Narrative Change: The Center for Cultural Power

Aisha Goss:
Culture is the space where we are able to express who we are and find connections to what’s possible. Culture is television, film, it’s music, it’s literature, it’s dancing, but it’s also food. It’s also farming. It’s also the spaces and the colors with which we decorate our homes. Everything that we do is based on a connection to who we are, ancestrally, and what we communicate to the world. And culture is a vehicle where that happens.

Charles T. Brown:
When we think about social change, we often focus on policy battles, elections and grassroots organizing, but there’s another powerful force that moves faster than politics and economics, culture. From the stories we tell to the art we create, culture shapes how we see ourselves and what we believe is possible. Consider the impact of a television show like The Jeffersons, which depicted a successful Black family moving up in the world. During the show’s run, small business loans to Black men actually increased because viewers could suddenly envision Black business ownership as achievable, not fantastical. This is the power of narrative change. The idea that stories change people and people change systems, and it’s at the heart of the work being done by the Center for Cultural Power, a narrative strategy organization that partners with artists, cultural bearers and grassroots movements to create lasting social change.

My name is Charles T. Brown, and this is Arrested Mobility. Today, we’re speaking with Aisha Goss, the CEO of the Center for Cultural Power. Aisha brings a unique perspective to this work. She’s a native of Atlanta who grew up hearing stories from her mother about marching with Dr. King and the power of culture to sustain communities through struggle. The Center for Cultural Power works with BIPOC communities to amplify stories that counter harmful narratives and create the public will for public policy change. From supporting Walmart’s workers to advancing reproductive justice, they’ve seen firsthand how the right story told at the right time can shift not just hearts and minds, but actual legislation. Aisha, what got you interested in this type of work? What’s your origin story as a superhero?

Aisha Goss:
I was born and raised in the deep south in the U.S, and I’m from Atlanta, but I’m from pre-Olympic Atlanta. A very different time in this country’s history and in southern history. But my mother was from Birmingham and I grew up hearing stories about marching with Dr. King, about the cruelty of Jim Crow and about what it meant to really fight for your dignity in a world that was designed to deny you dignity.

But what really inspired my family and that really powered my perspective, is what gave them strength during that time wasn’t the data about how many water fountains were marked colored? It wasn’t about spaces where schools weren’t integrated. It was the rituals of southern cooking. It was the singing of hymns, it was the gathering of communities. Even as they were preparing to be faced with German Shepherds and with water hoses, culture powered them, culture created that connection and it made them believe that change was possible. And I think that is why I’m here with Cultural Power, because that upbringing helped me understand that culture is a lever. It reminds us that a better tomorrow is not only possible, it’s already here, it’s already on the way, and that’s why I do the work that I do.

Charles T. Brown:
What is the Center for Cultural Power?

Aisha Goss:
So the Center for Cultural Power is a narrative strategy organization that puts forth the belief that artists and culture bearers and creatives have a unique ability to connect to change. We believe that culture moves faster than economics or politics. There hasn’t been any major shift throughout history where the culture didn’t shift first and that creates the public will for lasting change. And so, at Cultural Power, we work with the folks that are doing the work, with the grassroots organizations on the ground, with the artists that are creating the content that sparks our hearts and minds to envision something different. We provide them with the tools of narrative strategy, resources to further their creative practice and connections and understanding about how to increase their impact in a way that makes lasting economic and political change for their communities.

We were founded by Favianna Rodriguez, and in the very early years of the organization, the focus was mobilizing artists and creatives around migration roles. But as we as an organization moved into that work, we saw that there is no progress in migration without racial justice. And so, we broaden our focus to include racial justice, and the focus at that time was primarily Black and brown communities. But we also found that for indigenous communities in particular, their ways of being and ways of knowing are all steeped in cultural expression from the dance, to the music, to their approach to food cultivation and food sovereignty. And I could continue to weave how our communities are connected, but I think that that is why we focus broadly on BIPOC communities because narratives around migrant communities at the border impact Black folks in the south. Narratives about Black folks in the South impact indigenous communities in northern California.

There is a systemic and historic thread that ties the marginalization and oppression of people of color. And as a cultural strategy organization, it’s imperative that we have an approach that folks can see themselves in and that folks can feel aligned to and where folks can find content and strategies and songs and poems that connect with all parts of their communities and not just one focus. And it’s shown up in the work that we do. We’ve brought together cohorts of Black and brown folks and trans folks and queer folks at the border, all there to disrupt the narrative that they are somehow alien and to change the perception of the border as a battleground as to a place of home. And quite frankly, I do think there needs to be an understanding that if you come for one of us, you come for all of us. That we stand in solidarity. And by doing so, we can over time harness political power, economic power and really push the boundaries of what’s supposed to be possible for communities of color.

Charles T. Brown:
Can you share one or two concrete examples of storytelling directly influencing policy change?

Aisha Goss:
Sure. From the Jeffersons to The Last Poets, artists have this unique ability to spark the imagination around what’s possible, even for those who don’t believe it. One of the things that is just statistically true is that small business loans to Black men increased during the time that the Jeffersons were on the television because it invited folks into a belief that Black men, that Black families could achieve success and in their particular terms, and that it was not fantastical. The other images that folks had seen of Black men, particularly as business owners at that time, were things like Sanford and Son, where struggle was implicit, even in business ownership, it was storytelling that invited people into another space. We saw the same thing with Public Enemy and Fight the Power, but also with Fruitvale Station by Ryan Coogler.

But the same impact can be felt in the mural that is painted in your neighborhood, that reminds you that your community had heroes or that has heroes or that violence took a child away too early. Art has the ability to tell stories in an impactful way and open us up to a different form of understanding. If we think about the understanding of AIDS and HIV in our country before Philadelphia and before Angels in America, while those stories were more White centric, it humanized folks. They were no longer these people that were living on the fringes of society. They were people that should be entitled to care. They had people who would mourn from them. And we saw policy change as more stories became available and became accessible to people. When we can use the influence of culture to introduce policy, to move policy, the change is more lasting than through policy alone.

I’ve been in situations where folks really don’t understand how storytelling can be profound, but then I remind them about the crash test dummies that situated us differently around safety belts. It’s the exact same thing. Telling stories using the power of people that have that unique eye and that unique lens makes us understand that sometimes, change is not only necessary, but it’s possible. And I think that’s what we’ve seen over and over again when it comes to systemic change, is that that storytelling has to happen first.

One of the things that really drew me to the organization was the work that we did with Walmart workers in the mid ‘2000’s. It was a time where the national conversation around those who were super wealthy were moving into a focus, and Walmart and the Walton family were at the center of it. The Center for Cultural Power partnered with workers’ advocacy groups on the ground in Arkansas and in Texas and in California to take this national conversation and break it into the pieces where change happens. National change doesn’t happen overnight. It happens street to street, then neighborhood to neighborhood, then city to city.

And so we worked with the workers organizations on the ground who connected us to the folks who were impacted by the labor practices by Walmart at the time. We commissioned art and were able to supply the art for them to use in their own activations on the ground. But we were also able to take that and move it into pop-up exhibitions throughout the country that allowed the stories from folks in Bentonville, Arkansas to move from Arkansas to San Francisco or to places in Arizona. And all the way, we are telling the other side of the story about what it meant to advocate for workers. And even though Walmart isn’t where we would hope it would be when it comes to labor, we definitely were a part of the concessions that were made at that time by contributing our resources, our artists, and also our bodies, we were there protesting with them, to make these concerns that could have continued to be a really seen as something that didn’t impact those with good paying jobs and turn it into a national conversation. And that’s really at the heart of the work that we do.

I think when there are cultural moments that folks can readily identify as culture moments like Beyonce or Kendrick Lamar at the Super Bowl, that is readily identified as a moment that is rooted in culture. But for us, big cultural moments are the times when communities are activating and there is an effort to suppress their stories from being heard. Whether that’s the Walmart workers in Arizona, whether that’s at the border, whether it is stories around criminalization and police brutality, it is lending our skills, talents, artists, and knowledge to make sure the stories are being amplified to a place of action.

Charles T. Brown:
How can artists and cultural workers strategize for political wins in the current climate?

Aisha Goss:
Yes. I think that one of the things that we have to realize is that power is never neutral. It’s created, maintained and distributed through complex systems of oppression, including racism, capitalism, patriarchy, colonialism, and these systems have really relied on the exploitation of Black and indigenous and brown folks in order to maintain that control. So in this moment, we are living through a time where folks are really encouraged to be selfish. They’re encouraged to turn inward. And so, in order for artists to really strategize around what’s possible, it means that we, one, remove the artificial barriers that can sometimes separate those who are doing this deep work in this political climate. Whether your primary issue area is climate or migration or racial justice, I truly believe that we are stronger together and they’re dependent on us being separated to maintain that control that I was referencing earlier.

But people crave and need belonging and community and acceptance, and arts and culture are powerful ways to get there. So I would invite culture makers to build a network that includes artists, culture bearers, movement groups, organizers, so that you can, one, understand culturally, what is moving folks into your neighborhood, but also, have a firm understanding of what’s coming up legislatively and from a policy perspective. I would then encourage folks to create works that highlights the beauty that you see when you open your door, or sometimes when you don’t even open your door. Like work that highlights the beauty in your community and the strength in moving as a collective. And then think creatively about how to engage your community.

Some you might live in a space where murals are positioned in a place where folks can come together, but sometimes, it may be posters are more effective or maybe leveraging and working with an influencer. But I think the most important part, and it goes to the heart of what we do, is just tell your story. Your story is important, your vision is important, and it may be what’s needed to spark a new way of thinking for someone, someone that could be your neighbor. And so, I think that’s what I would want folks, particularly artists and creatives to do in this moment is just tell your story.

Folks often think of arts and culture as niceties. As nice to have. They don’t view them as integral to the change that they want to create. And so, from a resourcing perspective as an organization, we’ve gone on a journey to help the philanthropic community understand that arts and culture is more than an opera house or a ballet. It is what is around us all of the time. Our board president, Jeff Chang said that politics is where some folks are some of the time, culture is where everyone is all of the time, and folks often forget that.

And so it’s been us convincing folks outside of the organization and outside of artistic communities that art in and of itself has value and power that can’t be replicated in any other way. And I think that arts and culture is also viewed as a threat. As we see in our current climate where there’s a huge divestment from the NEA where there’s changes at places like the Kennedy Center, where we’re seeing arts funding gutted on a federal and state level. Folks understand somehow that art has the ability to mobilize people, and so that funding is cut first. And so, that has been a challenge for us as an organization, one, as an organization that is funded by philanthropy, but primarily because our artist community has been deeply impacted by the changes that are happening in arts funding. So I think those are the two spaces that are presented. The big challenge is the arts funding element, but then also reminding folks that the work we do isn’t a nicety. It is essential.

Charles T. Brown:
What are some future goals for the center?

Aisha Goss:
As an organization, we are in a space where we are understanding how much culture has changed since the organization has been founded. We know that we train well, we know that we support movements well, but we’re also looking at the impact of things like gaming and podcasts on the culture largely. And as a cultural strategy organization, it is our responsibility to be able to support our artists and culture bearers to move fluidly through these spaces that may feel new. Also, AI is something that we’re examining as an organization. But even as we go into these more tech-centered and more tech-centric explorations, what’s at the core of what we do is building and empowering artists, culture bearers and movements to create the change that they want to see.

So the newest thing that we are creating is a network. It’s called the Culture Strike Network, where we are inviting movement groups and artists and culture bearers to come together in a way where we are building narrative alignment so that we can further narrative goals in a collective way instead of a more individual way. And so I’m really proud of the direction that we’re moving and really inspired by the reception that I’ve been receiving as a new leader, but also as a new initiatives launch, we’ve received a lot of support and a lot of reception. It really shows us, again that culture is power and that we power the culture.

Charles T. Brown:
When communities lack the power to tell their own stories, when harmful narratives about who they are and what they deserve, go unchallenged, that’s a form of systemic limitation on their full participation in society. The Center for Cultural Power is working to change that by putting the tools of narrative strategy directly into the hands of impacted communities. They’re training storytellers, supporting artists, and creating pathways for authentic voices to reach broader audiences. Most importantly, they’re proving that culture isn’t just a nice-to-have it’s essential infrastructure for social change.

I want to thank Aisha Goss for sharing her time and wisdom with us. To learn more about the Center for Cultural Power and their Culture Strike Network, visit the links on our show notes page at arrestedmobility.com. If you don’t already follow the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast, head over and tap the follow button. This podcast is totally self-funded, so please check out our Patreon, that’s the best way to contribute, join our community, and get access to all new exclusive content, including a signed copy of my new book. Thank you so much for your support. This podcast is a production of Equitable Cities with support from Puddle Creative.