Welcome to Kristen’s Gentrification Defying Front Porch (KGDFP)! On Sunday afternoons/evenings, you’ll find this essay of the week, my art/fiberworks in progress, and some of my other favorite things, distinct from my Ask Kristen Anything reminders/recaps on Monday and podcast release announcements on Friday, but I’ll do a little bit of that at the bottom of this email to make sure you’re caught up. The idea is that we’re sitting on my front porch and I’m telling you a story, plus sharing my studio progress, similar to how we do at a craft/makers night.

The LinkedIn and my website versions are always free, but if you believe in supporting marginalized creators working against erasure or you just want to buy me a monthly coffee, upgrading to paid here on Substack, and Patreon are great places to do that. Plus, my Bookshop store is always open and I get affiliate income from there.

And now our story of the week:

This sweater that I’m delighted to wear above was about to get frogged. For those of you unfamiliar with the fibercraft terminology, frogging is taking apart your knitted, woven, or crocheted object. When you pull out the stitch, to some, it makes a rumbling noise, not unlike a frog’s ribbet/croaking sound.

As y’all know, I’ve been feeling especially croaky lately. The day I caught COVID, January 19, I learned a major, much-coveted contract was ending.

Now things were getting rough, as I realized what my strengths are and aren’t when it comes to writing and editing. But I’ve welcomed the increased financial stability. Without that stability, I  would not be standing where I am above. Well, maybe we would have come down there to visit, but it certainly wouldn’t have been my front yard! 

---

Nearly a year ago, after coming home from seeing our current apartment for the first time,  I conceived of this sweater, the Dreamcoat.

Originally the Dreamcoat was supposed to be a long duster-style coat-cardigan. However, the green yarn, Lion Brand’s Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in the Bluegrass colorway, was momentarily discontinued. I pivoted to adding more of the black yarn, which is Lion Brand’s Hometown in their Black colorway which at the time was named after Oakland, but I’m happy to see they’ve shifted the names. 

I would finish my coat, then stand exactly where I’m standing above in said Dreamcoat,  defying gentrification and everything else that said that I couldn’t possibly be standing on that spot and that spot being my front yard.

The Washington Monument would poke out behind my head, as judgy as its namesake would be disgusted, by the idea that I would be far more than a slave wench. The waters would be cool and calm just to my left, the spirits of ancestors who couldn’t successfully make it to freedom on them, rising up and whispering congratulations to me on my little piece of liberation.

However, both of these yarns can be very difficult to crochet with, especially the Hometown. While I had the body of what you see above done, I was disappointed that there wasn’t enough green and enough length, along with having changed the shape of the coat too many times to count.

Not only was my Dreamcoat deferred, but my time thus far back in DC was also becoming a deferred dream. Yes, we got the apartment, but then the invoices fell. Getting paid to read the news couldn’t prevent me from absorbing how bad and challenging most of it was. My maker’s energy declined. Then my bodily energy. 

A couple of trips here and there up to Baltimore and down to Greensboro and Durham would juice it up, but I was just down bad. 

 ~

I’ve been a fan of Regina Anaejionu’s work for years and had signed up for her thought leadership class in early 2023, but I didn’t attend live. Later on in the fall, I decided to dust off my book proposal idea for a book on my changing urbanist theories, and when her self-publishing class for thought leaders popped up in November, I quickly put money down for it. 

What resulted was the realization that I needed to embrace the most searchable, most “explain like I’m five” part of my urbanism work — the concept of gentrification. 

I’ve always wanted gentrification to not be true or be totally defyable, but that’s not the case whatsoever. 

As I’ve prepared my workbook, then course, then podcast, it’s become even more clear that gentrification needs to be defied and eradicated.

In addition, I had so much idle time as I recovered from acute COVID through January and February, to really think about my next financial steps, while living in one of the largest examples of urban renewal(which often begets gentrification) in the United States.

And with the advent of this podcast, things have started to bloom out of the darkness. 

Podcasting has always been a good medium for me,  but needing to process writing the news every morning has kept me from dabbling the way I want to and caused me to pause a couple of attempts over the past few years.

Plus, the AI that’s going into podcasting is working in my favor so far, by helping me edit faster, and not lose audio or forget to post on a particular network.

Another turning point was a couple of Fridays ago when I met an old friend from NC for morning tea.  I was able to be transparent to someone who thankfully is in another sector of this kind of work here in DC and one that doesn’t fear it or question my approaches to my work.

Then, I came home and changed clothes because it got suddenly sunny and warmer and I decided to try on the sweater again.

It fit. But, it could use a button closure.

So off me and Les go not just JoAnn on Saturday, but the arts center built on the grounds of the former Lorton prison, which we happened upon by accident after going to a trial mediation class.

All of that healing energy of the day gave me just enough spoons to attach the button on the same night I bought it! Then after taking this picture above, I went out the next day and got a taller ironing board after going to one Walmart and two Targets. I traced this pattern piece onto parchment after cutting most of the main tissue paper!:

——

All of this,  plus the eclipse and being in eyesight of it,  has me reflecting on how I really was out suppressing my professional voice but now, this podcast is bringing it back in a very special way, along with getting back to not just fibercraft, but drawing my book characters from elementary school, and reaching out to others in the business of defying and eradicating gentrification boldly.

 I’m thankful I yielded to my inner calling to lean into my art — all of it, accumulated over my nearly 38 years of crafting and shaping. 

---

So, this week on the podcast, I’m talking about the pipeline from urban renewal to gentrification and highlighting an article from The Assembly on how the current lieutenant governor’s wife has given up her job and money and help to lots of needy families, to make herself look more Republican. I tie that into how Black women shouldn’t be giving up their dignity and lives for the will of a state that will never take care of them.

I also included in this episode Dr. Ruha Benjamin’s necessary remarks during the receipt of her honorary degree at her alma mater Spellman College, and ABC News story about the aftermath of Dr. Antonette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey’s suicide.

In the meantime, catch up on the podcast on your favorite apps.

Apple

Spotify

Zencaster

RSS

Shop in my Bookshop to support the show and consider becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon or Substack!

And join me at noon eastern every Monday for Ask Kristen Anything About Gentrification, my live stream where I answer your questions. Feel free to reply back with your questions or register below at the StreamYard link so I can put the question right on the screen.

Register and ask a question on Stream Yard.

The live stream will be live on all of my social media accounts that allow me to stream and if you miss it live, don’t worry, I’ll email you on Monday afternoons with the stream recap.

---

Until next time,

Kristen

Welcome to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation, the newsletter of me, Kristen Jeffers. A Black, queer, feminist, disabled, urbanist elder millennial (born 1985) from Greensboro, North Carolina USA, who lives in Southwest Washington, DC.

This newsletter is my personal letter opening you up to how I crusade for a better living environment and my love for fiber craft. This week, I’m proud to present the return of my podcasting career, Defying Gentrification. And yes, I had some time to do some crafting this week, but we’ll get to that at the end of this email.

The first time I ever created an audio project, was with my parent’s sliver cassette tape recorder and a blank cassette tape.

Theirs looked enough like the Talkboy recorder from Home Alone that even though I didn’t have one of my own, I relished being able to use theirs when they weren’t using it to tape me at elementary school concerts and their sermons at church.

I was a huge fan of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and Lynne Thigpen’s Chief character. I took all that to create a character I called the Snooper.

I basically sang a couple of songs and solved a couple of mysteries with my stuffed animals in a nasally voice. As a child (and sometimes when I feel down), I hated my nose, but it came in handy with my Snooper character, since I needed to sniff out crime.

Yes, this was also the era of Urkel and that’s also what it sounded like.

Fast forward and I’ve managed to casually find my way to WKNC-FM 88.1 through the legacy of an uncle who was one of the first Black DJs on the station and an ex who loved smooth jazz just as much as me. The fact that I’m in the WKNC history books is just icing on the cake, especially as I watch my Wolfpack basketball teams take on the Final Four for the first time ever together and the first time in at least 25-41 years.

Photo of me by Andy Musselman for the Technician

The full Technician article from October of 2007.

And of course, many of you remember and loved The Black Urbanist Radio Show and Third Wave Urbanism. Me too, but technology and conflicts were a barrier.

But now I bring you Defying Gentrification. Technology has caught up with me, and I realized you still deserved and wanted to hear my voice despite a couple of glitches in these first two episodes:

Episode 1 — WTF is Gentrification?

Listen on Apple Podcasts

On this inaugural episode of the Defying Gentrification podcast, take you to school in our homeroom to learn exactly what is gentrification, and why should it be defied and eradicated.

But first, on our street corner, the hot topic is how not to leave Baltimoreans of color behind in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge tragedy, as well as honor their competence in leadership during disaster situations.

Read the street corner hot topic article from Capital B.

Read the Curbed article referenced in our homeroom section.

Episode 2 — Who Gets to Defy Gentrification

Listen on Apple Podcasts

In this episode, Kristen takes us to school and breaks down who gets to defy gentrification. Spoiler alert, It is those who have been colonized, which generally are indigenous populations of color.

Also, on the Street Corner, the hot topic is both the Kansas City and Washington DC stadium/arena deals and how they are different.

Read the Kansas City Defender article on the stadium vote.

Read the KCUR article and see the poster.

Also, this is a great time to remind you that you can support the podcast financially in the following ways:

Purchase from my Bookshop.org store.

Join the Defying Gentrification Fellowship powered by Podia

Read my articles on crafting and working together across borders on Resident Urbanist. These are free opportunities as our publication is ad-supported.

Do you want to be a guest on Defying Gentrification? Fill out this form and it will get you scheduled on my recording calendar. I’ll then send the details you need to get set up to record.

Be a guest on Defying Gentrification

Advertisers, likewise, you can sign up and submit your basic ad (starting at $75/week)

Advertise on Defying Gentrification

Finally, the Defying Gentrification Fellowship doors open this Monday and paid subscribers on this platform and Patreon will get those materials here. You can also join on its main platform at Podia, where podcast archives will also live. I’ll also be including a special Monday note for folks, along with this Friday podcast launch note.

Join the Fellowship

And one more thing. In honor of that cute photo of me above and the Men’s and Women’s Final Four, here’s a playlist of my favorite songs of my undergraduate years (2004-2007), which I’m continuing to update throughout the weekend.

https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/kristens-undergraduate-legacy-2004-2007/pl.u-oN4YI0ElqEA

Until Monday,

Kristen

The state of my union is good, but it could be great.

Welcome to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation, the newsletter of me, Kristen Jeffers. A Black, queer, feminist, disabled, urbanist elder millennial (born 1985) from Greensboro, North Carolina USA, who lives in Southwest Washington, DC. 

This newsletter is my personal letter opening you up to how I crusade for a better living environment and my love for fiber craft. This week, I am using the US President’s annual State of the Union speech to reflect on my own state AND invite you to join my new initiatives, which are now open for registration. And yes, I had some time to do some crafting this week, but we’ll get to that in the middle this email. 

So what is the state of my union, my life, my body in these times? 

This week, it’s grief. And yes, all of the stages are a circle, a sphere even.

My dad would have been 64 today.  For 11 years, he hasn’t been here to celebrate me or himself. He was proud of being born in the year of the Greensboro Woolworth Sit-in. We had a regular booth at the Stamey’s on High Point Road (now Gate City Boulevard)  next to the Greensboro  Coliseum, where we would discuss local and state politics the way many are discussing last night’s State of the Union and all the responses. 

If he were here today, I would be at home this week, sitting in that booth, or maybe outside on our porch with takeout because like many Southern fast-food establishments, you’re eating in places that wouldn’t have let you sit in them because of your Blackness many years ago and others that wish you would take your trans, queer, and dare I say feminism outside today.

And don’t get me started on air purification. You definitely smelled the pig smoker and the cigarette smoke from the smoking section in that Stamey’s then and the windows open would just kill any attempts to mitigate our southern humidity and blankets of yellow pollen indoors.

But wherever we would be sitting, I would be bringing up the fact that Biden had a few sick burns (give this man all of his potato chips!). But, Palestine and all the unnamed countries that are under genocide, many because of our military and economic interests, were not adequately mentioned or honored. 

COVID is not over. My stomach and eye twitch, for which I have to take an antacid and an allergy pill at night to keep at bay, would like to have a word with the president. I know Biden would be angry if I told him he was an overgrown bag of malarkey because he was coughing and stuttering through his speech. But, I feel like he would call me a bag of malarkey because I still mask and I am asking that everyone remember all forms of mitigation, especially air purification and testing if they aren’t going to cover their faces.

Oh,  and I don’t remember hearing a thing about student loan forgiveness and a true Medicaid for All.

But then, I would turn my phone to Dad, show him this Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4PQQteOv5c/?img_index=1)

and this response video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrZpiylf4nA .

It’s been long enough ago that I can’t say what he would say, but his spirit and ancestry that runs through me radicalized at losing him the way we did, tells me that I need to do everything I can.

And, I would tell him that picture of the Waffle House in Home Depot is real, somewhere ;).

All jokes aside, it’s my great pleasure to open up the registration for the Defying Gentrification Fellowship

The fellowship will entail:

• One week of lunchtime ( 11 am – 1 pm Eastern Daylight Time) lecture sessions and Q&A on the three key ways to defy gentrification from April 1-5 2024. These will be recorded and available to you in our Podia portal.
• Exercises to help you craft your plan to defy gentrification
• Reading materials to help you understand what gentrification really is and why we must defy, then eradicate it for all humans to thrive on the Earth.
• One post-lecture 90-minute strategy session
• Ongoing alumni group virtual and possibly in-person meetups, to aid in your quest for success in defying gentrification and see if you’re ready to move into our ambassadorship program, where you will have even more time with me to eradicate gentrification. I didn’t want to put that on you just yet, because I know you do a lot of this work already, but you don’t always have space to process.

This fellowship is for:

• People of the African diaspora, namely those who have been a victim of gentrification-related displacement, harassment, and cultural erasure who need a place to process and heal.
• People of the global majority (non-white folks) who have been roped into gentrification schemes, but want to do right by their communities.  However, this first cohort will focus specifically on the experiences of those in the African Diaspora in the (so-called) Americas and other English-speaking countries and you may want to wait for a future cohort where we focus more on your experiences and have mentors and leaders with that lived experience. However, I’d love to have you too, to help us shape a lot of the decolonial topics and praxis we will be shaping together,  but you may not feel like you learned anything. You will get one-on-one time with me and a network of like-minded peers, so do consider joining us.

Investment in yourself and our journey: Each course is $695 for the inaugural section with an optional 12-month payment plan of $59. If you pay in full before April 1, you will receive a bonus one-on-one planning session with Kristen, in addition to your post-launch week strategy session.

We will have a formal scholarship plan in future cohorts and we will open them up to more people, but for now, I’m aiming for 10 people who can make this kind of investment with me, so I can see what it would take to make this kind of training, not only sustainable but a very competitive and affirming alternative to some of our professional certifications and training courses, as well as college curriculums. Register here:

Defying Gentrification Fellowship Intensive

(You can also add  yourself to our waitlist if slots are already full at the link above)

Feel free to comment or reply back if you have any questions. Next week, I’ll be back in your inbox with details about our Eradicating Gentrification  Ambassadorship. Yes, I’ve shifted focus on that one a little bit, because I believe in us and what we are capable of doing.

Now, before you go, some pictures of my craftiness this week.

Until next time,

Kristen

Welcome to  Defying Gentrification,  Crafting  Liberation. This is the revamped and revised version of the newsletter formerly known as The Black Urbanist Weekly. Here, we now are committed to Defying Gentrification. We also believe in doing so with joy, so that’s where the crafting, the literal crafting comes from. Over the next few weeks, we will be launching our new mission and fellowship and ambassador programs and you’ll be hearing from me and others a lot to talk about what that means. But first, an invitation for you to come on the journey with us.

All I’ve ever wanted was to live in a city. I blame Sesame Street because they always made it look cool. I  also blame insect bites, humidity, and the smells of kerosene heaters that I experienced in my youth visiting my grandparents at their rural North Carolina homes.

It was a running family joke on my mom’s side, that I would stand by the screen door at my grandparents, as soon as they said they were ready to go, waiting for my parents to stop gabbing at their siblings, because I had to get back to Greensboro.

Fast forward to around 2013, I managed to not only get back to Greensboro, but here I was living it up downtown and in 2015, my local activism had me tagged as a “next Greensboro Four”

But deep inside, my spirit felt unsettled. I would drive around in my Honda Accord wishing that I could just use a bikeshare system like everyone else. I had even started my “adult” blog in the first place to demand that we get more trains in Greensboro into our beautiful, recently restored downtown depot. And of course, visits to Atlanta and DC, half-day drives on I-85/I-95 showed me that once I got there, I could park the car and ride to all of the things I would want: parks, malls, amusement parks even.

In the spring of 2015, after none of my day jobs in Greensboro really stuck, I got the opportunity to move to Kansas City,  Missouri, and become the  Communication and Membership Manager for BikeWalkKC. It was so much fun learning about a new city and managing marketing for a growing bike network and bikeshare system.

However, a new cloud appeared. Depression.

No matter that I had all these options for transportation and a great job, something was up. It took me dumping everything in Kansas City, moving to DC, and then realizing I was still going through the same things to realize that no matter what, I was still, depressed.

And as much as I love talking about urbanism with all the minds that come to the table about it, gentrification was still affecting my life. If I wanted to heal, thanks to the economic forces around me,  I would have to let go of some things I learned about urbanism.

Oh and then we had a pandemic too.  And during that time,  I got to practice some healing modalities and sit with what we’ve been taught about urban planning and what I as a Black queer feminist know about how gentrification makes some of those things very, very different and even difficult.

So, here I am in 2024. I have a loving partner who loves joy-riding and promoting transit just as much as I do. So much so, that it’s her actual day job.  And we live in one of the best neighborhoods in DC, despite attempts for folks like us to be erased from it. I’ve reclaimed my lifelong hobby of sewing and crocheting because I have that kind of time and space. I can drive AND take public transportation.

And I want you to not just come on this ride with me but understand why it’s imperative as planners and other professionals to understand that whatever we do, we need to be planning with people first. And for people like me who want city living, but have barriers to overcome, I want you to know there’s a space for you to do so, that loves and affirms and wants you in the public square, right where you belong.

So, I invite you to watch the recap of my launch webinar, Six Ways to Defy Gentrification.

And if you didn’t have time to watch, I’m so excited to tell you that it’s so simple to defy gentrification.

You can defy gentrification with faith in yourself, cultivation of joyful activities, and having everything you need nearby.

You can help others defy gentrification by caring about them, then building the infrastructure and providing the access they need.

If you believe me and want to make sure more people understand how simple that is, would love to have you become a Defying Gentrification Fellow or Ambassador.

Click here to express interest in our new Fellowship and Ambassador programs.

We’ll also be doing a Q&A on March 21 about the Fellowship and Ambassador programs, that will go into more detail. I’ll also be sharing more in-depth about these six ways of defiance and how these programs can help you, no matter whether you consider yourself gentrified or gentrifier or a little bit of both.

I’m also still releasing the Defying Gentrification workbook, but pilot fellows and ambassadors will have the first look at the workbook and ability to shape the work that will be released to the masses later this spring.

Finally, on the crafting liberation front, I invite you to join me on the Saturday Morning  Shenanigans craft interview show with Laverne of BzyPeach on YouTube as I talk about my crafting work and plans for later this year.

Until next time,

Kristen

Hey, y’all. I have to confess something. I’ve been cheating on urbanism with my crocheting and fashion design. This will surprise no one who gets to see the bottom of my face these days, but this may surprise you.

Longtime followers of me will know that I grew up in one of the original textile capitals of the world, Greensboro, North Carolina. Therefore, clothing made my town a city.

So my forays into fashion design, namely crochet and sewing, with a dedicated space for such in our home, do have an urbanist tie for me, because my urbanism has always been holistic and not just trains, apartments, and whatever else is in walking distance.

It also involves the people who are there and the economic factors that make each city what it is.

And yes, ableism, racism, queer and trans antagonism are just as much economic and labor issues as classism, as they all stem from imperialism, which is the root of capitalism.

But that’s not the whole story for me.

To be honest, I wake up every day and read and review all the urbanism, good or bad, in the DC region, inclusive of Baltimore and Richmond. I am paid to do such, but that is dependent on me doing so from 7:45-10 am Eastern, which is also my prime creative writing time. It does provide my primary source of business income, but the number of hours I can bill has dropped.

Another factor that’s key is that often this work exposes me to urbanist politics, policy, and behavior that is discouraging to me on a lot of levels, based on who I am, and what I know about how cities work.

However, it has allowed me to launch this experiment of living in the heart of a multi-gentrified neighborhood, and to record how I’m defying that gentrification.

So, I needed a creative escape and that’s what crocheting and fashion design have given me. My mom has always sewn and it’s been a source of joy throughout her career as an educator and her coping with chronic illness. Plus, one of my sibling-cousins is big into the sewing communities online and I too have found kinship amongst other craftivists and crafters who make to overcome the world’s obstacles, especially fellow Black, disabled and/or queer folks.

I’m working on a special project to combine my passion for holistic urbanism and crafting without always having to go out to a farm or a far suburb for later in 2024.

And despite how Nazi and fascist the world and these platforms are becoming, I as Black queer human have a right to exist in the world and on the internet. Palestine, Congo, Tigray, Sudan, Haiti and all the other countries under active genocide, and to take it all the way back, my ancestors and those already here on this land and who are still colonized to this day, have a right to not be slaughtered off the face of the earth for someone’s chance at living the high life. Or a life. So the bullhorn is going to be loud.

But, I am on my COVID sickbed and writing this in notes on my phone lying flat in the time that I give myself because I am committed to radical rest and my medication working right.

I will continue to mitigate and mask post recovery but we are at the point where we need HEPA, Far UV, and universal testing along with the shots and liberal use of antivirals and ample paid time to rest, recover, and cover our bills, along with fashionable respirators that are breathable.

In 2024, as I feel better, I want to be more present for those of you who rock with me no matter what and who love this kind of holistic urbanism, that defies gentrification and crafts liberation. Hence our new newsletter name (for the Substackers) — and tagline here Defying Gentrification and Crafting Liberation.

In each newsletter I’ll share ways I see myself and others defying gentrification and I’ll share what I’m doing in my craftivism craft room. And, I will link out to what’s happening on my YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts. And X, until the doors fall all the way off.

Logging off now to rest and I’ll see you soon.

Hey y’all, Kristen here and this is my monthly newsletter. I used to write longer ones, but if you’ve read any of the past few issues, you’ll know that this year has been a transitional year in my ability to write. However, I always have a story to tell and in December, I always make wishes. I made several global and personal ones this year. Make sure you’re subscribed so you never miss a note from my Black queer feminist urbanist perspective, I have a big announcement about tomorrow’s originally scheduled book launch webinar, which is now postponed until January 4.

So, what are my global wishes this year? The ones I’m spreading out to the world?

1. End empires and transition into land stewardship and equitable, just commerce with reparations. And yes, prison abolition.
2. Fund housing, healthcare, public schools, libraries, and public transportation. 
3. Honor the best and hold space for the grief of everyone.
4. Quality ventilation and flexibility to continue to eradicate and reduce risks related to pandemics.

And when I turn inward, what do I really want for me?

1. Funding to make this newsletter a comprehensive publication focused on defying gentrification through Black Queer Feminist Accessible urbanism
2. Funding and successful execution for my downtown DC yarn festival in the fall of 2024.
3. Funding to strengthen the research and underpin the K. Jeffers Index and Center for Black Queer Accessible Feminist Urbanism 
4. Shaking off my tax, student loan, and consumer debt
5. Continued stable health and love from my partner, friends, and natal family.

And finally, my biggest wish of all is for patience as I continue to work on my upcoming workbook. I’ve decided to postpone tomorrow’s book launch webinar until January 4. As much as I would have loved to launch my book on my 38th birthday and get all of your pre-orders, instead, tomorrow I’ll be waking up, doing a little bit of client work, and finishing my birthday sweater while wearing the other sweater I finished, which will be the perfect wearable blanket on a chilly December day like tomorrow here in DC.

Plus, for my astrology heads out there, you might have heard that Mercury is in Retrograde, and if you’re really deep into it, my moon is in Capricorn (in both tropical and sidereal)  and of course, my sun is in Sagittarius (Scorpio)

Not that I’m superstitious, but I have felt myself slowing down and I’ve noticed a lot of glitching in my electronics and work lately, as well as my body glitching. Yes, I might be a little outside, but I’m achy already and trying to avoid one of these still circulating cases of COVID. Plus, my insurance changed and it did so before I could get a booster shot. And you see my Instagram stories. I’m doing my best to share folks on the ground in all of our war-torn areas and insist my own country step away from war as an industry and instead invest in peaceful pursuits and the wellbeing of its people.

Anyway, much like I had extended time during the Thanksgiving holiday to write, I will during the Christmas and Kwanzaa one as well, while I rest through the remainder of the Chanukah one.

Finally, If you still want to give me a birthday (or holiday) present, feel free to Venmo me at Kristen-Jeffers-3 or you can become a paid Substack subscriber! Annual subscriptions are only $60 now, and it’s a great way to keep me going.

Now, to gather my presents that have come in! 

Until next time, 

Kristen

Welcome to my monthly newsletter for November of 2023. If this is your first time here, I’m Kristen Jeffers, a Greensboro, NC-born, Southwest Washington, DC resident who is proudly Black, queer, feminist, chronically ill and an urbanist. For over 13 years I’ve brought my expertise in media, urban planning, nonprofit management, and being a decent human in urban areas to the internet, as well as in real life to universities, professional organizations, social service organizations, and community groups for over a decade and a half. 

If you’ve been here before, you know that I usually chock these emails full of information. However, this week, I have a very big announcement and less information, but I’ll be back on my birthday, December 14, with more details and a proper pre-order link for my next book (register for our launch webinar) as well as my annual urbanism wish list. I’ll still be including a few things I want to make sure you pay attention to, but after a check to make sure you’re subscribed, a story and reflection on how I defy gentrification.

Storytime

When I wake up in the morning and look outside of my window at a multi-million dollar condo building, with a slither of the waterfront we face reflecting upon both of our buildings, I feel what it feels like to defy gentrification.

When I walk down on the sidewalk in the middle of the morning, fresh off of editing a batch of Breakfast Links, and head to District Doughnuts to get some actual breakfast, in my I Am a Black Urbanist sweatshirt, I feel what it feels like to defy gentrification.

Oh and let me not forget this moment of defiance. When I went to the Wharf CVS and bought the only Black Mrs. Claus and put her in our window, since we’re one, supposedly scarring some of the neighbors with our bodies (ok, maybe not us, but we did get an email telling us to close our windows even though that building has window walls around every unit), and two, we can’t hang signs. She is holding some greenery that lights up, but when people look in, they see her, with the judgiest of looks, asking them to reconsider what’s possible, not just for urbanism, but for life.

But in all of this bougieness, the reality sets in. I’m one of the estimated 82,000 housing insecure people named in this recent Urban Institute study, on housing insecurity in the District.

Let me say right now that Les is doing great. She is not struggling. She is thriving. However, if I stop getting paid, then she is struggling, because we are a unit. This is my first year making over $40,000 pre-tax. Yes, ever. And yes, I checked my Social Security records.

Because of those facts, many of y’all think that the way I should be defying gentrification is to do one of the following:

— Get a minority supplier certification, so I can be a sub (and only a sub) contractor on a project plan that may never come to fruition, leaving more people without transit and homeless, TODAY, when the rent is due and the sheriff is sitting outside of the door and the job requires you to clock in with your fingers at 8:00 am sharp, even though your bus was a ghost after all.

— Forget about said people because the Lord has blessed me to be in this home, and to be in rooms with high people, so I should close the door behind me. Note, if I had done this, you wouldn’t even know the names of some of your favorite urbanists! 

— Speaking of those urbanists, we should all stop wasting time on calling out and dismantling food insecurity, homelessness, public health crises, colonialism, and warmongering, because urbanism is just transportation, luxury apartments,  and fancy stores, hotels, and restaurants in mixed-use configurations.

Yeah, none of this in the least is defying gentrification. And by the way, gentrification shouldn’t exist. 

And finally, after 13 years of writing through my defiance, I’m ready to share my playbook, specifically for Black women, nonbinary, and LGBTQ folks, with something for everyone who wants to ensure that nobody on this Earth is left behind and constantly fighting against the eradication of their homes and communities.

It also has wisdom for those of you who we need to help us defy and eradicate gentrification because this is a team effort.

So, this isn’t exactly the full-sized memoir-manifesto, that’s still coming. However, I’m ready to talk and train folks through these thoughts and issues. This will help me to build a more comprehensive memoir manifesto, with real examples besides myself, of how we defy and eradicate gentrification so that everyone gets a chance to live where they want to live, how they want to live, but we honor the one Earth we have.

Also, you will notice that this email is open to everyone and it’s also on LinkedIn and Medium as well. I realize that those platforms are key places where I can provide a virutal “front porch” experience to people, while I work on inviting them into the house that is what will become the K. Jeffers Center for Black Queer Feminist Accessible Urbanism. 

In the meantime, add our pre-order launch webinar on December 14th at 2 pm Eastern to your calendar. Don’t worry if you aren’t live for this one, it will be recorded and there will be more webinars on the “front porch” so you can see if my new training and mentorship offerings are the right fit for you. 

If you already know you want to partner with me to bring this material to your school, job, house of faith, organization, or family, go ahead and reply to this message or email me kristen@theblackurbanist.com, so we can set up bulk orders. Bookstores, likewise, this workbook will have an ISBN and that information will be released on December 14.

Before You Go

— Check out what my playlist looks like for real and what Apple thinks my playlist looks like this year. And Spotify got my musical city right.

— I am in full support of ending imperialism and warmongering worldwide. Follow the stories of my Instagram accountwhere I regularly amplify people across the globe with the same pursuit. Also, I want to specifically amplify APA New York DivComm’s statement on Palestine, Black Feminist Future’s panel on Black feminist solidarities across the countries in the most crisis at the moment, and YK Hong’s Instagram and work on ending all empires and tech justice.

— Another dope Black DC entrepreneur defying gentrification in her own way, with coffee!

— I’ve restocked my merch shop. I’m especially excited about my new stickers and of course my hoodies!

—Finally, you should get my business mentor Arlan Hamilton’s book, also in pre-order and releasing on January 2.

Until next time,

Kristen

Welcome back to The Black Urbanist Weekly. I’m Kristen (she/they), a DC-based born-and-raised North Carolinian, who’s proudly Black, Queer, Feminist, Dynamically Disabled, and Urbanist. 

This is a freemium newsletter, where subscriptions open up comments and archives, delve deeper into policy descriptions, and get more information about my favorite pieces of pop culture. However, scholarships exist! Reply back to this email and I’ll send you information about how to get one if you’re eligible! This edition, because it’s special, will be open to everyone, but the next dispatch will begin our freemium model. 

We start off with a reflection from me Kristen, then go into our policy prescription, my pop culture faves, and then job and opportunity announcements.

Kristen’s Reflection of the Week — Seven Years a Washingtonian(ish) 

This was what my morning looked like exactly seven years ago. To many, it just looks like I am moving from one place to another. But this is a bigger move. Seven years ago today, I chose to move to a place not because of a person or job, but because it was a place I wanted to be and create community. How has that gone for me in the past seven years?

So, when I arrived in DC on the afternoon of September 19, 2016, it was an overcast day. The cloud of the 2016 election was looming too, but I think I was very optimistic. I was one of the first people to start crying the night of November 8, 2016, at the watch party at the neighborhood bar and all I could do on the walk home was gripe about how I needed to move out of the country and fast. Never mind I just did a major cross-country move…

I spent all of November 9 in my perfectly apportioned basement apartment. That day was cloudy and rainy too, but it didn’t matter because all I had was a tiny window. I stayed in my bed, besides going into my tiny kitchen to cook myself meals and using my bathroom. I rationalized as a not quite out Black queer person it would only be a matter of time before we were bombed and I would be trapped under the rubble or I would be saved because I was living under the ground or that the feds in this new conservative regime would be knocking on the door to take me to jail.

So, none of that actually happened. In fact, just days later, I gathered with other equity and justice-minded transportation advocates in Atlanta and while we were facing challenges, we resolved to be the solution for everyone, not just ourselves and those who have the most power.

And over the next seven years I traveled and spoke on stages all over the country.

I’ve written this newsletter made lots of friends and strengthened a few friendships. Others fell away.

I’ve lived in all kinds of neighborhoods throughout DC, PG County Maryland, and Baltimore. And yes, y’all know that I fell in love with a fellow Black queer feminist urbanist.

Today, we are called to do the right thing when it comes to stewarding our Earth and creating a world that honors all of our abilities and deems all of us worthy of life. Who’s ready to come on that journey with me?

So under our new freemium format, everything after this short outline of what’s next in the newsletter is behind a paywall. But today, I wanted you to get a preview of what you’ll get, so, here’s what’s coming next in the newsletter, then after the outline the full text of what’s next.

— Policy Prescription—What this section, formally known as the Principle Corner will look like in the coming weeks.

—By The Way — Still including links, namely that yes, the housing boom in DC is real and valid, plus, why I totally would have welcomed a relocation bonus, but why I haven’t taken one.

— On the Shelf, On the Playlist — The adorable queer urbanism of One Last Stop,  plus how I see Veronica O. Davis’s Inclusive Transportation as continuing the charges we made at that 2016 Untokening conference.

—  Before You Go — This will look like a final reminder of what we have for sale in future emails for paid subscribers, but for free subscribers, it will be as follows:

Consider this job advertisement from the University of California San Diego…Thanks again for supporting our work and thinking of us as a place to find your next set of colleagues!

UC San Diego: Assistant Professor in Urban Studies and Planning

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03697

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning, anticipated to begin July 1, 2024.

USP is a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning. The selected candidate will be expected to contribute to our mission by building and maintaining a record of high-quality scholarship in transportation planning and/or spatial analytics; developing curriculum to meet department needs; mentoring and teaching graduate and undergraduate students, including teaching courses in quantitative methods; and engaging in university and public service to help build an equitable and diverse environment.

For applicants interested in spousal/partner employment, please visit the UC San Diego Partner Opportunities Program website: https://aps.ucsd.edu/recruitment/pop/index.html

Department: 

https://usp.ucsd.edu

POSITION OVERVIEW

Salary range: A reasonable salary range estimate for this position is $109,600-$132,200.​ The posted UC Academic salary scales set the minimum pay as determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See the following table(s) for the salary scale(s) for this position: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/oct-2023-acad-salary-scales/t1.pdf. The base salary range, from the salary table(s), for this position is $74,600-$97,200. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions, qualifications, and experience. ​​Additional UCSD salary information can be found here: https://aps.ucsd.edu/compensation/apo-salary.html

APPLICATION WINDOW

Open date: September 14, 2023

Next review date: Saturday, Oct 14, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Sunday, Mar 31, 2024 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.

QUALIFICATIONS

Basic qualifications (required at time of application)

A Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning or a closely related field, or one who is in the all-but-dissertation stage of earning the PhD.

Additional qualifications (required at time of start)

Must hold a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning or related field by start date of appointment as Assistant Professor.

The University of California, San Diego is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, covered veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.

And yes, that’s a brand new hoodie and there’s more new The Black Urbanist merch to come! You can find the store at www.kristpattern.com/blackurbanist. 

This Week’s Policy Prescription 

Yes, it makes a difference where you live. There is an urban hierarchy. I wanted to think otherwise and that’s another reason I’m re-writing and re-issuing my original book. It’s also the reason that this process has taken nearly a decade to do because I needed to live out my hypothesis. There’s only so much good that comes from hot urbanist takes and I’m ready to start writing prescriptions for what we best can do.

This week, I encourage you to examine where you live and why. Are you there by choice? Do others have similar choices? In the future, this section, which will be behind the paywall, will delve even deeper into my policy logic models, previewing several concepts that will be showing up in future master classes and my new book.

By the Way

• So, if you saw my IG post before you saw this newsletter or if you read the photo captions, you’ll know that yet again, I’ve moved to a new home. Something about all my leases ending or renewing around this time of year. I have to thank the will to build more housing and to create an inclusionary zoning policy that works here in DC. A recent study that digs deeper into that. 
• And, so many of these relocation bonuses are so attractive, but they are often asking people, especially people from groups often discriminated against, to go into areas that may or may not accept them as new arrivals, either through these new laws criminalizing trans and queer identities or continuing to terrorize Black people of all kinds. I  would love to see more of these programs consider racial and gender justice, along with disability justice, in how they administer these programs and encourage the community to welcome newcomers. 

On the Shelf, On the Playlist

• So I very rarely have time to sit and read full books. That was part of the reason I went on this sudden sabbatical, because I missed the point of burnout. While I was resting and resetting and packing up our old apartment, Casey McQuison’s One Last Stop caught my eye. I’ll eventually read their more popular first book Red, White and Royal Blue, but the hard copy of this book that’s coming out with a bonus chapter, about a couple that’s semi-stuck on a Q train in New York City is just delightfully queer, racially diverse and yes, urbanist, feminist and size-inclusive. The first edition is It’s now in my Bookshop store and I encourage you to also read more books!
• And yes, Inclusive Transportation! It’s short, it’s too the point and it goes back to what I talked about at the top of the email with the Untokening and how many of us have taken action to change our story since we all convened in 2016 that first time.
• I’ve listened to so much good music over my break. Highlights have been Jon Batise’s new record, Rhiannon Giddens’ new record, and new to us but released in 2021’s Sam Sparro record. Oh and Jessie Ware came out with her new one before I went on hiatus, but it’s also a great bop!

Before You Go

Finally, the person I hired over the summer encouraged me to keep the funds for paying them and focus on fundraising. Plus, I realized just how much I needed to change neighborhoods and redirect that savings there. However, I want to thank everyone who applied for my job posting back in June. Your information is on file and trust me, when I get the funding to hire, many of you are first on the list. You wrote such thoughtful and robust cover letters and you have excellent resumes. Hopefully, you’re not still available, but if you are, I do still want to be helpful, but I want to pay fairly.

And that’s where everyone else comes in. Going paid on this newsletter for $9.99 USD monthly will help me do just that, open up doors for other talented individuals who want to work with me and the kinds of policies and research and work I’m doing to make it stronger and widespread. That’s one of my mandates, besides doing my part to save the world. Also, going paid helps me keep a decent work/life balance, one that’s not at the mercy of my client base and their funding and fiscal years. Finally, if you sign up for an annual subscription, you’ll get free access to the full masterclass, a signed copy of my book, and a merch prize pack, customized to the slogan that’s most appropriate to you of our merch over at the Kristpattern store.

You can also continue to take out classified ads, not just for jobs, but the job ads are great and will remain free.

Finally, thanks to all of you for your patience as I sorted out all of this. I thought today would be the perfect day to return because today represents to me everything that this work is all about — sharing why I as a Black queer disabled feminist continue to choose dense urban spaces and how we can tackle the problems keeping others from doing so with just and equitable solutions.

We will be resuming a regular Friday schedule again on 9/29/2023 with our partial paywall in place!

Until next time,

Kristen