Stories and storytelling are the backbone of an inclusive society; how they are told defines whose lives are valued and whose are not. Stories and narratives determine how we vote and how we engage in the systems to which we are all bound -- systems like democracy. Besieged by a landscape in which “fake news” and “alternative facts” have fomented suspicion among many people in the United States, narrative power helps us earn people’s trust in the face of conflicting information, influence their perspective while affirming their moral values, and most importantly, inspire them to action. This course examines how social movements build narrative power and change belief systems for an inclusive vision of society by looking at some of the most impactful social movements and movement moments of the last 20 years. These include the struggle for immigrant rights, from DREAMers to #Not1More; the Movement for Black Lives, #BlackLivesMatter, and the call the #defundthepolice; the fight against the war on terror; ‘Me Too’ and the fight against sexual violence; queer and trans resistance; domestic worker organizing and transforming the narrative of care and so much more. Narrative power necessitates that we not only center the experiences of the people in closest proximity to oppression, but that we also work toward models whereby those who are most impacted are a part of leading, identifying solutions, setting priorities, creating policy agendas, and shifting narratives about human value. To win the story, to uprise, it takes both personal and political participation and collaboration. Among the many questions we will explore are: how under the complex infrastructure of state and political domination do stories get to be told and how do new ideas and visions of accountability, alternatives, and transformation get to be born?