This year, I’m embracing this platform as a journey first, destination second.

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E.  Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. This week is the first in my “Origins” series, as I prepare to make some needed, but growth-minded shifts to the platform.

So we are six days into another calendar year. We’re also into our third year of the COVID-19 pandemic and two years out from one insurrection and waiting on the results of a quieter one at the US Capitol. 

I have lots of well-fitting masks, plenty of tests, and a steady income that I make from home, some of which I have you to thank for. I have plans to throw on one of those masks and socialize and present at some conferences and happy hours this year. My book is on my editor’s desk. I have lots of yarn projects on my hooks ready to be stitched up. 

And I’m going into the 13th year of stewarding this platform. However, as I said in the lead and in prior newsletters, doing it all alone is a little off.

When I created The Black Urbanist online platform in 2010, all I wanted to do was hide behind that name and push myself forward behind the safety of that shield. 

However, over time, I realized that this was more than just a project I started based on something I was fascinated with, coupled with my need to practice my writing and editing.

I wasn’t the only one feeling alone in my public administration classes and sadly, I still get those kinds of emails, texts, and direct messages from people feeling alone in the urbanism world, especially queer, trans and disabled folks.

Seeing my work as a journey, not a destination to specific Black urbanism, is helping me with my personal, lived offline Black urbanism. Claiming that stake in my personal Black urbanism, while lifting up the greater movement of Black folks taking up space globally,  will aid me in finishing this marathon, versus treating it like a sprint.

I was alluding to this in this past year’s wishes, which I’ll still be making this year, along with a few other new things to come here in this newsletter and on the big platform.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be pulling back the curtain to how things will be going in 2023 and beyond. 

One change that is obvious for 2023 is that for January, the newsletter will go out on Fridays.

One thing that hasn’t changed is that you can still advertise in this newsletter. Prices start at just $75 a week with a four-week commitment. As you see below, this is a great opportunity for your job announcements, along with conference registrations and requests for proposals and submissions. You can also become a Patreon as an individual and support this work for as little as $5 a month. 

By the Way

If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.

So I spent most of 2022 begging everyone to be wiser about how we gathered as respiratory illnesses and exposure becomes a fact of life. This article from Truthout is a good baseline as to where I am now. With pre-testing, air purifiers, ventilation, and Les and I still wearing an N95, KN95, or KF94 mask in situations where I can’t detect risk, our world has opened up a little more this year, along with our goals of building our solidarities and community care.  

Yes, this is how I came to my decision this weekend to be at some of all the transportation gatherings. Yes, that is me in the black face mask and with the purple hair. I do hug, so please say hi! I am still prioritizing outdoor dining and gathering, especially in warmer weather and around heat lamps, so I can savor my food. We’ve also expanded our indoor no-restrictions pod as we anticipate more unrelated health challenges. I also have an in-person panel in New York coming up in which I’ll be masked on the panel. And book events, too! More details to come.

***

And no, it’s not a fluke, some of those things you panic bought on Amazon and Instagram in 2020 may already be broken in 2023. In addition to all the other things broken and diseased in the world, the stuff we use continues to be engineered and designed to fall apart and make us buy more stuff.

***

The US Census Bureau confirms that disabled people often do not return to the same residence after a natural disaster.

***

Finally, it’s not too late to ensure this Black women’s mutual aid society based in Brooklyn’s historic building can be saved.

Before You Go

The folks at the University of California, San Diego would love for you to know about not just one, but two tenue-track jobs they have available next year. And the City of Kalamazoo Michigan is looking for a Planner I. Plus, some housekeeping about our little space. First the three jobs.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning to begin July 1, 2023.

This is a position for a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego, a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning.

The department is interested in candidates who have demonstrated commitment to excellence by strong engagement in teaching, research, and service toward building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment. The successful candidate will be an excellent scholar with an active research program in one or more of the following areas: transportation planning; climate change mitigation and adaptation; environment and land use planning; health and wellness, and/or spatial analytics.

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.

Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03452

Open date: November 21, 2022

Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 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.

***

And…

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING WITH A

FOCUS ON DESIGNING JUST FUTURES

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning seeks faculty candidates at the level of Assistant Professor whose research, teaching, and service will advance scholarship and institutional solutions for designing more just and equitable systems and structures.

This faculty member will advance UC San Diego’s commitment to the inclusion of Indigenous, Black, and migrant communities, anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, and social justice. We especially welcome candidates whose professional experience, community engagement, and personal background have facilitated their understanding of and ability to better serve students from Indigenous and other underrepresented populations.

Faculty hired under this Initiative will join the UC San Diego campus, the UC San Diego Design Lab (https://designlab.ucsd.edu/), and the Indigenous Futures Institute (https://ifi.ucsd.edu/) to forge a new paradigm of engagement and collaboration that draws on the geographic, academic, institutional, and cultural strengths of our tri-national region across Southern California, Baja California, and the Kumeyaay region.

This search is part of a UC San Diego-wide cluster hire on Designing Just Futures (https://www.design-just-futures.ucsd.edu/) that aims to recruit scholars who can contribute to the advancement of design, social justice, and Indigenous, Black, and migrant futures and seeks engagement with scholars across disciplines to address issues of territory, access, and equity, and social and political debates pertinent to Indigenous, Black, border, and migrant communities, while also working within their home departments and professional communities.

Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03484

Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 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.

***

POSITION: Planner

SALARY: P1 ($54,000 – $77,000)

OPENING DATE: January 4, 2023

CLOSING DATE: January 20, 2023 11:59 PM

LOCATION: Planning Division, 245 North Rose Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan

DEPARTMENT: Community Planning & Economic Development

Description/Distinguishing Features: The primary role of the Planner is development review. This includes working with applicants through the multiple stages of development – from idea to closing out the finished site plan – and with both very experienced and first-time developers. The Planner is the manager of the Site Plan Review Process. This critical process is run administratively and includes staff from departments across the City that come together weekly to support the development process. The Planner runs this committee, facilitating the review of all projects. The Planner must have a strong background in planning and zoning, but also familiarity with building codes, utilities, streets, and stormwater functions. In addition to site plan review, the Planner attends the regular Projects Meetings designed to support development projects in their early stages. The Planner’s role in the development process is critical and requires attention to detail, the ability to facilitate large group meetings, and skill in guiding conversations in order to reach a consensus or understanding of next steps. The Planner also supports the administration of the zoning code, working with the Zoning Administrator and Code Inspectors. 

The Planning Division is part of the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED). The division leads community engagement across the City; is the primary keeper of the Master Plan, supporting its implementation across all departments; supports Public Services with transportation projects; and administers, updates, and supports development policies from zoning to historic preservation to Brownfield Redevelopment. Within Planning, there are staff who focus on short-range, everyday planning and development support and staff who focus on medium and long-range planning and engagement.

Examples of Duties:

• Guiding applicants through the Site Plan Review Process
• Coordinating the review of projects by staff both within and outside of the Community Planning & Economic Development Department
• Attending development review meetings
• Meeting with prospective developers – big and small
• Working with applicants to troubleshoot development hurdles
• Review plans and provide clear feedback
• Site inspections as necessary to support projects moving through the development process

Minimum Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree in urban planning, geography, landscape architecture, geography, urban design, or a related field; master’s degree preferred. AICP certification is a plus.
• Three or more years of planning experience that includes plan review and meeting facilitation.
• Strong communication skills and ability to discuss and write on complicated topics in a way that is easily understood by both experienced developers and the average resident.
• Out-of-the-box, critical thinker with a willingness to develop new techniques, and turn the critical review lens on internal processes and activities.
• Understanding the development pro formas and ability to speak engineering and design a plus
• Ability to say no while offering alternatives and/or next steps.
• Understanding of the concepts from Congress of New Urbanism, Smart Growth America, Project for Public Spaces, and other similar best practices with training in form-based codes, public engagement, and urban design through such certifications by the Form-based Code Institute (FBCI), National Charrette Institute (NCI), Congress for New Urbanism (CNU), or American Planners Association/Michigan Association of Planners or similar is plus.
• Understanding the greater community vision of Kalamazoo (currently Imagine Kalamazoo 2025) and how it influences all work in the Planning Division.
• Working knowledge of GIS, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and databases. 

***

So videos. I basically collapsed into a human burrito last week. However, I am also working on creating a sustainable audio and video recording speed for myself, because I really want everyone to be able to experience my newsletters.The videos are coming, but instead of giving myself a deadline, I’ll be doing these at ease, with some fun elements that will make the video and audio experience even stronger on the platforms I chose to share them on.

***

I have created a special landing page, www.theblackurbanist.com/books, that’s not only a home for my upcoming volume, A Black Urbanist Journey to a Queer Feminist Future,  but I have embedded my Bookshop.org booklists here as well since we were having so many issues with the link. Go here for all things books I’ve read and my book when it comes out!

***

My capabilities deck is coming. You can reach out to me for press opportunities and schedule time on my Calendly again for 2023.

***

Thank you for supporting the 2022 capital campaign. Thanks to you, this year, I was able to cover my web hosting, enhance this newsletter, and position myself to take on some other client projects. However,  if you want to send me money for quick expenses or like a tip jar, you can Venmo me. I will also be introducing a paid tier for Substack and Medium users to also function like a tip jar and which will provide detailed reporting as we shift operations into both a for-profit and non-profit model.

***

Happy New Year,

Kristen

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. This year, we are wishing and learning at the same time. This week, making Kwanzaa queer, feminist, and urbanist. Also, we have a special message from the University of California at San Diego. Learn more about how you can advertise in this newsletter. Prices start at just $75 a week with a four-week commitment.  You can also become a Patreon as an individual and support this work for as little as $5 a month.

Reclaiming this time of celebration of the emergence of light in the midst of darkness across all peoples, while acknowledging African heritage and community-building requires acknowledging the shortcomings of its founders and declaring the true spirit of community building and honoring the creations and contributions of all genders, and gender presentations and incomes and abilities in the Black community.

When I looked back at my connection of the seven Nguzo Saba to principles of urbanism, I was really pleased with how well most of them held up. I also the seeds of what has grown into my own personal and professional embrace of a Black liberation lifted up by all gender expressions and urbanism with all shades and colors of Blackness. Here are those blended principles in full from 2012:

First, Umoja speaks of keeping people together. Although race is arbitrary, the good traditions from different cultural groups should be celebrated and cultivated. Yet, a unity that is unjust should not be tolerated. The re-segregation of schools and continued segregation of neighborhoods by race and class are detrimental to a society that seeks to maintain growth and prosperity.

Kujichagulia speaks of branding oneself, instead of letting others define you. Some of the new city branding projects sound great, but fail to reach out to average community members and leaders of communities that have been excluded. The principle is better manifested when all community leaders and members come together to define themselves, instead of yielding all control to PR and marketing experts.

Ujmaa manifests itself in tactical urbanism, and other forms of grassroots planning and activism. I see this principle in the community gardens, community policing that builds instead of breaks trust, and in faith communities who continue to invest and include the communities they surround instead of walking away when many of their congregants do. I  also see this principle in the Occupy movement, especially around the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Ujamaa  in some respects equals Buy Local. It talks about local commerce, something that’s trended in many circles over the past few years. Yet, to me it speaks to the need to support good, just, honorable businesses.While this is easier said than done in a world of Walmart being the only affordable option in many households, we need to do what we can to force all businesses to do better to serve instead of sell to customers. I  also want to use this point to disparage the belief that there is no need for culturally-based stores. Some of the same people who would laugh at the black bookstore selling incense, gladly support the local, family owned sushi bar or Irish pub. Mind you, all these businesses could be donating money to schools and senior centers. They could employ youth who need something to do besides walk the streets and terrorize others. They could be paying workers a fair wage and also making good, strong products.

Nia is pretty self-explanatory. Everything has a purpose and everything should have a purpose. That purpose should not be self-serving. If I were to choose a planning/urbanist element to pair with this principle, it would be the community plans, maps, and the process of creating such. These documents serve as the basis of our efforts and help us remember our purpose in creating communities.

Kuumba goes beyond its basic principle. It honors the creative arts and the creative mind. It is here where the creative class principle makes sense. The creative class is not the whole of the community, but it is worthy of respect. Eventually, if creativity is not respected, there will be no innovation and adaptation to changing realities, from natural disasters, to obsoletance of technologies.

Finally, Imani goes beyond religious belief. Even if you don’t believe in God, you have to believe in the ability of your fellow man or woman to do whatever has been granted for them to do. Everything is not simultaneous, fast, or easy. In many communities, it’s been faith that has kept them from completely dissolving and giving up their culture and value to outside groups. Faith is what has kept inventors, builders, and other creators doing what their titles entail. Faith is the heart of all the above elements of community.

To close, we should not completely divorce Kwanzaa from its African culture or celebratory elements. Yet, we should honor the community building elements of Nguzo Saba as we continue in our quests for creating great places.

So if this is what Kwanzaa is, then what’s actually missing as a Black queer feminist urbanist, besides me realizing at that point both internally and externally that broader gender identities exist?

I think I worried at first, much like writer Chanté Griffin in 2018, that having the founder of the holiday participate in torturing women in the Black Power Movement so soon after having created this holiday ultimately challenged this holiday’s feminism.

However, I had aunts and uncles who proudly embraced this holiday, and, throughout my 1980s and 1990s youth, brought me candy and books about the celebration. Several of my Black feminist colleagues back home in Greensboro put on one of the best Kwanzaa celebrations on the East Coast (yes, I’m very much biased). And of course, the second best in my opinion were the fall convocations/Kwanzaa celebrations put on by several Black faculty and staff at NC State during my time there in the 2000s, where I was introduced to the concept of pouring libations and ancestor veneration. 

If anything, processing Kwanzaa in the backdrop of this last decade of Black life globally has made me as adamant as I am about practicing the spirit of Christmas and the other December holidays throughout the year. How can we make every day a holiday? How can we live every day with nia? How can we go forward without punishing each other and instead, lifting each other up? How can move to abolition and rehabilitation in our communities?

Next week, I will be sharing my nia for the new year. Yes, I shared wishes, but here are the tactics I intend to take to achieve those wishes and strategies.

By the Way

If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.

So like many of you this holiday season, I’ve been catching up on my entertainment. I forgot to drop in here on Friday, that I helped edit this collection of DC songs that speak to DC’s urbanism, of which I contributed one that might be a surprising addition. I also missed this compilation of videos filmed in the DMV  that was published on the site back in early 2020.

***

Meanwhile, I’d been anticipating the last chapters of The Best Man movie/miniseries franchise for a while and I was not disappointed. This series along with so many others that emerged in the 1990s set the standard for Black upwardly mobile progressive urbanism. 

Then of course many of these shows and movies became more suburban, churchy, and conservative, while in real life the while in the gentrification, displacement and stagnating wages were bubbling into more awareness of the cruelty of state violence, intimate partner violence, and queer and transphobia in our community.

Thankfully, the advent of the web series brought queer and millennial stories into this cannon of Black urbanism on the screen. And, this particular series returned just in time for us to see how this particular set of characters, portrayed by some of Black Hollywood’s emerging legends, would handle everything we got going on in the world, while still being entertaining. And if you are needing a solid recap of the series from someone who also experienced this series in a similar way, Refinery29 has you covered.

***

And I talked a little bit above about creating new traditions, however, I wanted to highlight how full circle having a Whitney Houston movie, especially one that was honest about how she loved  (and had the full blessing of others involved in her life, which also allowed us to hear her actual voice and songs!) this Christmas. My Dad adored Whitney and while it’s been ten years this year since we lost her, it will be ten years in May since my Dad was taken from us. Meanwhile, I’m happy to have a partner who’s just as obsessed with her, in a different way.

***

And I’ve got more to say about the Descendant film, but for now, all I can tell you is to watch it and be ready to apply it to your community, along with supporting the work of this community. It really illustrates how Black urbanism isn’t exclusive to so-called “cities”, and its practice is just as much of a contested civil right as some of our relationship issues, among other critical questions of the African diaspora.

***

Finally, the tropes that show up in Black holiday films. Spoiler alert, gentrification is one of them.

Before You Go

The folks at the University of California, San Diego would love for you to know about not just one, but two tenue-track jobs they have available next year. Plus, some housekeeping about our little space. First the two jobs.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning to begin July 1, 2023.

This is a position for a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego, a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning.

The department is interested in candidates who have demonstrated commitment to excellence by strong engagement in teaching, research, and service toward building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment. The successful candidate will be an excellent scholar with an active research program in one or more of the following areas: transportation planning; climate change mitigation and adaptation; environment and land use planning; health and wellness, and/or spatial analytics.

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.

Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03452

Open date: November 21, 2022

Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 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.

***

And…

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING WITH A FOCUS ON DESIGNING JUST FUTURES

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning seeks faculty candidates at the level of Assistant Professor whose research, teaching, and service will advance scholarship and institutional solutions for designing more just and equitable systems and structures.

This faculty member will advance UC San Diego’s commitment to the inclusion of Indigenous, Black, and migrant communities, anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, and social justice. We especially welcome candidates whose professional experience, community engagement, and personal background have facilitated their understanding of and ability to better serve students from Indigenous and other underrepresented populations.

Faculty hired under this Initiative will join the UC San Diego campus, the UC San Diego Design Lab (https://designlab.ucsd.edu/), and the Indigenous Futures Institute (https://ifi.ucsd.edu/) to forge a new paradigm of engagement and collaboration that draws on the geographic, academic, institutional, and cultural strengths of our tri-national region across Southern California, Baja California, and the Kumeyaay region.

This search is part of a UC San Diego-wide cluster hire on Designing Just Futures (https://www.design-just-futures.ucsd.edu/) that aims to recruit scholars who can contribute to the advancement of design, social justice, and Indigenous, Black, and migrant futures and seeks engagement with scholars across disciplines to address issues of territory, access, and equity, and social and political debates pertinent to Indigenous, Black, border, and migrant communities, while also working within their home departments and professional communities.

Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03484

Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 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.

***

I know I’ve been promising that I’ll be live on LinkedIn and YouTube and Instagram and I haven’t forgotten! I’ll be doing my wishes video live this  Wednesday, December 28, and a video about these two holiday-themed newsletters Thursday, December 29. Both of these will go live around the noon hour Eastern.

***

I have created a special landing page, www.theblackurbanist.com/books, that’s not only a home for my upcoming volume, A Black Urbanist Journey to a Queer Feminist Future, which I just chatted with my editor about last week,  but I have embedded my Bookshop.org booklists here as well since we were having so many issues with the link. Go here for all things books I’ve read and my book when it comes out!

***

Although you’ll see me pop up here and there this week, I am on holiday break from any client projects. I’ll be releasing my Kwanzaa email, making those videos, and doing some 2023 strategic planning and newsletter writing. I’ll release my 2023 Capabilities Deck in the first weeks of January along with a video to pair to explain what my calendar will look like in 2023 and how you can plug into it this year. 

***

Thank you for supporting last year’s capital campaign. Thanks to you, this year, I was able to cover my web hosting, enhance this newsletter, and position myself to take on some other client projects. However,  if you want to send me money for quick expenses or like a tip jar, you can Venmo me. I will also be introducing a paid tier for Substack and Medium users to also function like a tip jar.

***

Happy holidays and talk soon,

Kristen

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. This week, I’m reflecting on a 2012 post I made about gratitude and how what I’m thankful for has changed. Also, we have a special message from the University of California at San Diego. Learn more about how you can advertise in this newsletter. Prices start at just $75 a week with a four-week commitment. 

I’m still grateful for the country road. But I’m also grateful for the city block, the commuter train, the rapid test and KN95, and people who know how to cook good food far, far away from our hometown. Most of all, I’m thankful for the people who have stepped up over the last week to hold me and Les down — our chosen family, as we continue to battle imperfect bodies. 

A decade ago, on what I didn’t realize would be my last Thanksgiving with my father, and two years before I stopped going to family Thanksgivings altogether, I wrote these words:

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States and this afternoon I will I embark on my annual journey to see both sides of my family within a span of 5 hours. While many folks have the tradition of watching the Macy’s parade, watching football and eating copious amounts of food, my most unique Thanksgiving tradition involves one long country road.

On a regular basis, the concept of one road=one family rules my life. Within ten minutes I can be at my mom’s house. Five for my dad’s. Of course you’ve picked up on the houses being separate, but it’s been so long, I’ve worked at making sure it doesn’t feel like there was separation.

Meanwhile, on Thanksgiving, it’s worked out for many years that both family celebrations are within 30 minutes of each other, connected by one (technically four, but it’s close enough) country road.

I’m very thankful for that country road. It’s the same road I learned to drive on and it’s taught me the value of the rural environment. As I drive over the rolling hills of the North Carolina Piedmont, I see small farms. I see all types of home architecture, including one house that keeps adding turrets, stained glass windows, and doors. My mom and I have bets on it being a bed-and-breakfast, but who knows? There’s even a small waterfall cresting from a dam at another point of the journey.

This road and the country surrounding it are why I love the urban transect so much. For those of you who aren’t urban planners, the urban transect is a system developed in the 1990s to portray the optimal progression of land use. It goes from New York-level urban density to un-claimed natural land. In between, there are levels for used farmland, small-town main streets, and even lesser dense suburbs. It accounts for all the desired land uses in a way that honors compact living, efficient development, and the need for some communities to have space from their neighbors. It allows for the rural areas much like the ones I’m visiting today to exist in a modern, urban-centric, placemaking scheme.

We talk about density and connectivity and the ability to bring communities together in the placemaking blogosphere on a regular basis. Thanks to this road, and the years both families gather on this road, I get to feel what it’s like to be a part of my first community, my own family.

And on that note, let me take the time to express my thanks and gratitude to everyone who has followed me on Twitter and Facebook, given me a byline in another publication, read and shared this blog, heard me speak, invited me to speak and all of the above and more. Let us all be grateful for the great places in our lives and work hard to preserve them all.

Since then, I would see my community come together to help me bury my father, but see it constrict some when I came out of the closet.

I would leave my hometown because being its heroine became too much and honestly too isolating.

I would battle to get enough money consistently as someone living as my quirky and brutally honest, yet dependable self.

And of course, what are we really thankful for on these national declarations of Thanksgiving? What are we really celebrating, specifically by celebrating on that day? Is colonialism really working out for us?

And yet, over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the best show of chosen family I could ever ask for, as Les recovered from another sudden 75% lung collapse due to endometriosis.

It’s hard enough to be isolated to prevent the worst health outcomes. However, I can’t thank our chosen family enough for creating the environment of wellness we’ve needed to successfully open up our quarantine pod and keep ourselves fed, rested, and our spaces clean and conducive to health.

If all goes well, sometime later this week, we will be embarking on a trip to North Carolina to see family we haven’t seen for a long time. I’ll be bringing Les to an in-person family event for the first time and I’ll be able to attend thanks to some social distancing and ventilation requirements that were met by my family (my Dad’s side for the record), with love and compassion. 

And I’ll go back knowing that while times can be tough, there’s always someone out there to help and hold us up. It might take a few asks and a little more vulnerability. But, even in this violent, chaotic world, the Earth is calling us back to herself and to a beloved community.

By the Way

If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.

Reading about the Washington Post’s health reporter’s reflection on balancing queerness, COVID, and family acceptance was so real. I know so many of us are in this space at the moment, especially as it seems like containment of the virus is a fantasy and so many of us live with chronic illness anyway. I still want institutions to try and help us. Ventilation and air purification are on institutions. Vaccines, treatments, and tests are on institutions. Accessibility and knowledge sharing can be stunted by institutions. Please give us the right tools to continue to get in the right relationship with our individual and collective humanness. And understand that I will still be masked, but if you’re nice enough and take all the steps, we can have a meal together. And I will fight hard for your adequate health and community care.

Also, this collective of Black Los Angelenos purchasing their block in Leimert Park gives me hope that we can come together and be land stewards, without denying each other the gift of home, health, and community around our culture. I wish them well as they welcome their first Black woman mayor too.

Let’s take a moment if not all of Thursday and Friday instead of the frenzy it has become, and honor a time of mourning, for those who were already here on the so-called United States. We should be grateful and practice gratitude every day. And we should be nudging our families and friends to mourn in solidarity this week, much as we have for trans folks and traffic casualty victims.

Before You Go

Check out some special announcements from me and this first one from the University of California at San Diego.

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego invites

applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning to begin July 1, 2023.

This is a position for a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego, a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning.

The department is interested in candidates who have demonstrated commitment to excellence by strong engagement in teaching, research, and service toward building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment. The successful candidate will be an excellent scholar with an active research program in one or more of the following areas: transportation planning; climate change mitigation and adaptation; environment and land use planning; health and wellness, and/or spatial analytics.

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.

Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu

Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03452

Open date: November 21, 2022

Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)

Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.

Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 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.

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I’ll be live on LinkedIn and YouTube and Instagram talking about everything I mentioned above and then some for my Open Studio/Office Hours sometime this week. Don’t worry if you can’t watch live, it will be archived publicly on all spaces.

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My bookshelf over at Bookshop.org is very much alive and well, purchase your copies of books I talked about above, plus more that I’ve designated part of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist canon, the general urbanism canon and other lists because you can never have too many books.

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Finally, learn how and what you can you book me for in 2022 and 2023. I am also available to edit and for freelance articles. I’ll be updating the capabilities deck soon for 2023 to reflect that.

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If you want to support me for any reason, but don’t need anything in return, you can donate to my capital campaign, or Venmo or Cash. App me. 

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Until next time,

Kristen

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. This week, I’m still thinking about how capitalism is affecting our “return to normal” and how I’m just not that kind of normal.

So I already had plans to tackle how capitalism fails the Black body before recent news developments, but then again, this whole newsletter is about that and how it relates to our geography and coming together in physical spaces.

But, these past couple of weeks basically made me realize I’ve been right all along.

We ain’t ready to be outside. We ain’t doing right by everybody outside. And with this being fall going into winter in the northern hemisphere, might be time for those of us stateside to step back. And for those emerging back into the world to think about what’s really going on.

Now I’m not saying we gotta go all the way back to full lockdown. Personal protective equipment (masks of all levels, air cleaners/purifiers, face shields and goggles, and full body suits) and ventilated indoor and outdoor heated spaces of all kinds allow us to be out here with reason and sense. Especially those of us whose bodies already don’t like our polluted air, water, and broken social service systems.

However, I think I miss the lockdown portion of quarantine so much because, for the first time in my adult business life, I felt like I wasn’t missing out.

All the conferences beamed right into the bedroom. I could wake up and sleep at the pace of the sun. I could master crafts I’ve loved for years. Everyone was in the same boat, or at least similar, side-by-side boats it seemed.

In reality, the lockdown was sad and scary because we didn’t realize how much danger was at our door and we, meaning all races, ages, classes abilities, and wealth. Some relationships were rekindling and others were falling apart due to isolation. But it was making us slow down and really consider what was worth doing and many of us, at least based on what was posted online, were actually doing that!

However, once the first waves of infection passed and so many of us in positions of power, wealth, and access stopped dying and managed to not have side effects, it seemed like the hustle came back.

I’ve seen so many people, notably Black folks building business, harp on community, but insist that that community only happen face-to-face.

For every Black person calling on rest as resistance and liberation, another is saying liberation is only in our hustle.

Can we not forget that some of us can sleep and guzzle elderberry syrup and even wear our masks and our body will still do what it does?

Or I guess abundance and wellness are only available to the abled and the privileged.

I’m a dreamer and a creative and I hate the idea that I could be too sick to create because of something that fell out of the sky. And that doing it fast and risky is the only way to success.

It feels like the denials of my ancestors and my elders — you’re Black, so you can’t do that or be that.

It’s as if we have to earn our rights or liberation.

I’m here today to declare that liberation and rest are our birthrights. And no, that doesn’t mean one is forever gone be broke.

To declare and model what it looks like to make and do from a place of abundance. Last newsletter it was my personal abundance in limitation.

This newsletter it’s doing me and then connecting — with these technologies and techniques our ancestors and elders would dream of having, and owning myself as a success, internal and ancestral.

I like to think of myself, as a conduit and facilitator. I create projects, objects, and events. I may be the lead person managing the team or I may work on the object (say my crochet scarf pattern or any other crafty thing) in solitude. However, especially when the project is done in the community, I’m happy with sharing not just the labor, but the fruits of our labor, equitably.

Capitalism is not equitable. And yes, fares in cities that can tax billionaires to provide the funds for the services we punish others for not having enough to access, is capitalism. So is housing in the same situation? Yes, we need to compensate those that build housing, but we need to continue to be creative and work with a team of architects and construction experts that can provide us as a people with a variety and abundance of options without exploitation.

Oh and before you come at me that I’m not thinking about the kids: Open the windows and buy the fans for the schools and offer more tutoring and individualized education.

Also, you’re a doctor’s office, the PPE is for you first, especially since we are trusting you to usher us through the illnesses, ailments, and mobility device needs we expect from you.

You can get out here and hustle and push and pull. Do that for you. But don’t do it on someone’s back. Don’t do it at someone’s expense. Don’t do it for clout. Share the wealth, especially if it’s a group project or event, or something that benefits a broader community.

In the meantime, now that we’re been in this return mode for a second, let’s take a step back. Are you doing what you’re doing because you want to or because of obligation?

Is it really working or do you think it’s working?

You’ll see me when you see me. At the right spots and at the right time and yes, I’m happy, because all I have to do is be.

By the Way

If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.

Another reason to get Black urbanism right is that Black/African urbanism will be the lead urbanism if population numbers do continue their trend in the nations of West Africa and their coastal cities. Also relevant at the moment, is how and why Judaism is practiced in West Africa.

I appreciate CityLab’s Linda Poon for highlighting what folks are and aren’t doing with indoor ventilation and what we should be listening for when a school, concert, or conference venue claims that they are cleaning the air, especially when they claim it’s “hospital-grade”.

And thank you Washington Post for shining a beacon on us “still Covid-ing”, but seriously, we aren’t weird because we are careful, then again, this is the Washington Post. I do want to lift up Elaine Weltheroth’s new WaPo column though, for often getting it right, especially when talking about when it works to walk away from a career.

Finally, this Post article about why Victorian-style homes are considered scary should go well with your candy and costume this year. Read it by candlelight.

Before You Go

Check out some special announcements from me..

I’ll be live on Patreon, LinkedIn, and YouTube talking about everything I mentioned above and then some for my Open Studio/Office Hours from 11:45–12 noon eastern. Don’t worry if you can’t watch live, it will be archived publicly on all spaces.

My bookshelf over at Bookshop.org is very much alive and well, purchase your copies of books I talked about above, plus more that I’ve designated part of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist canon, the general urbanism canon, and other lists because you can never have too many books.

Finally, Learn how and what you can you book me for in 2022 and 2023.

If you want to support me for any reason, but don’t need anything in return, you can donate to my capital campaign, or Venmo or Cash. App me.

Until next time,

Kristen

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. This week, I’m sharing a bit of how I continue to find abundance in scarcity of health and wellness, without betraying myself and my health in the process.

This most recent time of lockdown and quarantine isn’t the first time I’ve had to do so in my life. Nor, has this been the first time I’ve had to worry about my health or the health of those around me.

For years I thought was allergic to the sun because it was so hot on my skin. I then learned about people who really are allergic to the sun. However, one time, I slid around our backyard dogwood trees so much, I had a swollen face.

In the moment, I remember my face getting all squishy, and my dad and mom swooping me in the car to what I assume was my pediatrician and to Eckerd Drug for special Benadryl and going to bed for a while until my face became unswollen.

That was the first memory I have of childhood sickness. Other than cases of flu in 1997, and 2013; (fingers crossed) a lengthy cold in the early stages of us considering lockdown in February of 2020; some nasty cuts falling off my bike into gravel that required weeks of penicillin cream, falling face flat in the second grade in front of the school and embracing my new nose shape, and lots of hay fever and colds — I’ve been relatively healthy, as long as I remember to wear my glasses and take my Allegra.

I also learned early, that despite us being in a Black working-class household, health matters. I saw my mom who’d already had a few miracle surgeries (and me, the miracle baby); say enough was enough when her back went out baking holiday cookies and that started her relationship with a chiropractor, along with our primary care team and her OB/GYN. My dad’s stress and our relative privilege with him having a side hustle in the trades allowed him to go to the advertised nice and friendly mental health inpatient facility as needed, even though there were times when we needed state care.

I’ve now learned as I’ve lived with and made friends with so many folks who look “healthy” on the outside, but are just not healthy enough to do capitalism well, that abundance looks like doing what you can to honor wellness and a world that makes it easier for you to forget that your body doesn’t do all the things.

I listened to a meditation recently on the abundance in the midst of scarcity. That meditation was clear that abundance was doing all the things I can do and being grateful for the things I do have in the midst of thinking about what I can’t do and don’t have.

Because as much as I know and have lived what I showed you above, this is the first time in my and many of our lifetimes, the entire globe has been in sync with a common crisis, especially with public health.

And one of the first ways I practice abundance collectively is by doing what I can to make it easier for those who don’t have the same choices. For doing the research to make our planning and architecture work better for those we claim to build for, along with ourselves.

It’s what’s made me create my Black Queer Feminist Urbanist politic — with self and communal care as a political act.

My day-to-day abundance in scarcity means more trail time. Crochet at home and in my masked spaces. Walking through the mall masked. The best iPhone that took these pictures that I’ve highlighted this week. Outdoor fiber festivals. Outdoor music and community festivals. Takeout from all the best places and Whole Foods groceries. Hugging Les as much as possible.

And yes, speaking inconvenient truths, in a way that’s gentle and loving.

I know many of us have moved on from racial and disability justice. Sometimes I have to blink and make sure the calendar says 2022 instead of 2019.

I get why we want to go back. Lockdown wrought unfinished business for many of us.

However, some of that business can still wait. Or, that business needs to be designed so that it can be a universal experience.

I know we aren’t perfect in every space. I was masked, but I wasn’t able to caption or record my remarks at the crochet seminar I did at DC Design Week on Sunday. I’m still working to make sure my alt-text is appropriate. I have been mask-off a bit more in wide outside spaces.

Including this extra image this week because I’m one, proud of this workshop, and two grateful to the team of Eaton DC, Sweet Pea Fiber, and my partner Les for creating another environment where I can be “outside”. (Photo by Les Henderson)

And I feel the scarcity and fear in having to do stuff because people tell you to or feeling like you can’t take time off or still wear a mask or homeschool your children or wear what you want to wear because we live in capitalism and many of us are not in the positions of power to heal ourselves from the entire apparatus. But we do live on the same globe.

Yes, really, the same globe. Let my words today be a meditation bell, a call-to-action, that not only do we need to do the things that make us individually abundant, but that allow our Earth to feed us and heal us and not destroy us as it syncs back into its equilibrium. May we all be well!

By the Way

If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.

Appreciate this breakdown of what an industrial complex is from the women of Zora’s Daughters Podcast This really speaks to me at this moment, as I see so many of us propping up dysfunction instead of empowering people. However, I do want to shout out everyone else I see who is making a true difference. You know who you are and keep on keeping on! Also, shout out to the Arch is Polly podcast and The Streets are Planning Podcast. Yes, for those of you wondering, a return to the mic is coming.

Something else inspiring for me this week was seeing this update on Jewel Pearson’s tiny home near Charlotte. Already my ears were peaked because of Charlotte and a Black woman with a full closet and tub in her tiny home, but this update really speaks to her mission of pushing back against the narrative and the realities of being Black and having a place to call your own, while also in right relationship with the land and resources.

Especially after reading about this Detroit situation of how Tomeka Langford lost her home and it ended up as part of one of those $1/free house programs that were extra hyped in the last decade. The only inspiration here is that the person who got that home after her, who is writing the article, continued to seek after her, but unfortunately other people advised her to stop looking and push forward with legal challenges before getting to this point of joint advocacy.

And once again speaking of Charlotte, time to let the I-277 loop go. Use this as an opportunity for some reparations and restoration, but as we saw in this skylines article(paywalled), it might not happen for real because there’s more incentive to move on to a less equitable future.

And LA, my answer to this LA times headline(paywalled) is that you all can heal and form stronger racial coalitions. I also found this interesting article(paywall) that really digs into how intra-Native relations can be fraught in a country still reckoning with how it wants to see race.

Before You Go

Check out some special announcements from me and friends of the platform.

Advertising in this section has helped people find jobs and new opportunities. It also gets you and your newfound commitments to solidarity, justice, belonging, and equity in front of those who are your backbone and base of those commitments. Learn more on how you can purchase ad space!

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Learn how and what you can book me for 2022 and 2023

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If you want to support me for any reason, but don’t need anything in return, you can donate to my capital campaign, or Venmo or Cash. App me.

#

My bookshelf over at Bookshop.org is very much alive and well, purchase your copies of the books I talked about above, plus more that I’ve designated part of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist canon, the general urbanism canon, and other lists because you can never have too many books.

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It’s scarf season and it’s a great time to learn how to make a Kristfinity Scarf! Or make something out of crochet. Special thanks to EatonDC (where I’m a resident fellow this year) and Sweet Pea Fiber (where you might see me at maker’s night just like on the website on Wednesdays) for helping me make my DC Design Week event this year a success!

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I’ll be live on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube talking about everything I mentioned above and then some for my Open Studio/Office Hours at 4 eastern. Don’t worry if you can’t watch live, it will be archived publicly on all spaces.

Until next time,

Kristen