Ngare Kariuki

Why we need to start 'carrying one another' The fight for social justice (and the stories we tell) is not just about securing our own rights; it’s about creating a world where every person's rights are intrinsically linked to our own well-being

When was the last time you heard a male podcaster inviting a female scholar to be the sole guest on an episode, dedicating the entire time to her research and ideas? NEW POST

open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

#RadicalFriendship #EncounterNarratives

Where’s the Emmy for acting like everything's fine.

COMMENT: Anti-Gay debates in Uganda lack an informed scientific dimension Homosexuality is Normal: Revisiting Anti-Gay Debates in Uganda COMMENT | NNANDA KIZITO SSERUWAGI | Over the years, Uganda has witnessed intense and contentious debates about homosexuality. There is no...

COMMENT: Anti-Gay debates in Uganda lack an informed scientific dimension www.independent.co.ug/comment-anti...

Challenge accepted (?)

Are some human rights more “special” than others? Why we should always remind ourselves (and not just our detractors) that the pursuit of inclusion isn't about demanding "special privileges." It's about dismantling "special discriminations".

Recently, during the anti-LGBTQ Family Values Conference in Nairobi, Greg Slater of Family Watch International casually quipped that sexual rights are "fictitious rights". NEW POST 👇🏾
open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

People with higher cognitive ability have weaker moral foundations, new study finds A large study has found that individuals with greater cognitive ability are less likely to endorse moral values such as compassion, fairness, loyalty, and purity. The results point to a consistent neg...

Smarter does not mean more moral or ethical... People with higher cognitive ability have weaker moral foundations, new study finds www.psypost.org/people-with-...

Love is not a 'Western value': Framing social justice in the age of Trump Trump's America is rolling back generations of human rights gains and leading the charge into authoritarianism. How do we leverage this moment to tell better stories about a more just world?

NEW POST: Trump is the proof we need that human rights have never been a "western agenda" but a human agenda

open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

Unmasking (and countering) the anti-gender "family protection" propaganda Three narrative approaches to countering the dangerous "family protection" anti-LGBTQ narrative in our social justice discourses.

This week's post focuses on this increasingly popular "family protection" language: How anti-rights groups weaponize it, and how we may (en)counter it with the more helpful and dignifying narrative of safeguarding the rights of all human beings.

open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

If the Holocaust was greatest argument against the existence of a "loving, benevolent" God, then what do we say about Gaza -- that the memory of a Holocaust could be used to excuse doing nothing to stop the genocide of an entire people while being live-streamed in HD?

#FreePalestine #SavePalestine

The power of humanizing our opponents in social justice narratives Three pathways to crafting social justice narratives that embody and promote the dignity of all people, even those who oppose our work.

Here are three pathways to crafting social justice narratives that embody and promote the dignity of all people, even those who oppose our work.

open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

#EncounterNarratives #SharedValues #NarrativeChange #LoveIsLove

Is our justice big enough? Humanizing “the enemy” in our social justice narratives [Part 1] We're masters at crafting compelling narratives for the marginalized. But how often do we extend that same humanizing lens to those who oppose our social justice work?

This Easter, I reflect on one of Jesus' most difficult commands -- love your enemies -- and why our failure to do this often renders our "opposition mitigation" ineffective. open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

Right Now, most of the American can relate to this message from the 90's.

Tell Red Cross Kenya NOT to Give Hate a Platform! Kenya Red Cross is linked to Boma Hotel, which is set to host an anti-LGBT+ and anti-rights conference. This goes against its humanitarian mission. Sign now to demand they cancel the event!

🚨 The Kenya Red Cross raises part of its humanitarian funds through ownership of the Boma Hotel. But the hotel is hosting an anti-LGBT+ conference in May 2025.

We demand that Red Cross rejects the event now. #loveislove a.allout.org/s/vGKRn/ @redcrosscanada.bsky.social @redcrossny.bsky.social

Israel is About to Empty Gaza The Israeli government, backed by the Trump administration, is laying the groundwork for the full expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, a move that has the potential to ignite a regional conflagration.

The genocide in Gaza is the greatest crime of this century. It will come back to haunt Israel. It will come back to haunt us. It will usher to our doorsteps the evil we have perpetrated on the Palestinians. #FreePalestine

open.substack.com/pub/chrished...

The robot’s reading list: 6 ways we can shape the stories AI will tell tomorrow What stories will future internet users encounter when they ask AI for ideas about social justice and human rights? Here are six simple ways we can influence those answers today.

NEW POST: What stories will future AI users encounter when they prompt for ideas about social justice and human rights? Here are six simple ways we can influence those AI answers today. open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

I'd rather die out than cave in to oppression. #ResistAuthoritarianism

Your family's fine, actually: Why 'protecting' it is a scam Why the family is inherently resilient and how the 'protect the family' narrative is primarily used to manufacture and promote fear and exclusion.

NEW POST: Broken, bruised, but still standing. The family is a testament to the fact that humans always find ways to connect and love, even in the face of unimaginable cruelty.

Read more: open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

Ngare Kariuki on LinkedIn: Weaving worlds: 3 narrative threads pulled from Africa Media Festival 2025 In Shakespearean times, women were not even permitted to play women in plays! Public acting by women was considered "indecent and inappropriate". Centuries…

In Shakespearean times, women were not even permitted to play women in plays! Public acting by women was considered "indecent and inappropriate"...

www.linkedin.com/posts/ngare-...

3 opportunities to safeguard our narrative priorities amidst Trump's chaos From a narrative strategy perspective, the current changes in the U.S. have given us a rare opportunity to clarify our commitment to defending and promoting human dignity.

No “stop work order” can stop the heartbeat of hope that courses through our lives through storied experiences, unless we let it. No foreign funding freeze can defund our native narratives of community and resilience…

NEW POST: aliencitizenmedia.substack.com/p/3-opportun...

...and the fight, or the quest for goodness, is one of the good things.

Change agents as objects of change: A challenge to storytellers We want to impact the world but don’t want to be impacted. Social change agents are quick to highlight how we won hearts and minds, and slow to talk about the time our own hearts needed wooing.

NEW POST! We want to impact the world but don’t want to be impacted.

As social change agents, we're quick to highlight how we won hearts and minds, and slow to talk about the time our own hearts needed wooing.

Read my challenge in this week’s #AlienCitizenShip open.substack.com/pub/aliencit...

We must watch always watch ourselves in our activism, lest we be fascist in our fight against fascism.

Your light is in your shadow. Don't be afraid to look there. ✨

Case of the eX: 5 reasons why storytellers may rethink leaving Twitter (X) Should storytellers leave X, or do we have a responsibility to not only stay, but also actively engage in the platform no matter how bad it gets?

NEW POST!

Should storytellers leave X, or do we have a responsibility to not only stay, but also actively engage in the platform for good... no matter how bad it gets? aliencitizenmedia.substack.com/p/case-of-th...

Empathy

Read.
Read books.
Reading books is resistance.

Buy.
Buy books.
Buying books is resistance.

Share.
Share books.
Sharing books is resistance.

Celebrate
Celebrate books.
Celebrating books is resistance.

These fake Christians wouldn’t know Jesus if he came down from heaven and died on a cross for them…

After that inaugural speech, Biden did a wise thing. 💔😢

America 💔😢

It takes all of us, not just storytellers, to build narrative power We don't all have to be good storytellers (we don't even need to be storytellers) to add to the power and reach of good narratives. Here are some low-hanging things we can do.

NEW POST:

"Every good narrative stands or falls with ALL us, not just the professional storytellers... Every like, repost, and reshare is an inhale and an exhale, the micro-breath that keeps the hope alive."

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