Weekly Newsletter

Where The Roads Lead…The Black Urbanist Weekly for W/O November 21-28 2021

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights founder and editor-in chief Kristen Jeffers’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every week. This week we are examining where the roads lead. Help Kristen continue to speak the truth and empower those to create the urbanism we deserve by making a monthly pledge on Patreon.

When I was a kid in Greensboro, there were two major interstate highways, I-40 and I-85. There was also several other US routes, that often presented themselves as urban boulevards or freeways.

We lived (and my mom continues to live very much adjacent to) US 220. Sometimes we would take a US highway affectionally referred to as “Old 70” back home from visiting family and friends in nearby Burlington, which is in the county just east of ours. 

Then there was US Highway 29, which on the northeast side of Greensboro, was this odd highway that had residential streets as exit ramps and sometimes homes right next to the right-of-way. When it would merge with I-85 and I-40, it had these nasty on and off ramps that were the cause of many an accident. There were also many reports of people trying to cross it where there was no grade separation and not only risk  injury or death, but be injured or die. 

Those of you in the Atlanta and DC regions (as well as Charlotte and Charlottesville), have your own relationships with US 29, which I would learn over time as I moved to and visited these areas. 

I also got acquainted with US 40 and US 71 when I moved to Kansas City. In addition to learning that Kansas Citians call them [Number] Highway instead of Route [Number] or as I do throughout the newsletter, just by their number without a the be for itI,  also noticed that like 29, sometimes they would merge into major interstates, but other times they would act as quasi-interstates. I also noticed that most of the folks that lived near 71, like 29 on the northeast side of Greensboro were Black and/or working class.

I always suspected racism in the roadways and had found some evidence in my early studies and research online and in grad school a decade ago about these roads, but until seeing what US 40 looks like in Baltimore and how underutilized it is in its current state, coupled with what it destroyed, plus how much of an emotional scar it is on the Black residents of Baltimore,  I knew I had the right evidence to know that this wasn’t just some accident.

I got to talk about these roads for NowThis Politics this week, in light of the recent passing of the federal infrastructure bill and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttiegieg openly stating at his official podium that there’s evidence of racial discrimination in road and bridge building in the past.

I learned a lot myself watching them edit my conversation with footage from Baltimore, and that inner knowing and sadness I’ve had at these roads being widened and neighborhoods being bulldozed now has a public airing. 

My six-year-old tree hugging self that was sad and angry at them adding two extra lanes and taking out the tree cover on US 220 where it runs adjacent to our residential street as a  then 35 mile an hour boulevard, now has returned tree cover in its median, which I get to witness on trips to my mom’s house driving back downtown.

Some of those awful ramps on 29 have been decommissioned, as they are not up to freeway standards.

However, as this bill’s funding gets distributed and we continue our commitment to not do this kind of harm again as planners and placemakers and activists, know we have a long way to go to ensure that we don’t make similar mistakes in what we do this time.

So, a few more things in this weekly newsletter before you go…

— Due to several technical difficulties, I will be aiming to record and release my Craft Week conversations this week. Hopefully, just like this reposted reel, they will spin into nice proverbial balls of yarn. Meanwhile, join the Kristpattern newsletter, which will relaunch on Small Business Saturday. I’m also going to be on the next episode of Black Women Stitch’s Stitch Please Podcast with a special message AND on December 4th, I’ll be teaching my scarf making process at Sweat Pea Fiber in Hyattsville, Maryland. You can also catch me hanging out most Wednesdays at Sweet Pea Fiber for their craft night.

— I had a lot to say about housing as a non-commodity this week on Twitter. TLDR? We can’t address the issues around single-family zoning if we don’t first go deeper and address the reasons why we believe homes should be for sale, be for sale and rent in the way that they are and look at how with the amount of global capital that’s actually in the world, some wealth redistribution, along with unpacking racism and all other prejudices, would heal our need for shelter, not just for rest and rejuvenation, but for community building and sharing of goods an services.

—Thank you for your support during the inaugural summit. I’ve learned a lot and I appreciate all of your support and donations. I am already in preliminary talks for an in-person summit next year and when I get more clarity about next steps, we will announce the location. Additionally, a smaller, but still rebooted school will launch in January and will periodically release content.

— Finally, when you support me on Patreon, it allows me to add the Black Queer Feminist lens to our urbanist conversation, that’s sorely needed when we find ourselves scratching our heads at doing things the same old way we’ve always done. I can say all the things you wish you could say, but your public service or even just your well-meaning, but not quite aware firms and organizations won’t let you say. 

You can also point to me as a model and thought leader as we begin to address our industry and community’s equity issues head-on with a mind for healing and renewal. Even if you never stream a lecture/interview, or actually complete the class workshops, knowing I have a set income every month, that allows me to live in an area that affirms all my intersectional identities, legally and socially, will allow me to never feel like I have to stop doing this work or silence myself because I need to go into an environment or work with people that make me shrink. Once again, supporting me on Patreon will keep this going for 11 more years and beyond.

Until next time,

Kristen

Weekly Newsletter

WeeKLY Newsletter for November 14, 2021

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights Kristen Jeffers’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every week. This week we are making an adult craft neighborhood out of a childhood craft playground.

At the end of the day, we all make things. And we make places to make things.

That’s our theme this week, as we close out this inaugural Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summit. Be sure to subscribe to The Black Urbanist YouTube channel for all of the public talks. You can also support our summits, podcasts, workshops and newsletters financially on a monthly basis via Patreon, invoice me at kristen@theblackurbanist.com, or do a one-time donation on Venmo to buy me a book. And now, to the sewing room and the fabric store, the places in and out of home where I first learned to make.

Fabric/Craft Store As Childhood Playground

In that sewing room, which was first a corner of my mom’s bedroom, then it’s own separate bedroom in later homes and years, everything from my baby clothes, to a trendy 1990s printed-on-the-front-shiny-on-the-back dress, to my high school choral and prom dresses were handmade by my mom from patterns with names such as Butterick or Simplicity from stores such as PieceGoods and Hancock Fabrics.

My mom worked part-time at PieceGoods back in the mid-1990s, and sometimes I would come with her and sit quietly in the back, with a couple of other children also accompanying their moms to work.

Let me do an aside here to note that take your child to work day is often every day at some jobs and definitely not the novelty that white middle class and above feminism wants it to be, but I digress…

Craft Space in Adult Neighborhood

Just like it took me years to see that being concerned about sustainable and people-centric transportation was a practical concern, it also took years for me to see that my concern about where my clothes came from, what they were made out of and how they were made was more than a childhood playground, with a Sears Kenmore sewing machine as one of those combined multifunctional pieces of playground equipment and the fabric and craft stores as a McDonalds PlayPlace of self-sufficiency.

We need all ideas and hands on deck to end the climate crisis.

Our malls and shopping districts can’t be disconnected from transit systems, fail to provide all kinds of community resources and the unsold clothes and goods they produce can’t become environmental hazards or continue to be made in ways that dehumanize and enslave.

Right now, this is my landscape of craft stores. None of them are in walking distance. I’m willing to bet that if you live in a neighborhood like mine, that’s mostly people of color, there’s a 50/50 chance you can’t walk to a craft store. Or, you’re in a garment district where people don’t get the wages and benefits they deserve for this kind of work.

This has to change.

So, tomorrow night, I relaunch my Patreon only podcast Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers with a special out of paywall edition on my Patreon and YouTube featuring a fellow planner at the intersection of urbanism and making, Illana Preuss. You can get her new book Recast City or reach out to her if you want to start the process of handing cities back to small business, especially small manufacturers.

And on Wednesday, I’m going to be talking live on the Kristpattern and The Black Urbanist YouTube’s with Brooke Addams of Fully Spun, about our shared love of fiber craft, being Black queer business people in Maryland and on her recent successful Kickstarter and how crowdfunding has kept us going.

Finally, I’ll be previewing my new Art Class level of Patreon, with a taste of this live crochet class on Friday evening live on the Kristpattern YouTube.

And you’re going to hear even more from me with these podcasts, workshops and one day, in a fixed place, hook and machine in hand and nearby, crafting my adult craft neighborhood from my childhood craft playground.

I’ll be back next week with recaps of the entire summit, information about next years in-person summit and how you can join one of my “class levels” on Patreon and get more information and resources.

Before You Go

— I’m more energized than I was in this section last week, but I still need to get to a $2,000 minimum monthly income by the end of the calendar year, or else I will extend my January sabbatical, save launching the rebooted elements of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School. Pledge monthly or annually on Patreon, donate one-time either through Venmo or emailing me (kristen@theblackurbanist.com) so I can invoice you through Intuit Quickbooks, where I can collect payment of any kind, including Apple and Google Pay.

— Something else that energized me, was watching this almost two hour thread of “sustainable” businesses. I know some of these methods are little more than greenwashing, but I was really inspired to see countries in the Global South come up with their own solutions to all the waste that’s been poured on them in the global north.

— This is Trans Awareness Week and next Saturday, November 20, is Trans Day of Remembrance. This is the deadliest year on record for trans people, and many of those deaths happen in the shadows of some of our favorite major cities. Learn more about this week and observance from GLAAD and the Transgender District of San Francisco, an initiative led by trans women of color to honor one of the most pivotal places in the struggle for trans civil rights, as the demographics around the area rapidly change and attempt to erase this valuable history.

—To my fellow trans/nonbinary/genderqueer/gender non-conforming folks, we love you and we honor you. We all are human and have a place in the most vibrant and abundant corners of this planet. Remember, if you’re Black and Queer and Feminist, I especially want to hear from you. Message me and let’s chat!

Weekly Newsletter

The Black urbanist WEekly for November 7-14, 2021

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights Kristen Jeffers’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every week. This week we are focusing on the healthcare woes and triumphs of Black gender marginalized folks

Thank y’all for reading the emails last week. I really did enjoy writing the first couple. Then, it hit me. There’s so much about this I’m still processing myself and I don’ want this to turn into my daily diary.

At least not yet.

This writing is in the backdrop of so many personal tragedies, traumas and wounds. Ijeoma Oluo said it best in one of her recent newsletters that the kind of writing we do isn’t therapy, it’s writing for our people so that our collective voices get amplified.

I want to take it a step further and say that I don’t use this platform for my own joy — I use it to demand that you do more than just read, but you ensure that the changes our places need actually happen. I’m tired of being on design teams and panels where we discuss the needs for systemic change. I need systemic change to happen.

In the meantime, the therapy comes for me through both talking to a trained professional and crafting.

But, like my writing, I really do think that my approach to crafting, like everything else I do, will continue to advance my new Black Queer Feminist Urbanist centered vision, to challenge our different world through the creation of community and self joy.

And that’s why I have two conversations scheduled and an in-person and virtual crochet demonstration class scheduled over the next few weeks.

That’s why there’s a Kristpattern email list and Patreon level, so you can be at the front seat of this. And that’s really why this email’s going to weekly, because I think dipping into the art will help fund the movement work needed to truly advance a Black Queer Feminist Urbanist vision and for Black Queer Feminist Urbanists to find themselves and their allies to support them in the best way.

But, tomorrow night, come by all of my social platforms as I join forces with m partner in love and life Les Henderson as we highlight a subset of folks you may not realize exist, or you may relate to, but never thought would be highlighted on an urban planning platform — Black gender-nonconforming women and trans men who have been pregnant. We are proud to share that part of their story and they are a part of a larger thread on trauma and triumph around Black birthing in the DC Metro Area

This documentary is part of a special health and urbanism series I asked Les to curate under her endoQueer banner and it won’t be the last time we bring the public health of Black gender-marginalized folks to our table, which has mostly been transportation-centric over the years.

Make sure you are subscribed to either The Black Urbanist YouTube, or following me on Twitter so you don’t miss this powerful film and talkback — The Dominance of Motherhood. Unlike the rest of our content, we will only be playing this once, to allow our filmmakers to do as many major film festival showings as possible.

And I’ll be back in your email next week with more details on the Kristpattern Craft Week, the last week of our Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summit/Festival programming.

Before you go

— If you want to see the return of daily emails, I need your help to get to a minimum of $2,000 monthly income on Patreon. You can do so starting with a $10 Public Lecture pledge and join the 47 other folks that have access to my exclusive interview with Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson on the past, present, and future of Retrofitting Suburbia and designing from a feminist perspective. If 50 of you pledge (or return to pledge) at the $50 level, I’ll be at that number even faster and I’ll be able to add paid team support. Plus, you’ll be the first to receive our new courses of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School when they reboot in January.

— I made this its own bullet because it’s very important — If we don’t reach $2,000 by January, I’ve made a personal decision to shut down The Black Urbanist platform and solely focus on Kristpattern, using it to build up the kind of venture that can support a social good like The Black Urbanist without having to worry about the waves and flows of outside support and without me having to bear the trauma of producing movement work like this alone. Once again, if you don’t want another gap in this work, please pledge. If you are interested in other ways of donating, please reply back to this email and we can talk about invoicing and other one-time grant options.

— Please follow The Black Urbanist YouTube page and check out The Inaugural Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summit Opening Keynote where I establish on video how I built up to this point and what I want my Black Queer Feminist Urbanist future to look like.

—Black LGBTQIA+ Siblings — let’s talk one-on-one about life, urbanism and thriving. Reply to this email and we can set up a time. Also, I’ve lifted the all-access fee for the summit, thanks to more generous donors!

To all of you who are still here, thank you for being here and take action, even if it’s something small, to help us have a different world centered in joy.

Coming next Sunday — it’s Craft Week! 

Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist Daily PIlot EdiTION for November 4, 2021

This is a special preview edition of The Black Urbanist Daily. The Black Urbanist Daily will feature Kristen’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every weekday. Although she’s liked being back in the daily saddle, this will be the last daily pilot until she grows her team a little more, but have no fear, we will be testing out weekly editions. More details below.

When the pandemic hit, I already knew that I needed an urbanism that included me. And I want to bring us back to those few weeks where I wrote a few things about what we needed to do pre-pandemic. Take today and tomorrow to revisit my thoughts around these things. I’ll be back Sunday with the weekly edition.

I know, I said no more Sundays, but hang with me for a least a couple more weeks as I don’t want you to miss the special summit content that’s coming the next couple of Sundays and, I have to be honest, I think I want to hit your inboxes weekly with the best, most amazing stats and analysis around these points but, in the spirit of self and community care, I don’t need to do this everyday.

The pandemic is still here folks and we all have to govern ourselves accordingly

Here’s my archive from early 2020 that built the case for my emerging Black Queer Feminist Urbanism

And here are a few more things before you go.

— Once again, Watch the launch keynote of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summit/Festival. This special event is why I’m emailing you daily, since we can’t be in person this year and I wanted to make the conference truly portable.

— Register for our special virtual movie screening, The Dominance of Motherhood, next Monday at 7 pm Eastern. (thanks to our generous donors and sponsors of this year’s summit, it’s free, scroll down to the HealthWeek ticket and you’ll get access). We will also stream this on all of our channels, but we will be taking down the livestream at the conclusion of the documentary, to allow the filmmakers to show the film at other festivals.

— Pledge at any level on Patreon to get these emails after November 19th. I hear there’s also an art class level now, for all of my fellow fiber urbanists. 😉 Everyone also immediately gets all of my podcast episodes, specifically the newest ones.

—Black LGBTQIA+ Siblings — let’s talk one-on-one about life, urbanism and thriving. Reply to this email and we can set up a time. Also, I’ve lifted the all-access fee for the summit, thanks to more generous donors!

Coming Sunday — information about the rest of the summit and what to expect from me for the next few months.

Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist Pilot Daily for November 3, 2021

This is a special preview edition of The Black Urbanist Daily. The Black Urbanist Daily will feature Kristen’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every weekday. Expect these to appear in your inbox after work hours, but be ready for you to read first thing in the morning. Want to keep receiving these after the pilot period ends on November 19? Head over to Patreon and pledge at any level. Don’t want to be emailed this much? No fear, we will be returning to a weekly format here on these Mailchimp powered emails on November 20th. You’ll get a preview of those this coming Saturday. Today, I’m (still) thinking about Election Day as a Black politically engaged feminine person.

No, I’m not shocked about Virginia. Same with Buffalo.

Disappointed. Yes.

Sad. Yes.

But, unlike prior disappointing election nights, Atlanta and Durham are full of hope.

Which is also not surprising, considering I’ve been tracking these cities and their willingness to lift up Black women municipal leadership.

And after a result like yesterday, I’m ever more committed to working on the K. Jeffers Index for Black Queer Feminist Urbanism.

Our survival as Black folks of marginalized gender varies greatly and is often tied to the ballot box.

I want us to be able to wake up, do our self and community care and know that our basic needs can’t be legislated, ruled, arrested, charged, or sold away.

I want us to be elected and uplifted and appointed, when we are championing community and self-care and joy.

I don’t want to hear that we are worthy of government, corporate and even community leadership only after signing up to be of service, especially not to judicial or militarized bloodshed, white cisheteropatriaricial industrial complexes of community care, or to our family and faith community’s happiness and their happiness alone.

I’m still chipping away at my spreadsheet, updating it with a couple of new columns tracking things like abortion access and what places have attempted to have Black leaders of marginalzied genders and what their affiliations are and you’ll see a first edition of the full index soon.

However, if you haven’t watched my summit keynote (which is why I’m in your inbox daily, this is me bringing my virtual event to you whenever you have the time to pause and read), I’ve talked about the pieces of community and self-care I need and if you missed yesterday’s daily letter, I talked about how I’m still wrestling with what it would mean to be a Black elected official in my own body and without the connections that one seems to need to make it in politics as a Black woman.

On a lighter note I told you in the last email I’d be telling you more about Kristpattern Art Class and the return of my Patreon-only podcast, Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers

People will have to take my yarn balls and fabric yards out of my hands with force. It is one of those ways I’ve been able to reclaim my joy and I think there are a few of you who would love to be a more direct part of my art and craft journey.

If that’s you, there’s a special level of my Patreon, Kristpattern Art Class, that allows you to dabble as I dabble in my art practice, see if it might be a good self care fit for you and still get these emails daily, plus there’s already two episodes of my rebooted Patreon-only podcast Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers and we’ll be releasing a new one at 7 pm Monday November 15th . Go all-access and you’ll get everything I’m working on, including my rebooted Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School, re-launching in January.

And here are a few more things before you go.

— Once again, Watch the launch keynote of the Black Queer Feminst Urbanist Summit/Festival. This special event is why I’m emailing you daily, since we can’t be in person this year and I wanted to make the conference truly portable.

— Register for our special virtual movie screening, The Dominance of Motherhood, next Monday at 7 pm Eastern. (thanks to our generous donors and sponsors of this year’s summit, it’s free, scroll down to the HealthWeek ticket and you’ll get access). We will also stream this on all of our channels, but we will be taking down the livestream at the conclusion of the documentary, to allow the filmmakers to show the film at other festivals.

— Pledge at any level on Patreon to get these emails after November 19th.

—Black LGBTQIA+ Siblings — let’s talk one-on-one about life, urbanism and thriving. Reply to this email and we can set up a time. Also, I’ve lifted the all-access fee for the summit, thanks to more generous donors!

Coming tomorrow — going back in my archives to the times just before the pandemic upended our lives and when I started this process of defining myself for myself.

Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist Pilot Daily for November 2, 2021

This is a special preview edition of The Black Urbanist Daily. The Black Urbanist Daily will feature Kristen’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every weekday. Expect these to appear in your inbox after work hours, but be ready for you to read first thing in the morning. Want to keep receiving these after the pilot period ends on November 19? Pledge here at any level. Today, I’m thinking about Election Day as a Black politically engaged feminine person.

Remember when I wrote this post about being a hometown heroine? It’s because I too dream(ed) of joining the ranks of Black women (ok, to be technical in my case, genderqueer/nonbinary femme) in elected office.

However, at the moment, I see key barriers to me being able to fit into that mold. That was the spirit of my recent tweet thread reacting to the recent New York Times article on the 8 current Black woman mayors and a few potential women who will serve as mayors.

Why am I so skeptical? First of all, every city mentioned still has a very active and very violent police force. These mayors have the authority to reconfigure budgets, but their hands are tied because there are far more people in the electorate that want traditional policing than those that do not.

Secondly, it was mentioned in that article that Black women learned how to be civic-minded because of their sororities, which was very offensive.

Because we have to fight for our very existence on a regular basis, many of us come out of wombs ready to fight. Some of us have our first battles to be seen and loved in our own families. Then it’s on to churches and schools and these very governmental institutions that raise us to the top.

This also erases the women activists and community builders who spend their work lives at a job that doesn’t require college education and makes you ineligible for many of our Black sororities because you don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

I’m a firm believer that it shouldn’t take straightening one’s hair, paying an organizational fee and pledging love and devotion to a god who looks like a white man and the whiteness that image represents and bears down on its followers in order to be seen as a human.

Until that day comes when that’s not required for Black women (and nonbinary folks) to be and STAY mayors (and honestly any elected leader), then I’m not interested in the role.

By the time you get this, you may have a new governor, mayor, municipal council, school board, judges or some other official that’s elected over appointed.

You may have decided that you want to do policing differently or to allow yourself to be taxed for better schools or transit.

And I hope that you’ll consider, especially if you voted for a Black woman for any office, what it will truly mean for you to support her to be yourself. And I hope that when you did or didn’t reject that tax increase, that you have a better plan for providing those services to marginalized communities.

And so that’s the one thing that’s been on the top of my mind today. Before you go, a few reminders.

— Watch the launch keynote of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summit/Festival. This special event is why I’m emailing you daily, since we can’t be in person this year and I wanted to make the conference truly portable.

— Register for our special virtual movie screening, The Dominance of Motherhood, next Monday at 7 pm Eastern. (thanks to our generous donors and sponsors of this year’s summit, it’s free, scroll down to the HealthWeek ticket and you’ll get access). We will also stream this on all of our channels, but we will be taking down the livestream at the conclusion of the documentary, to allow the filmmakers to show the film at other festivals.

— Pledge at any level  here to get these newsletters after November 19th.

—Black LGBTQIA+ Siblings — let’s talk one-on-one about life, urbanism and thriving. Send me a private message here and we can set up a time. Also, I’ve lifted the all-access fee for the summit, thanks to more generous donors!

Coming tomorrow — another reflection, and more information about Kristpattern Art Class, and the reboot of my Patreon-only podcast Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers. And if you don’t want to be here anymore, scroll all the way down and unsubscribe.

Weekly Newsletter

Watch the 2021 Black Queer FemINIST UrBaniST Summit/FEstIVaL OPenING KeYNOTe

On November 1, 2021, I gave a presentation live on YouTube, Twitter, and on Facebook to talk about how I’ve come to build up this platform as a Black Queer Feminist Urbanist platform.

In addition, I launched live (week)daily newsletters, which after November 20th will be available to Patreon subscribers at any level and will be making my free monthly newsletter a weekly one again.

Want to support this work going foward? You can do so in the following ways.

Register at any level for the Eventbrite event — https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-queer-feminist-urbanism-festival-and-summit-registration-164752752919

Become a Patreon — www.patreon.com/kristenejeffers

One Time Venmo Donation @Kristen-Jeffers-3

One Time Cash.App Donation $kjeffers2

Or, I can invoice you so you can do a direct bank transfer or Apple Pay via Intuit Quickbooks.

Please email kristen@theblackurbanist.com with the Subject Line Invoice Me for the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist summit and the amount of your donation.

Thank you to this year’s sponsors/donors

Semaine Health

Chrissy Dittmore

Nicole Jones

Jerome Horne

Gigi the Planner

And all my amazing Patreons!

Follow The Black Urbanist and Kristen Jeffers @blackurbanist and @kristpattern on Twitter and Instagram

Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist MONthly October –> November 2021

This is The Black Urbanist Monthly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m making this monthly digital newsletter to share my Black, Spiritual, Diasporic North Carolinian, Working/Lower Middle-Class, Educated, Queer, Non-Binary Femme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my monthly column, the one that flaps open as you start browsing that coffee table magazine or printed alt-weekly newspaper or as so many other of your favorite newsletters do, in your inbox. This newsletter is a treat, in case you missed that in the subject line.

It’s no secret if you read any of my newsletters, social posts or have watched any of my social videos, I’m not happy with the direction the world is going.

As per my training (and I suspect the training and nurturing you have as well) though, I’m doing my best to be proactive about it.
However, being proactive around purchasing property still means that by the time I’ve fixed my credit, the homes — all of them — are overpriced and some may not even sell to me, because there’s still lots of bias in the home buying market if you’re not buying to make it a business or to develop/rent the property.

Being proactive around public transit only works so far as if the bus actually shows up on time, the train’s wheels don’t fall off and leave you stranded in a tunnel and even better, that there is a bus, because it was deemed unnecessary to have that bus in your neighborhood.

Being proactive around your career works well if you have a business and you continue to pivot until finding the right folks to service. However, there’s only finite numbers of jobs, especially in our industry, and the scarcity breeds all kinds of jealousies, envies, grief and prejudices.

Finally, the constant attacks on my identities is what made me proactive about creating a summit to celebrate them and continuing to shape it into something, while not as large as I imagined, will still be something important.

I’ll be coming to you on a daily basis (except Sundays, this will be my last Sunday letter for a while, unless Sunday happens tot be the end of the month) throughout the summit, and for those of you who are Patreons, you’ll continue to hear from me daily if you’re pledged at the $40 level and above and at the $10 level on a weekly basis.

I’ll also be doing more IG lives and I’ll be adding more frequently to my YouTube page — starting with Monday’s summit. Click here to be reminded about my video start time and to watch!

Plus, those of you who return to the $40 Patreon level will be able to access our new school sessions and those of you who remain at the $10-$40 level will be getting several new Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers episodes — including one that will announce the summit craft week and my new Kristpattern craft specific content and levels.

The world may be full of tricks — but I am determined to be my own treat and in turn, be a treat for you.
See you very soon,
P.S. Learn more about my adventures in sustainable fashion and fiber.
Plus, You can still, you can register here for the whole or part of the paid summit, or pledge on Patreon to access the full summit or school.
Weekly Newsletter

[Newsletter August/September 2021] Existing Beyond the US Census

This is The Black Urbanist Monthly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m making this monthly digital newsletter to share my Black, Spiritual, Diasporic North Carolinian, Working/Lower Middle-Class, Educated, Queer, Non-Binary Femme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my monthly column, the one that flaps open as you start browsing that coffee table magazine or printed alt-weekly newspaper or as so many other of your favorite newsletters do, in your inbox. This newsletter is its own metro area.

Like you, I’ve been crunching over the new Census numbers and what that means for me.

With The Villages, Florida being the largest growing metro area in the United States, it seems like conservative, small-village, but just disconnected and big boxy enough, mostly White urbanism is what people want.

Or, with more people than ever identifying as multiracial, inclusive of both Black Americans and Hispanic/Latino folks(many who are also of Black/African descent), the country as a whole is getting more diverse. Both my home state of North Carolina and my current state of Maryland (along with the adjacent District of Columbia and portions of Virginia) have never been more populous and diverse, with North Carolina growing even more and the “DMV” area leveling out a bit population-wise.

I have to stop my crunching for a moment not because we don’t need this information.

Jurisdictions redistricting their political precincts and districts for better representation; bridging the gap between the 104 million homes, 13 million vacant, for 331,449,281 million people; local governments providing social service aid for “poorer” Census tracts depend on this information and all of its fallacies and quirks.

But I have days of headaches and I lose sleep at night thinking about how I’m one tiny dot of that 331,449,281 million.

A tiny dot in Census parlance, as of April 1, 2020, lived at my current multi-family residence in one of 9 units in our building, with my same-gender partner in a domestic partnership. I am Black, from North Carolina with clear African roots and the possibility of others.

For this same reason of thinking so hard about being that dot, I have to take breaks from my Ancestry account and I still need to submit the DNA test.

But, around the beginning of 2020, I begat my own census. This census was built on this research coordinated by Junia Howell and Bloomberg CityLab on which cities in the United States are most successful for Black women, itself based on evaluating whether or not Black women can succeed in the Pittsburgh metro region.

In that study, I found surprises, like how my home metro of Greensboro is #1 for women’s health.

But I also needed more. So, I launched two separate surveys over the course of our very wacky time of pandemic + heightened interest in Black Lives Matter.

October 1st is also the launch of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Festival/Summit, which will include more virtual and in-person, activities throughout the month of October, namely:

  • A Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Demonstration Tour in the DC area on October 16th
  • The endoQueer Public Health Week October 11th-15th
  • The relaunch of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School on Halloween night
  • and I’m putting the finishing details on some other events, including a hybrid Fiber Party for my crafty people.

If you’re a Patreon supporter at the Study Hall level, all of the above is included, with only an additional cost if you want to come on the demonstration tour and/or receive swag bag I’m crafting for the demonstration tour and the fiber party.

If you are a supporter at the Public Lecture level, there’s only an additional fee to access the demonstration tour and the school.

You can also upgrade to annual rates in Patreon or if you do so on Eventbrite, you’ll get the same content delivered in a Teachable school.

Either way, you’ll be hearing a lot from me on email, on socials, and in other media as I prepare to launch out this new offering in the world over the next few weeks.

Once again, you can register here for the whole or part of the paid summit, add the launch webinar to your calendar, or pledge on Patreon to access the full summit or school.

See you soon,

Kristen

P.S. Learn more about my adventures in sustainable fashion and fiber.

Weekly Newsletter

The Black Urbanist MOnthly for July/August 2021 — Celebrate With Me At the INagural Black Queer Feminist Urbanist FEstival/Summit

This is The Black Urbanist Monthly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m making this monthly digital newsletter to share my Black, Spiritual, Diasporic North Carolinian, Working/Lower Middle-Class, Educated, Queer, Non-Binary Femme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my monthly column, the one that flaps open as you start browsing that coffee table magazine or printed alt-weekly newspaper or as so many other of your favorite newsletters do, in your inbox. This newsletter is always proud and always free.

Black is Beautiful!

Queer as in Heck Yeah!

Power to the People!

When I write the words Black Queer Feminist Urbanist together and apply them to myself and my work, it’s the spirit of the phrases above that I bring forward.

My partner’s mom once told me that they didn’t want me to put myself, my work and relationship down by calling myself queer. She equated it with going around and using another semi-reclaimed word about her own daughter.

Until 2015, I could count on my hands the number of people of African descent racialized as Black, that would proudly claim being Black in the land-use policy, planning, and building world.

And who hasn’t wrestled with the idea of feminine as weak, even internally.

And nobody wants to admit that rural transit, villages and ecosystems exist in tandem with urban systems.

And that the designation of something as a suburb is racially motivated.But I’m a queer feminist in professional spaces today (with North Carolinian and Marylander ties) because Pauli Murray was first.

And I’m a proud Black Urbanist because Melvin Mitchell walked with Stokley Charmicael (Kwame Ture) as they attempted to repair the Black main streets of DC in the same years my parents were coming of age tilling farmlands of their own central North Carolina Black communities, planting the seeds of their daughter’s quest to understand how it all works, through the lenses of place, creativity and design.

And it is in this spirit of pride, creativity, reverence and hope for the future, that I hope you will join me for the month of October for my inaugural Black Queer Feminist Urbanism Festival/Summit

At the summit we will do the following
–Launch the inaugural Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Index for Global Metro Areas on Friday October 1st in a live virtual stream.

–Go on a Black Queer Feminist Urbanist themed (socially distanced with proof of vaccination required) Potomac Waterfront Boat Tour with stops at several key points in National Harbor, Alexandria and The District Wharf on Saturday, October 16th. 

–Relaunch the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School on October 31st

–Have some other surprise conversations both online and offline that will be fulfilling and affirming.

–Challenge white-led, cishet led firms and organizations to continue the restorative and reparative processes needed to ensure Black liberation and model what multicultural solidarity looks like when it does exist to serve white supremacy or capitalism.

While the livestream of the report launch is free to stream and will stream on my Youtube Channel, and I’ll share highlights and key points of the boat tour in various videos — only by registering on Eventbrite for a paid ticket will you be able to receive one or more of the following:

—Professional Certification Certificates for the report launch webinar and full copies of the report+annual access to the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School at the Public Lecture annual rate. The new version of the school and archives of the report launch and boat tour will be available on Teachable, and completion of each module will generate a certificate.

—An in-person boat tour ticket, which includes a treasure chest of my book, A Black Urbanist Journey to a Queer Feminist Future, along with several other specially produced objects highlighting some of my favorite Black, Queer, Feminist and/or Urbanist vendors, artisans and places along the DC Area Potomac Waterfront. You’ll also get everything in the first bullet.

—The treasure chest only, mailed to your home + everything in the first bullet. If you want to do this and still join us on October 16th, you’ll be on your own to visit all the sites in the boat tour and there’s no guarantee that I and some of my special guests at each stop will be there.
Register on Eventbrite
Thanks to everyone who is already a Patreon and others who have already pre-registered and agreed to contribute art, knowledge and their connections to the launch of this event.

And don’t forget to register for at least the live webinar stream. If you want to upgrade your ticket for any of the other benefits, you’ll be able to do so until October 1st. Until next time,
P.S. Learn more about my adventures in sustainable fashion and fiber.

A Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Resource created and curated by Kristen E. Jeffers