WEBVTT 00:00:09.833 --> 00:00:13.629 Hello, and welcome to Course 7, Building Narrative Power 00:00:13.669 --> 00:00:17.713 A narrative is a deeply rooted, publicly shared system of meaning 00:00:17.753 --> 00:00:21.753 told through recollections, themes, and interpretation. 00:00:21.780 --> 00:00:26.540 Simply put, it’s like a story that has taken root in our collective consciousness 00:00:26.799 --> 00:00:29.200 and shapes how we think about things. 00:00:29.250 --> 00:00:32.558 One common narrative is “The American Dream”. 00:00:32.598 --> 00:00:35.637 The American Dream says that everybody who comes to America 00:00:35.677 --> 00:00:39.677 has the freedom and opportunity to obtain a fuller, better and richer life. 00:00:40.477 --> 00:00:43.354 But, as we learned in some of our other courses, 00:00:43.394 --> 00:00:46.224 this is not always the case. 00:00:46.264 --> 00:00:51.260 Narratives can be used to support positive actions for social justice or to create harm. 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:55.929 In Course 7, we will introduce 4 harmful dominant narratives about 00:00:56.905 --> 00:01:01.650 Individualism, White Supremacy, the Free Market, and Anti-democracy. 00:01:02.791 --> 00:01:08.150 In the U.S., these narratives have laid the groundwork for an elite group of people 00:01:08.293 --> 00:01:12.293 to secure power and gain wealth at the expense of the millions. 00:01:13.542 --> 00:01:16.972 The narrative of individualism says that we as individuals 00:01:17.012 --> 00:01:21.012 are the only ones responsible for our circumstances and outcomes. 00:01:21.083 --> 00:01:27.080 It ignores systems and says our success or failure in life rests on us and us alone, 00:01:27.338 --> 00:01:31.338 regardless of where, when, or what conditions we were brought up in. 00:01:31.815 --> 00:01:35.181 We see this narrative intersect with the American Dream. 00:01:35.221 --> 00:01:39.221 When people come to America and are not able to achieve this dream on their own, 00:01:39.551 --> 00:01:45.000 individualism blames them and not the challenges they might face when they get here. 00:01:45.050 --> 00:01:49.199 The second dominant narrative is one that supports White Supremacy. 00:01:49.329 --> 00:01:55.000 It says that white people are superior to people of all other races and ethnicities. 00:01:55.094 --> 00:01:59.094 White supremacy blames differences across racial groups on biology 00:01:59.213 --> 00:02:01.513 to validate the oppression of people of color, 00:02:01.553 --> 00:02:06.300 and ignores the basic truth that all humans are biologically similar. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:14.300 In public health, this can lead us to accept health disparities as natural, normal and unavoidable. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.386 The third dominant narrative, the Free Market Narrative, 00:02:17.426 --> 00:02:21.426 holds that a freely operating market economy, functioning without regulation, 00:02:22.025 --> 00:02:26.025 will naturally serve everyone equally and create wealth for all. 00:02:26.737 --> 00:02:30.737 It assumes capitalism alone can fix economic and social problems. 00:02:31.140 --> 00:02:35.140 This narrative is harmful because it ignores human greed 00:02:35.433 --> 00:02:41.430 and allows wealth and power to be concentrated in the hands of a few people and corporations. 00:02:42.387 --> 00:02:49.200 The Free Market narrative supports health care as a commodity to be sold rather than a universal public good. 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:52.500 The fourth dominant narrative, the Anti-Democracy Narrative 00:02:52.926 --> 00:02:57.920 says that government is the problem, not the solution, to society’s ills. 00:02:58.678 --> 00:03:02.678 It undermines our ability to have a say in the decisions that impact our communities. 00:03:04.742 --> 00:03:08.060 How do all these harmful narratives affect public health? 00:03:08.100 --> 00:03:12.100 They create conditions that harm communities and damage public health. 00:03:12.127 --> 00:03:19.120 They advance health inequity by eroding our ability to live our lives in peace, optimal health and prosperity. 00:03:19.672 --> 00:03:23.672 Because narratives are ‘in the ground’, they appear to be neutral and obvious, 00:03:25.134 --> 00:03:29.134 like common sense- so we can’t imagine things differently. 00:03:29.318 --> 00:03:33.216 Like weeds, harmful dominant narratives succeed through repetition. 00:03:33.256 --> 00:03:41.000 They’re retold from generation to generation, from person to person and especially through our media systems. 00:03:41.180 --> 00:03:45.020 We accept the stories we’ve been told and we act accordingly. 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:50.060 But narratives aren’t immune to change- especially if they are built on lies. 00:03:50.170 --> 00:03:55.170 When we work to challenge and disrupt harmful dominant narratives, they start to lose their power. 00:03:55.931 --> 00:03:57.624 How do we do this? 00:03:57.664 --> 00:04:04.500 We can work with community and cultural activists to promote positive, truthful narratives in public forums 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:10.660 like law and policy, public health practice, and in our daily conversation. 00:04:10.743 --> 00:04:16.300 We need narratives that center our shared values and vision for a socially just society. 00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:20.670 We need narratives that can advance health equity through stronger democracy, 00:04:20.905 --> 00:04:27.000 shared access to our material goods, valuing all people equally 00:04:27.239 --> 00:04:33.000 and with systems that allow everyone to have what they need to live and thrive. 00:04:33.233 --> 00:04:35.592 We need health equity. 00:04:35.632 --> 00:04:39.632 It’s our mission to manifest a better future for our country and for our children. 00:04:40.235 --> 00:04:47.000 We can do this together by replacing the narratives that harm us with ones that support all of us. 00:04:47.121 --> 00:04:50.801 We need to be proactive in recognizing harmful dominant narratives 00:04:50.841 --> 00:04:54.841 and broaden our vision for what makes a happy, healthy society.