Shanelle Matthews collaborates with social justice activists, organizations, and campaigns to inspire action and build narrative power for social justice and liberation. She recently completed her tenure as the Movement for Black Lives communications director. She founded Radical Communicators Network (RadComms)—a global community of practice for social movement communications workers, and is a former faculty of Resistance Narratives at The New School. Shanelle is a Distinguished Lecturer at City College at the City University of New York. She is co-editor of a forthcoming anthology that details world-building narrative campaigns and strategies led by social movement communications workers in the 21st century.

B.A. Louisiana State University

• Narrative Power in the Black Radical Tradition
• Resistance Narratives from 21st-Century Social Movements

Narrative Power, Black Liberation, Rhetoric of Social Movements, U.S. leftist social movements

To Build a Public Safety That Protects Black Women and Girls, Money Isn’t the Only Resource We Need
Non-Profit Quarterly 

BROKE Project
Radical Communicators Network, CPIC, Milli 

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements
Non-Profit Quarterly 

Remaking the Economy: Building Narrative Power for Economic Justice
Non-Profit Quarterly 

The Case for Curiosity in the Fight Against Anti-Blackness: Why We Need a Beginner’s Mind
Public Seminar 

We say black lives matter. The FBI says that makes us a security threat
Washington Post 

What Black Lives Matter Organizers Are Doing to Fight White Supremacy at Every Level
Bustle 

Black Women Stand to Lose the Most Under the GOP Health Plan
Rewire 

Why the Movement for Black Lives Is Using the Media to Build Empathy
Colorlines