Screenshot of the home page of the Broke Project. https://www.brokeproject.org/ The Title 'BROKE' is capitalized in big green letters with a horizontal line through the letters. Text below the title reads 'Language and stories are powerful. They shape our view of the world’s economic systems, the people in them and the policies we support.'. In the background is a black and white photo of people protesting holding signs.

Broke: Narrative Project about Poverty

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Introduction

Here is a great example of a research and communications strategy related to narrative about a particular issue, in this case poverty and wealth. This example is from the United States and is called the BROKE Project. The project is by The Center for Public Interest Communications; Milli; and The Radical Communicators Network.

What is BROKE?

BROKE is an opportunity for each of us to examine the stories we tell about poverty and wealth, and to work together to build new narratives rooted in the wisdom of lived experience, narrative power, organizing for economic justice, and social science.

BROKE, combines the science of storytelling–applying what research tells us makes stories more memorable, inspiring, and actionable, narrative power– a framework for social movements to take advantage of political opportunities, construct narrative interventions, disrupt hegemonic thinking, and intervene to expand the collective perception of what is socially, economically, and politically possible– crafting resources for activists and communicators that are easy to use and incorporate into their work. – Source

We live in capitalism, its power seems inescapable—but then, so did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. – Ursula Le Guin

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Research

Report cover - Title reads 'Broke: How the nonprofit and Philanthropic sectors are Talking about poverty— And how we can do better'.

In this report, Broke: How the nonprofit and Philanthropic sectors are Talking about poverty— And how we can do better, insights were collected from research to identify the harmful narratives perpetuated by well-meaning organizations. They focused on the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to explore how to tell stories about poverty and wealth.

Lessons Learnt

“3 Challenges

  1. Organizations share stories of individuals who were able to become contributing members of a capitalist society by joining the middle class or starting businesses.
  2. Organizations share partial stories about poor people, only sharing aspects of their lives related to being poor or getting out of poverty.
  3. The stories told promote individual-level change over system-level change, even when the organization acknowledges systemic changes are needed.

9 Principles for Communicating More Justly About Poverty and Wealth

  1. Tell compelling stories by applying the Science Of Story Building
  2. Tell stories about individuals navigating systems and engaging in collective action to disrupt power
  3. Create space for people to come together and talk about systems
  4. Problematize current narratives
  5. Use justice frames in storytelling
  6. Build the capacity of communities to share stories
  7. Use visual images and language to engage communities
  8. Be intentional with the language you use
  9. Amplify stories–ethically”

Worksheets

Access Broke’s collection of worksheets.

  • Finding Meaningful Calls to Action
    Stories make people want to act. This worksheet will help you identify and test calls to action that can actually make a difference.
  • Building a Narrative Strategy for Economic Justice
    This worksheet will help people develop a theory of change, identify stories and sources that advance that theory of change, and consider messengers and actors.
  • Identifying Harmful Pervasive Narratives
    This worksheet will offer step-by-step advice for identifying harmful pervasive narratives that may be influencing how people think about the subject of your story, so that you can be mindful of addressing them with the facts, details, and context of your story.
  • Self-Care for Storytellers (or, Your Story Is Yours)
    This short guide will remind story owners of their rights and offer guidance about retaining control of their stories.
  • A Rubric for Telling Better Stories: Should You Tell That Story?
    This checklist will help storytellers ensure that they are sharing constructive stories that unmake harmful pervasive narratives and respect the lived experience of the story owner.
  • How to Tell Transformative Stories
    This worksheet will help storytellers share stories that show a path forward, challenge harmful and pervasive narratives and help us connect and care about the people whom the stories are about.
  • How to Put Systems in Your Stories
    This worksheet will help storytellers identify the systems that their stories work within and offer ideas for incorporating system elements and history within their stories.
  • Story Building
    Telling and sharing stories that drive change means starting with what science tells us makes stories memorable, compelling, and inspiring. This worksheet will walk you through the elements of the narrative arc, the basic plot structures, and the elements of narrative transportation. You’ll also reflect on whose mindset you want to shift through your story.

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