At the Heart of the Matter: Change Narratives, Change Minds

Cultural narratives are collections of stories and other messages that influence a society’s values and beliefs. Unfortunately, many of these narratives allow inequity and injustice to flourish. But, there is hope! Narrative change is possible. 

For 2024’s first At the Heart of the Matter, Karen McNeil-Miller was joined by Pulitzer Prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas for a conversation about cultural narratives around immigration and immigrants in the U.S., and strategies that can help change narratives and change minds. 

Thank you to Jose for joining us and to The Community Language Cooperative for providing live Spanish interpretation. A very special thank you to Alejandro Jimenez for sharing a deeply moving and personal poem at the start of the event.

In Case You Missed It 

• Event Recording - English
• Event Recording – Spanish
• Zoom chat transcript

Jump Ahead

• Alejandro recites his poem, “Back Then” (English | Spanish)
• Karen joins Alejandro for a brief conversation (English | Spanish)
• Karen introduces Jose (English | Spanish)
• Jose shares some of his story and background about his work (English | Spanish)
• Karen and Jose engage in conversation (English | Spanish)

Resources

• Telling Authentic Immigrant Stories (Define American media reference guide)
• ‘Immigration Will Destroy Us’ and Other Talking Points (Define American research looking at the impact, tactics and reach of anti-immigration narratives on YouTube)
• Popping the Immigration Filter Bubble (Define American toolkit for reaching the moveable middle)
• Change the Narrative, Change the World 2022 (Define American and USC Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project research about the portrayal of immigrant characters on scripted television shows)
• The Define American Immigrant Representation Scale (for use by television and film creators)
• Reimagining Immigration News: North Carolina’s Case for the Nation (Define American research about how local news consumers respond to media coverage about immigrants)
• Quoting Immigrants: A Media Toolkit for Anonymous Sources (2022 Edition)
• Creativity is Boundless: An Inclusive Guide (A guide for supporting immigrant, migrant and undocumented artists with fellowships, grants and residencies)