies to ensure consistent standards of justice, due process, and respect for human dignity, we can build a system that truly honors America’s highest ideals and strengthens public safety for all communities.
Action: Contact your representatives and urge them to support immigration justice reform that ensures due process for all. Share these messages with friends and family to expand understanding of how current policies affect real people in your community. Support organizations working on the frontlines of this issue through your time, talents, or contributions.
by Charlie Sherman, Manager of Narrative Strategy, and Britney Vongdara, Research Coordinator, The Opportunity Agenda
Time and time again, the script repeats: unfulfilled promises of immigration reform give way to divisive and dehumanizing rhetoric that scapegoats immigrants seeking a better life in this country. The messages and images we see on everything from door-knocking flyers to news segments depend on a simple idea: that preying on our fears and anxieties will keep us divided.
By naming the script, however, we can change it over time.
The Opportunity Agenda has been working with immigration advocates and organizers from Iowa and Michigan to New York to seed new, pro-immigrant narratives both regionally and nationally. The project is based on our three-phase research study—supported by HIT Strategies and Worthy Strategy Group— which explored how flawed assumptions about the economy and racial prejudice against Black people impact the views people hold about immigrants. Fortunately, our research also revealed opportunities for building support for a world in which immigrant justice is the norm.
Our vision has always been about how we’re stronger together. Here are our five tips with examples from partners to help you flip the script with your friends and family and rally their support for pro-immigrant policies.
1. Immigrant justice is racial justice
Our research shows that racial prejudice against Black people serves as a key predictor of high levels of anti-immigrant sentiment. This finding is not new to our partners. For years, countless organizations have explicitly drawn the connection between anti-blackness and xenophobic rhetoric and policy.
For example, the unique struggles of Black immigrants are often overlooked in the national conversation about immigration. Yet, as in our criminal justice system, racial profiling of Black immigrants often results in singling them out for detention and deportation.
To counter the divisive narratives that support unjust laws impacting our communities, it is crucial to build greater solidarity between the movements for racial and immigrant justice. Given that anti-immigrant thinking is so intertwined with anti-blackness, it is imperative to work on immigration through a racial justice lens. This is key to building long-term support for a world in which all immigrants are treated with dignity.
Our research also confirms how negative feelings about the economy correlate with negative feelings about immigration. If you think about it for a minute, this also comes as no surprise. Messages blaming immigrants for taking jobs or abusing government benefits fuel the narratives deployed by lawmakers hellbent on restricting immigration. Advocates refer to these as “scarcity narratives.”
However, there is more than enough for all of us, with plenty of resources and benefits to go around. This is why strategic communicators often talk about the importance of shifting conversations about the economy toward what we call “abundance narratives.” By leaning into this way of talking about immigration in the United States and also explicitly naming the villains who profit from exploiting all workers, we can uplift our common struggles and build towards solutions that create opportunity for all of us.
We support immigrant rights not only because of the positive economic contributions immigrants make to our nation, but also because we believe everyone deserves to live with dignity. And we believe our government plays a key role in creating rules that guarantee good paying jobs, access to affordable healthcare, and safe housing for all of us.
3. Name root causes and boldly uplift policy solutions
Our research shows that even when people feel positively about immigrants, they don’t always support policies that help immigrants. While most survey respondents reacted positively to broad statements about immigrants, we saw a steep drop in support for policy-specific statements.
To counter this, we need to be bold in advocating for the necessary policy changes that will make this country truly welcoming for immigrants. This means clearly articulating how these policies translate into tangible improvements in people’s lives.
Many politicians and advocates often rely on generic statements like, “Diversity makes our country stronger, and immigrants contribute to that with their cultures and ideas.” While these sentiments are valuable, we must go further by connecting these ideas to specific policy solutions.
By highlighting both the cause of the harms immigrants face and the concrete solutions available, we can more effectively inspire our audiences to take action. Find out which immigration policies and issues your state is prioritizing and actively working on by searching the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ State Priorities Partnership on Immigration database.
4. Reframe narratives about law and order
Throughout our research, we repeatedly uncovered the deeply flawed assumptions and understandings people hold about how our immigration system works. The United States’ immigration laws are intentionally convoluted and criminalizing. Lawmakers designed the system to produce few fair pathways towards safe and accessible immigration. In practice, the enforcement of these laws serves the private interests of surveillance, defense, and prison corporations, all of whom make billions of dollars off criminalization and exploitation.
For decades, we’ve been told a simplistic story about how immigrants just need to follow the rules. This framework hinges on the assumption that our laws are good; and therefore, anyone who fails to follow them must face the consequences. Lawmakers exploit this script time and again to not only justify the current discriminatory system but also bolster their arguments to further restrict pathways toward legal status.
The work of reform requires we help people see what’s really happening: we are all being harmed by outdated, unjust, and historically racist laws. Point to examples of how our nation’s laws threaten our values of safety, opportunity, and equity. Framing the conversation around these values helps reveal the system for what it is and pave the way towards policies that uphold human rights.
Brush up on the history of immigration laws with Freedom for Immigrants’ infographic and use American Friends Service Committee’s Investigate database to explore how corporations profit from border militarization and prisons.
5. Envision a future where we all thrive
It’s important to remember that the same power that narrative wields to maintain the status quo can also be harnessed to reimagine what’s possible in the future. Stories repeated over time shape narratives, and we can mold the ones that prevail to our values and the ways we think things like government and our economy should be organized to benefit the majority of Americans. That’s why storytelling through arts and cultural strategies is a key ingredient to the work of social justice.
Think strategically about how you tell your own story and why you care about immigrant rights using our signature VPSA message builder. For parents, watch United We Dream’s “No Borders, Just Flavors” YouTube series with your children to talk about the diversity of the immigrant experience and the things we share in common.
If you’re a nonprofit professional or media maker, be sure to support artists and storytellers by paying equitably for their work, helping navigate how to tell stories safely, and viewing them as key thought partners when setting strategy. Use the following tools to infuse cultural strategies into your advocacy.
As the above tips demonstrate, our lives are deeply connected in an increasingly global society. How and when we choose to act impacts others in our communities and the world. Building solidarity across socio-economic class and race or ethnicity is key for advancing collective liberation for immigrant justice and beyond. We hope these tips help you communicate that to your friends and family.
Though welcoming a baby comes with moments of uncertainty for all mothers, for Black mothers, significant racial disparities in maternal health introduce unique and sometimes overwhelming stress and uncertainty. As portrayed in the documentary film, “Birthing Justice,” these disparities are a result of systemic racism, implicit biases in healthcare, and a lack of access to adequate medical services.
To help you craft conversations that improve the public’s understanding of Black maternal health, shift narratives, and lead to policy change, we put together the following messaging tips based on our “Birthing Justice” discussion guide:
1. Emphasize Systemic Inequities Over Individual Choices
It’s crucial to shift the focus away from individual lifestyle choices and toward systemic issues. Highlight how racial disparities in healthcare, such as higher levels of pregnancy complications among Black women, are, not personal behaviors.
For example, unjust labor laws that fail to provide paid time off to access healthcare can adversely impact Black moms. It’s important to note that navigating racism alone undermines the health and wellbeing of Black moms. Across education and class levels, and even decorated athletes, Black moms experience maternal health disparities at rates that outpace white mothers.
This reframing helps underline the necessity for systemic changes rather than placing undue responsibility on individual women.
2. Lead with Values and Use Data to Reinforce the Issue
Leading with values activates emotions and opens audience’s hearts and minds to the message. Data alone does not persuade, but it can be impactful in reinforcing the point you are trying to make. For example, stating that Black women are three to five times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than their white counterparts starkly highlights the severity of the issue. Combine these statistics with personal stories to humanize the data and make the numbers resonate on a personal level with the audience.
3. Amplify the Voices of Black Mothers and Healthcare Experts
Centering the voices of those directly affected can significantly impact public perception. Share stories and insights from Black mothers and healthcare professionals who face these challenges daily. These firsthand accounts can provide a powerful testimony to existing disparities and the urgent need for change.
4. Advocate for Evidence-Based Solutions and Community Actions
Craft messaging that invites a wide audience to participate in the conversation, including those who might not be directly affected. You can also create space for inclusive dialogues that address uncomfortable truths about race and reproductive health in ways that are respectful of both the pain and trauma audiences with direct experience with infant or maternal mortality may feel. Educating a broader audience helps build a coalition of advocates who can push for the necessary political and social reforms in solidarity with Black-led organizing.
However, be strategic in your communications. Research shows that people are more receptive to messages that align with their core values. Therefore, tailor your communications to resonate with those shared values.
Conclusion
Changing the narrative around Black maternal health involves more than just changing minds. It’s about catalyzing action towards equity in healthcare. By focusing on systemic inequities, leading conversations with shared values, amplifying the voices of Black mothers, and advocating for practical solutions, we can begin to dismantle the barriers that contribute to these disparities. This is not just a matter of health justice for Black moms but also of societal justice for all.
By Brian Erickson, Digital Communications and Multimedia Manager, The Opportunity Agenda
Right now, we’re witnessing the cruelty of unleashing the full force of federal immigration agents on our communities. Many of our communities are responding powerfully, organizing and sharing know your rights information to protect one another.
It’s important to recognize, however, that the false and harmful stories told about immigrants time and time again in the news and online serve a purpose. By design, they’re used to dehumanize our families, friends, and neighbors and bolster support for mass deportation.
For many of us, our first instinct is to respond by saying “immigrants aren’t criminals” or “no human being is illegal.” However, not only do these reactions miss an opportunity to unapologetically say what we know to be true about immigration, but they also tiptoe into the dangerous practice of myth-busting.
Together, we can interrupt the narrative cycle of dehumanization and deportation, and this guide provides a starting point for how.
Why Myth-busting Hurts Immigrant Justice
The impulse to “myth-bust”— to explain why misleading information or outright lies are not true — is natural, especially when lies are being told about us or our communities. You often see myth-busting take the form of a list, with the myth in bold and the explanation debunking it in fine print below.
However, when we myth-bust, we inadvertently cause more harm: by repeating harmful messages, we spread these messages further and risk exposing them to new audiences. Ultimately, we end up using the precious energy and time we have correcting misinformation only to have these lies reinforced in people’s minds.
The anti-immigrant playbook relies primarily on repeating two harmful narratives: that there are scarce resources to go around, and that law and order must be maintained at any cost, human or economic. These narratives appear in the stories politicians use to manipulate people’s fears about making ends meet or public safety.
Their aim? Pointing the finger at immigrants seeks to divide us and deflect attention from their role in furthering inequality. Meanwhile, parents continue to kiss their children goodbye at school, workers clock in for their shifts, and families gather for dinner while bearing the weight of not knowing what tomorrow will bring.
So resist the trap of myth-busting!
Drawing from our longstanding research in effective messaging, this guide provides a better way with practical approaches that highlight the countless ways immigrants contribute to and strengthen our economic, social, and cultural life in the United States.
Quick Tips
Below are five quick tips with examples of how to use them. They include:
Use “people first” language: avoid labels to help remind audiences of the real impacts of detention and deportation on real people.
Celebrate the many contributions of immigrants to our communities: emphasize human dignity when talking about the positive economic and cultural value of immigration.
Remind people movement is natural, and asylum is a right: it takes courage to move, and many people can relate to doing anything for your children.
Focus on what true community “safety” looks like for all of us: tell a bigger story about what safe communities look like to avoid the crime myth trap.
Focus on solutions that reflect our values, not problems: painting a clear picture of what’s possible—our futures over fear—helps energize and mobilize.
Five Tips for Telling a Positive Story about Immigration
Research shows that people are more receptive to a new way of thinking when we start every conversation with what matters most: our shared values. That’s why we created The Opportunity Agenda’s signature VPSA (Values, Problem, Solution, Action) framework. This proven approach cuts through divisive rhetoric. And the best part? Anyone can use it effectively.
Whether you’re posting on social media, talking with neighbors, or speaking at a town hall with elected representatives, begin by connecting immigration to the fundamental beliefs that unite us—our commitment to family, our desire for thriving communities, our belief in safety for all, and our dedication to creating opportunity.
The end game of the political spectacle of mass deportation is to strip immigrants of their humanity. This is typically done by rendering them merely as numbers or labeling them with xenophobic terms such as “illegal” or “alien.” We can inject humanity back into the conversation by starting our stories with people.
The easiest way to think about it is to talk about people, not labels.
Rather than saying “undocumented,” use “people without documentation.” And when describing people on the move or detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), use “people who arrive at our borders” or “people detained by immigration agents.” We’re already seeing a rise in the use of xenophobic terms like the ones outlined above, which makes it even more urgent to carefully and thoughtfully select our words.
Most importantly, use your energy to tell stories about community to replace those seen frequently in news headlines whose primary aim is to cast immigrants as threats.
Tip #2 – Celebrate the many contributions of immigrants to our communities.
Immigrants enrich our communities, strengthening our nation by sharing their unique skills, experiences, and cultural practices. We must advance an alternate vision for a pro-immigrant future rooted in connection that contrasts with the current one, propped up by executive orders that ostracize and expel valued members of our families and communities. By fully embracing and celebrating people who immigrate, we can create a vibrant and resilient nation for everyone.
For example, protecting immigrant children in the classroom recognizes the value of diversity and prepares the next generation for success in a globalized world. And celebrating immigrant artists underscores both their importance in defining pop culture, and how art introduces us to new ideas or the hopes and dreams we share.
Immigrants also contribute significantly to our economy both as buyers of consumer goods and owners of small businesses. And yes, they pay taxes. In fact, in 2022, immigrant households paid local, state, and federal taxes to the tune of one of every six tax dollars, funding critical social programs that many of us depend on.
However, when you celebrate the economic contributions of immigrants, remember to emphasize that they are people first. Pro-immigrant policies can turbocharge our economic engine, but we support them because we believe in treating everyone with dignity.
Tip #3 – Remind people movement is natural, and asylum is a right.
Moving takes courage. Many people in the United States move to create greater opportunities for them or their families. People who move to this country for a better life or to seek safety are no different, and immigrant families, like all families, deserve the opportunity to thrive together.
The real problem is our nation’s lack of a fair immigration process.
Contrary to what some politicians would have you believe, there exist very few avenues to legally immigrate to the United States. Every day, valued members of our communities—our neighbors, fellow churchgoers, and parents at our children’s schools—face a maze of intentionally complex immigration laws that keep them in legal limbo.
Many have built their lives here over decades, contributing to our shared prosperity and cultural fabric. They are New Americans in every meaningful way but on paper. These mothers, fathers, entrepreneurs, and dreamers deserve a clear, fair path to fully participate in the nation they help build.
How we treat people seeking asylum is also a powerful reflection of who we are becoming as a nation. In recent years, the U.S. government has slowly turned its back on people seeking safety. This contrasts powerfully with the response of communities, including those of faith, who eagerly rally to extend care and open arms to people who courageously move here. We must stand steadfast in demanding our government do the same by protecting access to asylum and refugee programs.
Tip #4 – Focus on what true community “safety” looks like for all of us.
Every family deserves to feel safe and welcome, regardless of where they come from or where they live. Harmful narratives that scapegoat immigrants are designed to sow division, preserve political power, and line the pockets of private prison and border security and surveillance corporations along the way.
Many of our most diverse cities, including along the U.S.-Mexico border, consistently rank among the safest in the nation. That said, avoid the narrative trap of factual debates over crime rates and migration by focusing on bigger picture solutions that help everyone.
Real safety comes from building strong communities together. This means investing in policies that help all families thrive: quality public education, livable wages, and affordable housing. People who immigrated to our communities are active partners in realizing solutions that strengthen community trust and safety. When we support these fundamental needs, we create communities where everyone can feel secure and valued.
Tip #5 – Focus on solutions that reflect our values, not problems.
We’re living with tremendous uncertainty and very real threats, but we must do our best to resist the urge to dwell on problems. Instead, focus on solutions that bring our values to life. Stories of positive change and collective action inspire people more than critiques of the current system. That’s why our vision of a future over fear is so threatening to this current administration.
Therefore, paint a clear picture of what’s possible: communities where everyone has the freedom to move and live with dignity. A justice system that ensures due process, providing legal representation and family support during immigration proceedings. Local policies that build trust between law enforcement and residents, creating safer neighborhoods for all.
Remember: People are more likely to engage when they see a path forward. By highlighting solutions that reflect our shared values of fairness, dignity, and community, we inspire others to join us in creating change. Frame your message around specific, achievable reforms that transform our immigration system into one that honors our highest ideals—where everyone is treated with respect and shares an opportunity to thrive.
We Choose the Future Over Fear
False stories and myths only become stronger when we give them more air by spreading them. The time is now to replace harmful narratives with a vision of a future we know is possible.
While we must remain vigilant against disinformation and protect hard-won progress, our greatest power lies in sharing stories of hope, resilience, and community. Instead of amplifying harmful narratives, let’s fill our spaces—both digital and physical—with trusted sources, authentic voices, and inspiring stories that reflect the truth about immigrants and immigration.
Real narrative change begins with each of us. We hope these tips help you continue to show up for one another in person and in the way you talk to family and friends online or at the dinner table.
As the highest court in the United States, the Supreme Court has final say in interpreting our constitutional rights. People expect the Court to be impartial and to interpret the Constitution based on solid reasoning and respect for precedent. The Court should not be focused on furthering a particular political agenda or in responding to personal favors. In fact, the Court has historically been viewed favorably by the public, or the very least, been viewed as a legitimate institution. In order to function as an independent and effective institution, it is important that people recognize the Court as legitimate. The legitimacy of the Court encourages people to have faith in our government institutions and to work peacefully with them.
However, in recent years, the Supreme Court’s status has come into question.[1] For the first time since the information has been gathered, most Americans do not view the Court as legitimate. Only 7 percent of Americans have a great deal of trust and confidence in the judiciary.[2] As we wait for the Supreme Court’s decisions in several important cases that will impact affirmative action, voting rights, and other significant issues, we advise advocates to consider discussing the Supreme Court’s legitimacy in their communications about these decisions. Below are some tips for incorporating concerns about the Court’s legitimacy as you discuss the Court’s upcoming decisions.
Messaging Advice
1. Lead with Values. The Supreme Court should reflect our shared values in its decisions (e.g., Impartiality, Equal Justice, Due Process, Fairness). It is vital that these values continue to be uplifted despite the individuals who are on the Court. Consider discussing how decisions impact these values and whether the decision deviates or brings us closer to them.
Why Those Values Matter?
Reliability: One of the guiding principles for the Supreme Court is “stare decisis,” which essentially means that the Court and other courts will “adhere to [previous cases] in making their decisions.”[3] People depend on a reliable Court and expect it to respect decisions. Americans should be able to count on the reliability of the Court.
Transparency: The Supreme Court is expected to explain the rationale underlying their decisions and opinions openly, with the opportunity for members of the public to hear arguments.
Equal Justice: The Court should be advancing equity and access to equal opportunity, not limiting access to it.
2. Describe the importance of the judiciary in advancing social justice. Promoting a fair judiciary is not just about highlighting the recent failures of the conservative Supreme Court majority; it is also about supporting new federal judges who will interpret the Constitution in manner that aligns with our shared values.
The legitimacy crisis at the Supreme Court is detrimental to our society, and there is a growing awareness that policymakers should take the necessary steps to address this crisis. Many advocates concerned with social justice have raised these concerns. However, there is also a greater need to transform the judiciary into one that the public can view as legitimate.
Advocates should push for the appointment and confirmation of new jurists who have demonstrated a passion for equal justice under law. The appointment of Justice Ketanji Jackson Brown illustrated the hope that a competent and respected jurist can bring to the judiciary. But there are still many judicial vacancies, including several social justice advocates, who are not receiving the same level of enthusiasm.
What can sometimes get lost in the discourse about the Supreme Court is the need to continuously feed the pipeline of judges who comprise the trial and federal appellate courts. Several nominees who reflect the values of our Constitution and who have devoted their lives to advancing civil rights and civil liberties have yet to be confirmed as federal judges despite being nominated to the judiciary by President Biden. These nominees are part of the story of how the judiciary has become so out of step with the American public; conservatives have aggressively filled the courts with judges and stalled the nominations of judges community to Equal Justice. Social justice advocates should consider highlighting the stagnation of their confirmation process to a Supreme Court issuing decisions that roll back social justice. One way of responding is filling our court with judges who will respect our constitutional values.
3. Highlight the importance of an independent judiciary. Explain the importance of ethical standards and accountability. When Supreme Court justices deviate from the ethical standards expected of them, they should be held accountable. The Court should be impartial, and its justices should be guided with concern for all American people rather than corporate elites.
4. Don’t be afraid to identify what’s happening at the Supreme Court as a crisis.
For the first time in the history of the Gallup poll, fewer than fifty percent of Americans have a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the judicial branch.
The decline in Americans’ faith in its federal judiciary has been swift – a 20 percentage point drop in two years. The court used to routinely have the faith of two-thirds of Americans in Gallup surveys.
Because we are in a moment of constitutional crisis, advocates should encourage policymakers to embrace bold and progressive solutions that would restore faith in the judiciary. In addition to filling judicial vacancies and supporting judges who would advance Equal Justice, policymakers should hold judges accountable when they violate ethical standards, consider reforms that might facilitate Supreme Court transformations that restore its democratic qualities, and continuously inform the public about what’s happening at the Supreme Court.
Narrative Principles for Discussing SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina
October/November 2022
Our constitutional values could not be more important as we anticipate the Supreme Court arguments on several important cases this term. This memo offers messaging advice for promoting diversity and equal opportunity in the context of SFFA v. Harvard and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, constitutional challenges to college affirmative action policies.
In order to foster a diverse student body and overcome obstacles to educational opportunity, Harvard University and the University of North Carolina consider qualified students’ racial or ethnic backgrounds along with academic achievement and other qualities like leadership, socioeconomic status, and athletic or artistic talent. The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether these policies violate the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bars racial discrimination by government entities, including public universities. Our hope is that the Supreme Court will ensure that everyone fully enjoys the protections and rights provided in our Constitution by protecting affirmative action. However, it is widely expected that the Supreme Court will ban affirmative action programs in its decision on these cases.
The Court will hear arguments on October 31, 2022. This communications advice is intended to help mobilize supporters of diversity and equal opportunity while persuading undecided audiences. It is based on opinion and media research as well as practical experience from around the country.
Messaging Advice
1. Lead with Values. Undecided audiences respond best when we lead with values they share, rather than dense facts or political rhetoric. In these two affirmative action cases, the most important values are diversity, opportunity, and the national interest. However, other values to consider are equality, inclusivity, and mobility.
Expanding Opportunity: It is in everyone’s interest to see that talented students from all backgrounds get a close look and a fair shot and have the chance to overcome obstacles to educational opportunity.
The Benefits of Diversity: Learning with (and from) people from different backgrounds and perspectives benefits our students, our communities, our work force, our military, and our country as a whole.
Preventing Racial Isolation: It is important that schools are able to build student bodies that foster meaningful diversity that does not isolate any one group.
Our National Interest: Fostering educational diversity and greater opportunity is critical to our nation’s future in a global economy and an increasingly interconnected world.
2. Explain that Affirmative Action furthers the National Interest When It Comes to American Demographics. The U.S. Census confirms that American society is becoming more and more diverse with most young people originating from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. These changes mean that Americans must be able to learn and successfully navigate in increasingly diverse environments.
Colleges, as institutions that train future leaders and participate in this world, are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that students learn how to navigate diverse environments. Affirmative action provides colleges with the ability to immerse students in diverse environments, allowing them to best teach students how to successfully work within these environments in the future.
3. Emphasize that the Fourteenth Amendment was Intended to Expand Opportunity – Not Restrict It. It is concerned with protecting equal justice under law and was intended to help African Americans achieve opportunity in the United States.
As one of the Reconstruction Amendments, the Fourteenth Amendment’s goal was to “grant […] citizenship and equal civil rights to African Americans and enslaved people who had been emancipated after the American Civil War.”[1] The Fourteenth Amendment was intended to help ensure that newly freed African Americans were able to experience full citizenship and the related rights of citizenship. The Fourteenth Amendment sought to provide African Americans with the opportunities and rights that they had been denied during slavery, but it is now being used to limit their rights. This history is an important reminder of how the Court is deviating from our values of equal justice and opportunity.
4. Discuss the Importance of a Judiciary that Respects Precedent and the Rule of Law. The Court’s approach to these cases, as well as the future direction of the Court, seems bleak given recent changes in its composition. It is nevertheless important to fight to protect the hard-fought, historic gains our country has made in promoting and preserving opportunity while critiquing the Supreme Court’s shortcomings. Advocates should encourage the Supreme Court justices to preserve prior decisions that protected constitutional rights, while seeking remedies to years of undemocratic practices that altered the Court’s composition.
It is well known that “public trust and confidence in our government institutions is critical to the function of our democratic republic.”[2] In the judicial system, the principle of precedent, or stare decisis, is the idea that a court respects and defers to decisions before it. This concept is key to preserving legitimacy, trust, and confidence in courts, which are at historic lows. For the sake of democracy, it is important that the Court respects past precedents protecting the use of race in college admissions processes.
For a summary of the litigants and their main arguments, go here.
Today, the United States Supreme Court took the dreaded step to overrule Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey with its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The Court has now restricted the right of hundreds of millions of Americans to decide for themselves whether to have an abortion, uprooting decades of precedent and a right upon which hundreds of thousands of Americans have relied.
While today is a tremendous setback and sad day for our country, it is important to remain vigilant in the fight for social justice and bodily autonomy when communicating about Dobbs. While it is tempting to focus only on the sadness of the day, we must stick together and clarify in our communications that we will not stop pushing forward toward justice until full rights are realized for everyone.
We recognize that this opinion not only threatens reproductive freedom for millions, but that the Court’s inconsistent contemplation of whether a right even exists could jeopardize other rights. This may include the rights of people in same-sex relationships and interracial relationships, and the right to use contraceptives. Therefore, it is critical to advance a narrative that recognizes the aspiration of full rights and justice and the inherent values at stake in this decision, including:
Dignity;
Equal Justice; and
Freedom
We recommend bringing a values-focused framework when talking about this issue and focusing on solutions rather than on only the problems or the sadness of the day.
Key Takeaways
Dobbs represents a fundamental threat to reproductive liberty and justice.
Dobbs allows states to take action by banning any and all access to abortion. Less than one hour after the Court announced its decision in Dobbs, the state of Missouri’s attorney general swiftly implemented that state’s abortion ban. More than 25 states will likely take action to eliminate nearly all abortion rights immediately.[1] Even outside of the states considering complete bans, abortion rights may be severely weakened.
The repercussions could mean enhanced discrimination, forcing people without economic means, especially people of color, to travel extensively outside of the state they live in to have an abortion. As a result, the poorest Americans without financial resources to travel will face the brunt of having their reproductive liberty being stripped away.
Communicate that Dobbs will have a detrimental impact on the reproductive freedom, health, and dignity of millions of people across the country – especially low-income women and people of color.
Dobbs opens the door to weaken or eliminate many other fundamental rights.
In addition to how personhood is defined and whether fetuses should have the same rights as people, there are many other implications to the Dobbs ruling. Reproductive justice is not the only right that may be impacted. The Court’s narrow construction of the right to abortion in Dobbs comes from its reliance on Washington v. Glucksberg, in which the Court reconstrues Glucksberg to narrowly evaluate whether a right is protected. It asks whether that specific right is “deeply rooted in this nation’s history and tradition.” This means that instead of asking whether the right to privacy protects a specific right, courts can now ask whether that specific right, e.g. the right to buy contraception, was traditionally protected in the eighteenth century. This is a very narrow approach, which can be contrasted by the Supreme Court’s approach to marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges.
In Obergefell, the Court recognized a right for same-sex couples to get married and noted that the Glucksberg approach was overly narrow. It said that the proper approach is to ask whether the constitutional right to privacy meant that same-sex partners should be allowed to marry. The Court’s method for interpreting whether a right exists in Dobbs means that many other rights are at risk. This method could result in the erosion of freedoms, from the right to same-sex and interracial marriage, to the right to use contraceptives.
Right-wing activists and lawyers are already planning their assault on a broader set of rights. For example, Jonathan Mitchell, the former Solicitor General of Texas and the architect of Texas’s notorious SB-8 law, which restricts access to abortions, argued in an amicus brief that the logic to overrule Roe could be used to overrule Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges:
“This is not to say that the Court should announce the overruling of Lawrence and Obergefell if it decides to overrule Roe and Casey in this case. But neither should the Court hesitate to write an opinion that leaves those decisions hanging by a thread. Lawrence and Obergefell, while far less hazardous to human life, are as lawless as Roe.”[2]
The Dobbs opinion overruled a watershed precedent, weakening the Court’s legitimacy.
Dobbs overruled Roe v. Wade, which had been the law of the land for nearly 50 years. The principle of stare decisis, that a court respects and gives deference to decisions before it, is crucial in preserving the legitimacy of the Court. At his nomination hearing, Justice Alito himself stated that stare decisis was “a fundamental part of our legal system” despite his blatant disregard for the principle in Dobbs.[3]
Public polling has shown that the Court’s support dropped significantly in the wake of the leaked draft opinion of Dobbs, which greatly resembles the final version.[4]
Emphasize how the Court has significantly undermined its own legitimacy by ignoring its own precedent.
Key Questions
Some people say that this case is only about abortion and people who say otherwise are being alarmist. How should advocates respond to this?
A: It is clear that the Court could be leaving itself room to do additional harm to justice with this ruling. That’s because the approach that the Court adopted in Dobbs is an exceptionally narrow approach to analyze whether people have a right through the Constitution’s protection of substantive due process rights. This restrictive view is contrary to the approach taken in some of the Court’s most important decisions, including cases that protect the rights to same-sex marriage or the right to obtain contraception. This approach to judicial rulemaking could result in the erosion of other fundamental rights that Americans rely on every day. An expansive view of substantive due process, like the one taken in Lawrence and Obergefell, provides the most liberty and freedom for all Americans.
What about the concept of the “living Constitution”?
A: We share certain core values, but the way we express them changes as time passes. And that is what “living constitutionalism” is about — when we interpret the Constitution to include certain rights not explicitly enumerated in the document. The living constitution approach is also the dominant view throughout the world. Following a living constitution approach to Constitutional interpretation is not just popular, but will result in expanding rights and increasing opportunity for all Americans.
In fact, most Americans believe that the living constitution approach is the best way for the Supreme Court to analyze the Constitution[5] because it’s based on the idea that constitutional law grows and changes with the society within it. Sometimes, conservative thinkers acknowledge that it’s not, in fact, such a bad thing, and show how this is contrary to the constitutional conception of our nation. The idea of living constitutionalism allows our nation to continue to be governed by the people who live in it today, rather than the people who lived hundreds of years ago.
How do we stay energized and involved?
A: Despite this decision, the aspiration for justice and the world that we are trying to achieve must stay at the forefront. There are still many ways to protect abortion rights by advocating for legislation and executive orders at the state, local, and federal levels. We know from history as our guide that it takes time – sometimes generations – to achieve justice. And we must continue to put forward aspirational narratives that call for nothing short.
Check out other ways to make a difference here, here, and here.
Crafting Your Message
We recommend that you use VPSA when communicating about this issue. VPSA is a communications structure – Value, Problem, Solution, Action – that guides the creation of values-based messages that motivate audiences to action.
Leading with VALUES creates broad points of agreement and shared goals that will resonate with nearly any audience. Being explicit about the PROBLEM, and how it threatens shared values, creates a sense of urgency and connects individual stories to broader systems and dynamics. Offering a SOLUTION gives audiences a sense of hope and motivation. The best solutions are connected directly to the problem offered and make clear where the responsibility for change lies. Assigning an ACTION gives the audience a concrete next step that they can picture themselves doing and creates a feeling of agency.
Sample VPSA Messages
Autonomy
VALUE
We should have control over what happens in our own lives. Autonomy means having self-directing freedom over our choices regardless of our race, sex, gender, or class.
PROBLEM
The Supreme Court’s Dobbs opinion is an affront to those freedoms. It prevents the autonomy of those with the ability to bear children, especially those from minority, marginalized, and low-income groups. The Court’s opinion permits states to infringe on the right to an abortion and destroys self-determination for those living in more than 25 states. Not only that, but the Dobbs opinion also jeopardizes other basic rights such as interracial marriage and same-sex marriage.
SOLUTION
The journey to reaching justice must continue. We have the power to encourage federal and state representatives to act, to influence public opinion and, in turn, to influence the outcome of future elections and the future makeup of the Supreme Court. We can also provide aid to organizations helping poor and marginalized communities access safe abortions.
ACTION
It is essential to use your voice and get involved to end the Court’s attack on basic human rights. Vote in every election. Talk to your friends and family about the importance of reproductive autonomy and freedom. Push your representatives for legislation and executive orders at the state, local, and federal levels.
Opportunity
VALUE
Everyone deserves equal opportunity. We must work to break down barriers that prevent equal opportunity based on race, sex, gender, and class.
PROBLEM
The Dobbs opinion destroys opportunity for those who can bear children and will hit members of the Black and brown communities hard. Dobbs astronomically increases the financial burden of obtaining an abortion. Low-income people, many of whom are Black and brown women, Black and brown transgender men, and Black and brown non-binary persons, will suffer the brunt of that blow.
SOLUTION
In light of Dobbs, we must work to decrease the financial burden of obtaining an abortion for low-income people. States and organizations with resources should support people who now need to travel out-of-state to secure their reproductive rights.
ACTION
Governments and organizations should provide travel grants and other resources so people from states with limits on abortion rights can afford the costs of travel to obtain an abortion. Individuals with the means can support organizations that do so, and can push their elected representatives to take action.
