This week’s song has me spinning around. Plus, the name of this newsletter is inspired by my 2018 Reader’s Survey. Please fill it out and let me know who you are, how I’m doing and if you’d like to pitch in to keep the lights on over here.

I am borderline obsessed with airports

Many of you know me as someone who is obsessed with passenger rail and rail operations period. However, to be honest, as much as I want Amtrak to get its stuff together and for more options like Brightline to come online, and the fact that my main set of professional photographs is sitting in a literal train station (that came back from its own death), I am actually a spotter.

A spotter is a lover of airplanes. I’m not sure if that extends to the airport and the flying experience, but for some reason, I still like flying.

It might be because I’m only five feet four inches tall. It might be because I got to fly first class on my return flight from Los Angeles, which on Alaska Airlines meant both of my bags flew free, I got to hang out and eat and drink in the airline lounge and I got to watch movies for free. Oh and just before our red-eye landed, I got a smoothie shot.

Even when I have to book my own travel and fly like a normal person, I pick airlines like Southwest that despite their abolishment of peanuts, make the experience a good one for everyone on board.

Then it comes down to the airport experience. My perfect mix is an airport that offers ample pre and post-security options. Right now, the only one I know of that does that well, besides maybe Sea-Tac and Denver is Atlanta. I know Atlanta’s a bear to get in and out of, especially when you have to switch flights. However, for options between airlines and even Delta’s connections, you can’t really beat it. Plus, your friends and family can hang out with you at one of five restaurants or in a nice sunny atrium. Pre-Check feels like Pre-Check and the regular lines are bigger, just like the Delta carousels. I do wish all the other ticketing areas were more spacious, but baggage feels just as good.

Oh and finally, all the terminals are connected post-security. It doesn’t feel like jail (Yes, MCI, I’m talking about you).

I remember how afraid I was to fly on my first flight, at the age of 20, to a summer program not unlike what I did with my Maynard 200 cohort, but for pre-law students of color at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. I remember that the flight was only 30 minutes, longer than it took us to drive from Greensboro to Charlotte so I could board the flight. My parents got permission to go back with me to the gate since it was my first time.

On the plane, I strapped in my toy Big Bird and one of my program-mates, who’d just made a flight connection, gave me a hard time about it. He was also cute and somehow the bird eroded some of my chances for other connections.

I also remember being scared that my ears would fall off and it would feel like a roller coaster. None of that happened on this flight and while it’s happened (the roller coaster part, I still have ears), nearly 100 flights later, I feel like a pro. Still, being booked in first class because of one, flight delays and two the fact that I was working with someone who could make that happen was priceless.

And this, my friends, is why I’m a spotter.

Also, as I wrote this to go out via Mailchimp, I heard about the other Alaska Airlines incident. As someone who struggles with their head sometimes (but has not considered that option), here’s a comprehensive list of places you can call if you feel like using a plane the way that person did.

More on why I was flying, my recommendations and other things going on with me as you scroll further.

My Life as a Professional Urbanist

While all of my recent time on the road wasn’t for business, much of it was. I really can’t thank the staff at the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education enough for making me one of the first entrepreneurs in their Maynard 200 cohort of media managers, makers, and entrepreneurs.

As I’ve mentioned already, I’ve wanted to so much more with this platform, but I’ve needed support. While I’ve figured out how to make a website, post on social media and travel over the years, I often get worn down and then I get depressed and then no writing or podcasting or anything is done.

Plus, I am starting a new part-time job, that in addition to my paid travel, will take up a lot of time. And doing my Maynard 200 coursework so that I can be proficient and ready to take advantage of the opportunities that I’ll have when we return to Los Angeles in December.

Speaking of Los Angeles, thanks to the Ahmanson family for having me at their sympoisum on the future of the American Dream last week. I look forward to seeing video from that and presenting to all a version of my remarks there at a future event.

Like this year’s YIMBYTown or the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Leadership Conference.

Also, for the first time in four years, I’m doing a readers survey! Tell me who you are and what you’d like to see on the site.

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts, and Recommendations

I’m considering not being an urbanist anymore. 

I know, shocking. 

Honestly, like in times past, it comes from seeing all the hurt and pain the mass development machine has inflicted over the past few years, as well as looking at the history of urbanization across the world. Oh, and taking more pride in my Southeastern United States roots.

Now I’m not talking about going back into full-on sprawl support, but we have to admit that urban and suburban development schemes are often flawed and take something—the right to shelter, the right to assemble, the right to feed and clothe oneself and sell it to the highest bidder, often to just leave that house empty and sad, the people locked up and stripped of rights, that food empty and bland, those clothes overpriced but ill-fitting and ill-made.

But maybe if I went and bought a house on some property out in the country, I could start over and do better through the following:

1. The yard could have plants that are edible and beautiful. I’d have a gazebo and a porch swing. I’d have a teaching farmer and a ceremony planner and we’d have a sliding scale on those services so everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the place.

2. The home would be a legit bed and breakfast. I’d use the app to help me build clientele and over time, a transition to being a more standard version. Plus, my staff would be geniuses and adore what they do, and I’d compensate them appropriately.

3. I would have a shuttle that would take people to the airport, hospitals and to the central business and restaurant districts.

4. I’d have my own personal vehicle which I would rent out on GetAround and do Lyft and Uber to cut down on extra trips. I’d also offer some of these rides for free for folks who couldn’t pay.

There’s more I could do, namely commissioning artists and hosting other writers and incubating activist and reformist policy movements and all the other things people do at rural centers like the one I’m envisioning.

At the end of the day, it’s not about rural and urban as much as it’s about people versus development schemes. After all, there has been great harm done to black farmers in rural areas and there’s the whole thing about the United States being a colonized area. No plot of land that I’ve ever lived on is without history or context. No matter what, we need sustainable, systematic, rural and urban community resilience and natural growth plans. 

But if I can be a model in the interim, much like this colleague of mine in Baltimore then I feel like I’ve done a lot.

Speaking of existing models, I’ve talked before about why I don’t publish much or even better, why don’t I have a bigger website or more content.

It’s simple. Content, stories, all of this on the site, is labor.

And labor deserves an equal trade. Actually, an equitable trade as I could pay everyone I write the same amount of money but based on the story content, it could mean psychological trauma or worse, the loss of an anchor job.

But the story must be told and those people at that job are so horrible!

Yes, but as someone who’s been recovering from a multitude of traumas— emotional, financial, physical, spiritual for a good chunk of this project’s eight-year experience, there’s only so much I want to share and want others to share, without the kind of legal, financial and emotional support that some of the big media outlets have.

I’ve been holding so much back because I want a hedge of protection. I know as an entrepreneur, that’s not guaranteed. However, as a young single black woman whose life as an employee was often traumatic and financially unsound, entrepreneurship, where I get to profit first and foremost and then generate and pay others fair and honest wages and provide a positive work environment that supports a positive home environment, and also give back to the larger community, sounds good.

Anyway, I’m taking a huge step at that goal this week as part of the inaugural cohort of the Maynard 200 Journalism Fellowship Program, in the entrepreneurial track.

I’m spending time with leaders in the journalism space, other journalists and Google to learn how to use all these platforms to my advantage, as well as network. Oh and I’ll finally get to see some of Boulder and Denver on the ground. Follow my Instagram Stories to check out my discoveries. 

If you saw my travel itinerary post, this was what I was alluding to. Anyway, I have a new podcast episode, from a D.C. stoop, I’m enamored with The Bold Type and I have a couple new panel/conference announcements. That and my summer jam that’s not Drake in this edition of the newsletter.

My Life as a Professional Urbanist

What you’re witnessing above is the return of The Black Urbanist Radio Show.

If you’ve been paying attention to major development news out of D.C., you’ve heard Ari Teresa’s name bandied around, as he’s filed a number of legal actions on behalf of residents, namely black and poor residents of D.C. who stand to not benefit when a new development comes to their communities.

Thanks to an email chain about all this chatter, I decided to ask him to be on the show, as it sounded like on the surface, we agree that development’s not always bad, but it should actually include people who’ve been there and especially who have been waiting for a city to come back to life after years of dis-investment.

He agreed and you should listen to our conversation live from his literal stoop in Historic Anacostia, where he practices law under the name Stoop Law.

And again, I’m super excited to be in Boulder for the Maynard 200 training and to be part of a new family of journalists and media mavens. Thank you to the Maynard Institute, all of our sponsors and to my cohort for being awesome!

Also, I’ll see you in Los Angeles as a panelist at the What Would Howard Do? event on the first of August and I have Boston and Pittsburgh events that I’m finalizing details for. More on social media and in the next edition.

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts and Recommendations

That’s all for now. Remember, if you want to get this newsletter in your email, please share your information here:

 I will only use this email to send you this email at a maximum of four times a month and a minimum of once a month. New subscribers will get a digital copy of the first edition of my book A Black Urbanist. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 

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Yes, this is activism. Not the only kind, but enough of a kind.

Last newsletter I spoke about the thunder and lightening of anxiety and depression. I’ve done this before, but the recent celebrity ones made me want to dig in a bit more.

This letter, I want to speak to one key thing that gets me into that place of dread or panic.

That key thing is feeling like I’m not doing enough. Especially as someone who has a heart for justice and abundance. 

It would be hard enough if it was just me sounding that call, but unfortunately, there’s always been an undercurrent of this in our progressive and activist spaces.

As of late, it was someone who I won’t name on my Twitter, who has a pretty big platform and role both on and offline. They were attacking two things. One, the idea that writing newsletters and producing other media in service of justice isn’t enough. Two, that we need to only take money from people who are with us 100%.

If you noticed my retweet about this, you know I think this is dead wrong. The first notion is absolutely abelist, as well as disabling to our movements. If we all got arrested or put ourselves on the front lines to be shot down or sprayed by protestors, we would be dead. Now, this doesn’t mean we don’t do street and public protest, nor does it excuse how so many law enforcement entities feel the need to bully folks (or worse) when they come to express their views in a public space. Nor does it mean that there aren’t justified moments when tearing down things and rebuilding them need to happen (like now).

What it does mean though is that you realize that there’s something in every occupation that needs to be bent towards justice. Even the protesters come back to the gathering spot and regroup. And the journalists recognize they literally speak truth to power when doing the work right.

Organizing, planning, taking action is not always a spur of the moment thing. Especially in neighborhoods that need to build up trust and coalition so things can be stable.

To the other point of money, yes, how money is spent matters. Yes, it’s appropriate to not even take money when it comes to a person coming in and creating a negative atmosphere or frankly just triggering people by being present. However, if someone wants to give me money with no strings attached, or even better set up a more permanent divestiture and reparations plan, as well as a personal development plan for themselves to be a better person, then, by all means, let’s get to work making that happen.

Again, though, this does not mean I like strings. We need to get away from the idea, especially when it comes to public good projects, that things need to always yield a financial return or even be perfect out of the gate. And this doesn’t even get into the financing of corporate projects.

Speaking of that, my latest on Greater Greater Washington is a primer for that. Check it out and scroll down for more from Detroit and the Allied Media Conference, my recs and shoutouts and a positive message before you go. Oh and just making this declaration has made me feel more positive about my work and the work of others allied together. Yes, this is a theme…

My Life as a Professional Urbanist

Despite having an aunt who’s been in Detroit for what feels like forever, this was my first time visiting as an adult and alone. The times I’ve been with family only, as well as CNU in 2016 and with family, were great and this time was no exception.

Also, I was unsure what to expect when I went to the Allied Media Conference for the first time, especially knowing that the conference is just getting around to having a design justice track, but I truly enjoyed it.

I included this picture of Wayne State University’s State Hall, because it really felt like being back in school, high school. Not only is the conference open to all ages, there was a real sense of justice and progress that flowed through the halls, much like you feel as a young organizer on campus. Plus, I believe every conference, especially ones where everyone gathers to compare notes, needs a quiet/relaxation space. It felt good just to be encouraged to quiet my mind and take notes. Also, I appreciated all the sessions on financing media and divesting from harmful sources.

I really enjoyed dancing (and holding down the table with the homie Jeffery Nolish) at MOCAD, sampling Detroit food at Cass Cafe, dubbed Dream Cafe for the course of the conference and the view of downtown from my AirBnB near Eastern Market!

I do wish I’d had time to eat at all of these places, but Detroit was fun and I’ll be back soon! 

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts and Recommendations

I told the woman at the AMC booth that had these that I would put this somewhere where it could be seen. Here it is! Taking this to heart and I hope you are too!

That’s all for now. Remember, if you want to get this newsletter in your email, please share your information here:

 I will only use this email to send you this email at a maximum of four times a month and a minimum of once a month. New subscribers will get a digital copy of the first edition of my book A Black Urbanist. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 

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Our cities, our lives, are depressing sometimes.

Trigger warning for discussion of depression and how folks cope with it, namely me.

Those of you who have followed my work over the years know that I’m no stranger to the struggles of anxiety and depression. Or maybe you didn’t know and wondered why I would disappear offline for weeks. Why I’m not at a particular conference or being friendly at the ones I do attend (including this weekend). Why this newsletter is called a weekly, but sometimes shows up as a monthly. Travel helps, but sometimes it shakes up the routine that keeps me from falling too far on the deep end.

Last month was National Mental Health Awareness Month and I linked to my article,The Continuous Quest to Mentally Cope With Modern Civic Life as a Young Black WomanProfessional. I wrote the article in an especially dark place for me last spring, on coping with being someone like myself, a lover of vibrant cities and creating things, with more introversion and depression than I like to admit, as I adjusted to my third city in three years. (And it’s now up to four and could be more…)

And of course, many of us have seen and been shocked by the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. I, unfortunately, had not had the chance to really watch Bourdain’s work, but everything I heard was great and I’m sad that there’s a clear period to it.

Meanwhile, when I still lived in Kansas City, Spade came to Halls at the Crown Center to debut her new line. I readthe article about this in the Starand learned that she was a Kansas Citian who seemed to have all the right connections for the town: white, straight, cis, wealthy from birth and even more so now, husband and kid, Catholic school growing up, now a store that bore her name on the Plaza and even though she’d sold that version of the business, she still had the courage to start another.

Unlike me at the time, who couldn’t put my finger on the fact that what I had was depression, sometimes of the manic nature, but almost always an idea of hopelessness. I was guilty of doing what Brene Brown has called creating a “dangerous” story on what her life must have been like, in the midst of me coming to terms with not having a city, one city, any city, as well as this hobby, turned profession meet everything that I could possibly need.

Now I know that she may have been doing similar things and she even mentioned being afraid that her brand would suffer because people would know that she struggled, if she went to treatment.

I look back and even as I was a child drawing pictures of Apricot Preserves jars taking Amtrak, I was also dealing with a natural propensity to think the worst and assume the worst, so it didn’t just start.

Hearing about her struggle and end has me doing more evaluation and realizing that one, I can’t assume things and two, I need to do what I can to be grateful about where I am and what I have done. Oh and I need to give myself space to be negative, but understand that there’s lots of joy left in this world.

That’s not always easy when you’ve made it your career, and often been forced,  to critique and call out harmful systems. You want to make sure the system knows that its time is up and that in order for all of us to be free of pressure, shame, harm, and violence, we have to let go.

But that’s just it, we all have to examine ourselves, let go and be open to light. For some of us, that’s taking breaks from the work and mentoring others. For others, it’s deciding to shift some of the power and resources to a better good. And for others, it’s both.

You’ve seen this number  a lot of places, but here it is again:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
Call 1-800-273-8255
TTY at 1-800-799-4889

I have called this number several times myself and it’s not just for when you want to end it all, but for any time you feel like you’re at the deep end and just need someone to talk you through. The website also has a ton of resources too.

In my Personal Shoutouts this week, I’m going to include several more tools I use to get myself through the doldrums and as I mentioned before, as we come to the middle of the year, I’m taking more time to assess where I am and where I need to be and how I can get stronger.

Now, on to my professional life, and some other fun things.

My Life as a Professional Urbanist

I had this newsletter ready to go on Friday, but by the time I got down to the Association for Community Design’s annual conference, which was literally right down the street, I realized that meeting and greeting so many of you who were there was going to be the order of the day. That and doing our Baltimore Complete Streets panel. It was great to have this conversation again and also good to see so many of the folks I connected with when I was in Minneapolis two years ago. And yes, you can still find the Minneapolis presentation book online.

I’ll also be at theAllied Media ConferenceFriday-Sunday of this week and I’ll be in LA at the end of July. More details forthcoming about that. Also, still working on the very special live career questions episode, as well as more new regular episodes as well as a few other writing projects.

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts, and Recommendations

So we are halfway(ish) through 2018!!!

Welcome to the blog post edition of my weekly newsletter! Right now, if you read both the email version and the blog version of this letter, you’ll notice that things are slightly different.

Namely this opening section and a few other things, like typos, misspellings, wrong information (like the fact that June 1 is midpoint and not July 1) and sometimes extra links that I forgot to put in the Friday edition. Expect the edition here to go out on Sunday mornings just in time to compliment your pre-brunch reading patterns. 

I’m doing a dual version because I want a copy of the letter on web space that I own, as well as the opportunity to bring you here to this page, as I begin to launch more content and goodies, and because the social sites can be so fickle.

Anyway, here we are and I thank you for coming back. You can thank me in an even bigger way via my Patreon on a monthly basis and through one-time Paypal.me or Cash app donations.

On the email, I went through some GDPR related information. Coming soon to this site, there will be new privacy notices and cookies information. Please don’t sue me for not having these things up and running by May 25th!

Also, I gave everyone on the email list a grace period to unsubscribe or open for the first time in a while, before I did a major purge. The list will be purged for the next email by next Friday, June 8. If you want to read this in email, are on the list currently and haven’t opened the email in the last two months use this box and re-subscribe/update your settings.

If you are ok with this link being the only place you read the newsletter, then you don’t have to do anything. Also, you can re-subscribe on your own accord down the line if you decide you want to come back and be on the email list.

Anyway, like I mentioned in Friday’s version of this note, as we approach the halfway point of 2018, I’m doing a mid-year assessment based on this post.  I may or may not publish it publicly, as true to the post, but you will start to see a lot of changes to both this site and the greater Kristen Jeffers Media platform and me as a person over the next few weeks. And yes, I saw the pictures at the National Portrait Gallery. It was a wonderful Saturday afternoon excursion. 

My Life as a Professional Urbanist

As nervous as I was, I feel like I did great holding it down for the millennial generation (and let’s admit, a few other groups) at CNU 26 a couple of weeks ago.

Also, I’m so happy to be featured in Modacity talking about my work as its evolved over the years.

Hopefully, the third time is the charm with appearing on Black Kids in Outer Space. If you haven’t been watching, do check out that podcast. In fact, until I get another episode of my show out, go binge those.

Next week (June 8-9) is the Association for Community Design’s annual conference where I will be moderating a version of the Complete Streets in Baltimore panel I did in Nashville.

I decided to do my career questions and guidance podcast episode as a semi-live webinar. Hold the date for June 19 at 8 p.m. I did not actually make the Eventbrite, partly because I continue to brainstorm how I want to do this, where I want to do it and also, depending on if I can recruit some special guests, the date may change. But hold on to this date for now and know that you will be getting updates on this.

In the meantime, If you are interested in booking me for speeches, panel discussions, workshop facilitation or your podcast/media outlet for the summer, fall and next winter, this is a perfect time!

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts, and Recommendations

To open this section, I want to say that Savannah was adorable. I mostly saw its sprawl, in conjunction with the historic district, but even the sprawl felt different. At least on the corridor, I was staying in, all the box stores, despite their parking setbacks, lined up nicely down the US highway corridor. There was also a clear path to the historic district and key scars of what happened when highway development came in.

But I opened this section with a photo of their local Mellow Mushroom’s menu. One, because Mellow Mushroom is yet another Georgian thing that is going national and two, not only does it allude to certain substances, I think some of those substances are in the pizza to make them so addictive. 

Also, true to most Mellow Mushroom trends, they tend to be in areas that are convenient to walk in and this one was no exception, sitting right next to the main conference hotel and right at the point in the walk between it and the Civic Center you might give up anyway. Anyway, enough about Mellow and its Kosmic Karma goodness. Here are some other things worth seeing.

From this profile of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, I learned that she is also a Baltimorean, having come here to figure out her writing and that she also longings for her homeland, where she also spends a good deal of time. 

One Last Thing

That’s all for now. Remember, if you want to get this link in your email after next Thursday night, please update your information here:

 I will only use this email to send you this email at a maximum of four times a month and a minimum of once a month. New subscribers will get a digital copy of the first edition of my book A Black Urbanist. You can unsubscribe at any time.

I am writing this from the kitchen table of my teenhood home. Yes, I’m right back again on what was a planned trip home to celebrate one of my cousins who is following in my footsteps and graduating from the Department of Communication at N.C. State University.

I’m not going to lie. I miss it here. I’m finally realizing that you really can’t run away from both your own problems and people who have problems. Every place has something that it needs to overcome. We are often just better equipped to handle some systems better than others.

And that’s what a weekend like this forces me to think about. What am I doing, what have I done and how can I make what I’m doing better.

In the meantime, I’ve had not just one, but two conversations with people where we touch on how things have changed in unexpected ways, as well as how to manage expectations and our lists of perfect things.

I talked quality changes, as well as equity issues with autonomous vehicles on my latest The Black Urbanist Radio Show episode with Dr. Richard Ezike, a fellow Wolfpacker, who like myself has lived in many places and has found a good home in the D.C. area to be nerdy and explore both technical and quality-of-life issues related to urban planning, namely transportation and our new equitable future. That’s everywhere you can find podcasts, but you know that I’m pretty partial to listening on Radio Public.

Meanwhile, I dropped by and talked Parks and Recreation with the wonderful women of Waffles Friends Work. We talked about Season 4, Episode 12, Campaign Ad (for those who’ve seen it, it’s the episode of Lesile’s big list). As someone who tries and fails to operate with big lists, many that resemble this list as they go after how to make cities better, this was a good one I thought for me to swing through and talk about.

Oh and I wrote one of what will be more pieces on D.C. Metro station entrances.

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My Life as a Professional Urbanist

Last Saturday I stepped in to facilitate a role-play exercise for the Every Voice Counts Transportation Academy at Impact Hub Baltimore, where I’m a resident co-worker.

The academy is based off a guide published by the US DOT under its most recent prior administration that encourages people to learn how to advocate for themselves and teaches people, especially folks new to transportation advocacy, how to advocate for oneself.

I also got a chance to visit the US DOT and chat with a few employees about why I ride my bike in honor of Bike Month. That’s me right outside the door in the picture leading the newsletter. The picture leading this section is of the academy.

I’ll be in Savannah next week for CNU 26. I hope you’ll stay through Saturday and come to the morning plenary, a discussion where I’ll be talking about my generation and it’s relationship to urbanism with a Baby Boomer and a Gen Xer.

 

And I’ll be moderating the panel we did in Nashville again, in Baltimore, at the Association for Community Design’s annual conference in June.

I’m working on a couple of other events, but  in the meantime If you are interested in booking me for speeches, panel discussions, workshop facilitation or your podcast/media outlet for the summer, fall and next winter, this is a perfect time!

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Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts and Recommendations

This week’s praise starts at the Shop Made in D.C. Six months ago, the D.C. government trusted craft and maker space expert Stacy Price and a few others to curate this awesome space of local food and local craft.

I’d met Stacy back at the CityWorksXPO in Roanoke where I gave a presentation back in the fall of 2016. I’d been meaning to catch up and was so thankful to walk right into the shop and spend an afternoon eating all the wonderful D.C. based food as well as check out some of my favorite and become acquainted with some of the new-to-me makers of D.C.

I also want to give a shoutout this week to my formerly of D.C. entrepreneurship friends Stephanie and Jeremy and their new New York City venture, Eche Verde. It opened last week with a paper flowers course and I hope to visit soon and maybe teach a course there myself.

I also tried out Blue Denim, a restaurant owned by a favorite chef here in Greensboro. It was good. Even the crab leg garnish.

Finally, my cousin Marcus Mintz, the graduate I mentioned above, has a budding video/photography business and he’s got his sights set on Atlanta later this summer. If you need video or photography, especially in North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia (and I’m sure anywhere else if you pay to bring him there), let him know.

One Last Thing

This Atlanta backyard dino is reminding me that zen and peace is something that should never go extinct. Plus, it’s so cute!

That’s all for now. If you want to get these in your email instead of just here, subscribe below:

 I will only use this email to send you this email at a maximum of four times a month and a minimum of once a month. New subscribers will get a digital copy of the first edition of my book A Black Urbanist. You can unsubscribe at any time.

 

Hello From Where it All Began, But The End of this Journey…

Also known as my teen-hood home (but it’s 9 p.m. Monday so I’m technically back in Baltimore). I thought I’d be writing this from the plane home from my excellent and life-changing speaking tour and you’d get this on Wednesday the 25th. And I planned on being home in the second week of May and basking in all of what that means.

But almost like that time I was in New York and got a call, I got a call in Atlanta.

When my dad died, I had a temporary acceptance. Dad had been struggling for a while. But he was winning again in small ways and I’d hoped that he’d have a chance to naturally pass. But I had that temporary acceptance that he was not suffering, even if he couldn’t be an active part of my life.

It’s different this time. Five years have passed. This nephew of his and cousin of mine was only in his 40s. Of all my “big” cousins, Derek was one of most vibrant, goofy, fun-loving people I know.

One of the last times I’ve spent with my Dad’s family before my big move was with Derek and his young family at his house in the Cary/Morrisville/Maybe Durham side of things. Yes, in the suburbs, but this is when it makes sense to have one of those kinds of houses, because your family is there to fill it with all the love your heart can hold and then some.

If you’ve seen my most recent presentation live (and if not, here it is in the Boise version), I talk about how much the Jeffers Thanksgiving Tradition has created a sense of home and place in my life. Derek was a huge part of that, as we often had Thanksgiving at his parents’ house and all of us younger (Gen X, Millennial and younger) would retire to the basement after the main family meal and cheer on the sport teams, dance (in my case horribly) to the latest jams and play (also in my case horribly), the latest video games on the latest systems.

I could go on, but I’ll leave these two memories here and let my family, especially his immediate family step in here and add more.

One of the key reasons I do what I do, in the way that I do,  is because I want it to not be a choice to come home to family. Thanks to tours like I just did, as well as the potential in the podcast and the re-release of my book, I have some flexibility, but even more resilience. I hope to have more, as I help other folks and communities build the same.

And before I get into the rest of the email where I talk about the planned part of the trip, I did release an episode this week!

This is the first of two episodes I’m calling the Atlanta House Episodes and it features Nedra Deadwyler of Civil Bikes.

We talk a lot in the industry about the sense of place. But what about the sense of home?

We sat in Nedra’s home in Atlanta, Atlanta proper, on the East side, and we talked about growing up southern, getting out and why we’ve come back to our homes.

Also, we touch on her inspiration for bikes, who gets to come home, The Chef and the Farmer, the Cooking Gene and food. Lots of food.

Learn more about Civil Bikes and participate in one of their Atlanta-based tours.

The show is live on Radio Public, Patreon, TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Stitcher and at its hosting home on Libsyn, or you can plug in the RSS feed into whatever podcast reader you’d like. (right click and copy the link location if you want to listen that way). I am actively adding and working on getting approval in other places.

Radio Public and Patreon also provide ways for you to support me financially. And on the other platforms that allow it, rating and reviewing also helps me get heard by more folks.

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My Life as a Professional Urbanist

In addition to this week’s podcast  episode in which we talk about our sense of home, I’ve just completed two conference presentations on fair housing.

As we continue to learn almost daily (and sadly live), fair housing is not a human right for many, but it should be. Listen to me talk about my own struggle and my own desire and my own inspirations when it comes to housing (and yes, why I tie that into transportation advocacy,) as I presented it in Boise.

And I want to highlight my quote here from the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

Jeffers said she wants to challenge landlords and developers to rethink service provision and what it means to provide a good home for someone.

“A lot of people use homes as investment vehicles and not as providing shelter or a service,” she said. “People have options and you still have to provide good services — not just make money off the backs of other people.”

Jeffers urges communities to develop a better balance between how we develop and how we maintain an area. For people who want to stay in a neighborhood, it’s about educating them on the things they need to know to stay in that home and that community, she said. For people moving into a neighborhood, it’s about supporting the current “ecosystem.”

“Do your best to come into that ecosystem in a way that doesn’t disrupt it,” she said. “Get to know your neighbors. Say hello. Be a part of the community as much as possible.”

Also, thanks again to the Idaho Business Review, Nooga.com and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for coverage and to the Intermountain Fair Housing Council and the City of Chattanooga for hosting me for these conversations.

Personal Urbanism, Shoutouts and Recommendations

The best part about doing this right after a big trip is that there’s so much to recommend and so many people to shout out. Let’s go in order of cities/states.

Boise

The Boise Airport is small, but has so much pride for its city and it knows exactly what its people need in an airport. First, there’s a nod to rail history with two rail benches from the Boise Depot. Then, there’s a large waiting area for folks who are meeting passengers with glass windows and mirrors (and arcade machines) so that people can see folks approach and get excited, but still satisfy security requirements.

Basically, the airport knows it’s a big deal for folks to come and go and that people still want a place to have those meet-at-the-airport moments. Also, the library has a branch there, that offers computers to rent e-books and also do other online business. And at the Smashburger, a local burger chain, I had the best tater tots ever, a nod to the potato legacy. Lots of souvenirs were potato themed as well, including the Spuddy Buddy I picked up and put into my suitcase (after I paid of course).

Then, when my Uber pulled into the Modern Hotel, I had my doubts. From the outside, it looked like a normal motel. And considering what most normal motels look like, I didn’t know what I had in store. However, after rolling my things into the office, hauling them up the stairs and walking into the enclosed part and then my room, I found a wonderful mid-century modern jewel. I quickly retired to the bed to finish my presentation, got some amazing bread pudding via room service and the following evening, had even more of said bread pudding and let the bed grab me and help me rest until my next destination. Oh and I really enjoyed my loaner bike. More on that in a second, but you can see my on it at the beginning of this letter.

Gordy’s Breakfast Bistro is probably the only place on earth that will scramble just about anything into an egg, cut up your sweet potatoes into hash browns and still slide you a pancake. If you’re like me, you’ll eat that and instead of falling asleep, you’ll still have enough power to give a speech. It also helped that it was right across the street from the venue and for locals and visitors, this is centrally located to a lot of important things, like the convention center and the state capitol.

The Boise River Greenbelt was an absolute jewel. Because of the winter we’ve had, I’ve barely seen spring blooms and leaves on the trees. This was my first opportunity to do so. After taking time on the course (as well as enjoying being able to easily pedal and lock the bike around town), I popped into the Boise Art Museum and just barely missed the Idaho Museum for Black History. There’s an amazing exhibition by Jo Hamilton, a crochet portraitist. Yes. you read that right. It’s only there until May 13th, so hurry up and swing by.

Finally, before we leave Boise on this email, thank you again to the staff of the Intermountain Fair Housing Council and it was great to meet a fellow black urbanist photographer North Carolinian, Lauren Branch! Keep holding it down out there!

Chattanooga

When I return to a city, it’s always nice to see what’s changed, what hasn’t and what new things and folks I can run into. This trip was heavy on the new things and new people.

For starters, food. I hung out with the lovely Beth Bennett and Josiah Golson at The Social. Maybe it was a Friday thing, but we got a chance to chop it up over free chicken wings and amazing faux cocktails. We did it again the following day at the City Diner, where I would like to thank Josiah for allowing me the joy of seeing fried okra on a plate again after so long. I’m also looking forward to that third conversation we’re going to have and everyone should check out your book, visual art (I especially love the parade sketch and if you’re missing Beychella, you will too) and work in Chattanooga. Folks who were in Nashville and in their panel, you already heard about some of it, but I look forward to reading the whole book! And Beth, thanks for just being you. Keep doing more of that. Also special note for Jaleesa Monroe for our chat on being black business owners, women business owners and southern business owners. Plus, I love my lotion sample!

Finally, to James McKissic, first, for recognizing my work way back in my Greensboro days, in front of my mayor, and now allowing me to grace some of your colleagues and friends with a message of not just how to do fair housing, but why it’s so important. And Kerry Hayes for getting the word out, having the mayor’s ear and for introducing me to The Bitter Alibi, its owner and it’s brunch!

Y’all know I’m coming back to see you, so hang tight! And I hope to stay in the Dwell next time, but the Chattanoogan was decent too.

Atlanta

So Atlanta. Let’s start with how most folks encounter you and that’s your airport. I’m forever thankful to former mayor Maynard Jackson, Jr. for having the vision to create an airport that pretty much can take you anywhere in the world, sell and provide just about everything you need in house and make it easy to connect to downtown (hey MARTA hey!) and to getting a rental as needed. And to the Atlanta History Center for helping travelers and locals alike take a moment in the Terminal B to Terminal C tunnel to reflect on this and so many other key moments in Atlanta history!

Meanwhile, Kevin Hamak was one of my first CNU friends and he told me I just had to meet his then girlfriend (now wife) Wanona Satcher. That was in 2011 and in 2013 we made that meetup happen on the streets of Durham at a long community table.

Five years later, it was a joy to return to your West End home and crash after an already long, but amazing trip. Thank you for all that food (especially those cookies and the Sublime Donuts). Thank you for allowing me to see in real life, a place that’s captured my literary imagination for so many years. Thank you for making sure I connected with some of my ATL urbanist squad, namely Ryan Gravel, Marion Liau and Bithia Rathsamy who are pictured at the very beginning of the shoutout section (Ebrik Coffee Room too!) .

And of course, as I said above, for providing a calm space to get another vat of bad family news.

And of course, we are enjoying one of Atlanta’s brightest young  residents right now, but I really enjoyed getting to know more of bungalow Atlanta thanks to Kevin and Wanona and King Williams.

King, thank you for telling me what I needed to hear and I’m looking forward to the world seeing your documentary soon! And introducing me to the best sorrell (S/O to the 640 West Cafe) and showing me just how simple Stankonia started (or maybe re-started, I know there was an actual basement involved at first). The art is not easy, but it’s worth it and the stories can be told (and I can afford to eat and know where I’m laying my head too). Thank you, just thank you.

And if you’ve not had a chance to check out and support Wanona’s efforts to reuse shipping containers for affordable housing, get over there and do that.

North Carolina

The skies parted just right so I could say good evening to Raleigh in just the right way. To honor thy hallowed shrine, much like I am in two weeks on commencement day when I celebrate the graduation (from my own deparment), of my cousin Marcus who’s going to become my absolute favorite ATLien very soon.

But for now, it was time to say farewell and I’m thankful that in this farewell time, I got to see so much of my living family and friends and to feel their love and pride in me.

Thank you mom for keeping my bedroom and desk the way it was when I got this idea.

To my Jeffers family, we will miss them. We will honor them. And know that they continue to love and support us from beyond. And yes, I’m going to be at Thanksgiving this year. Maybe host in the future. And again, thank you all for telling me to keep going, for encouraging me to do what makes me the most happy and praying that it all gets done.

To the Mintz side, Lauren especially, thank you for reminding me to dream and believe. I do miss our Friday nights at Europa and I’m glad we had a bit of that (with Maxie B’s Cake!). And thanks always to my Uncle Phil for being on airport duty and for taking me to Harbor Inn even though I know we eat there too much. Thank you to that family for keeping that as a Burlington institution onward through our generation.

Greensboro as a whole, I hated that I couldn’t get to the concert, but I can see that despite all the sad that’s hit us over the past few weeks, we are still resilient. We are strong.

Traona and everyone at Masterminds Design Studio for making sure I didn’t look a hot mess. No matter your texture or length or how you like to look, they will take good care of you!

And finally, Mitchell and Cat, thank you for blessing me to see how bubbly, smart and wonderful Cameron is. And yeah, y’all made a tiny human. But you’re both about to do big things in your careers and I can’t be more proud of you. Thank you both for your friendship and ear over the years.

And with that, that’s all. I know it’s long. I think I got excited because this started on the blog first and you’re reading it there or in email. Plus, I truly had weeks worth experiences in about 12 days, so here you go.  And if you’re on the blog and want this in your email next time, drop your info below:

It’s time for my weekly email! A few weeks ago, I decided to move my email over to a new provider, InfusionSoft. In addition, I decided that since I’m doing this blog and other parts of Kristen Jeffers Media full-time right now, there’s no reason why I can’t send you guys a letter every week. Want it in your actual email? You can use the top bar, but that won’t give me your name and city. Instead, use the link on the sidebar. (RSS subscribers, you’re probably reading in email or a special reader anyway, so this isn’t so much for you).  And now, the email! Oh and a two regular posts are coming soon, I promise.

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It’s not been a secret that I feel like I’m always home now that I’m in DC and so close to NC. However, there’s really one thing I’ve not been able to properly do since my return: go to a fish house.

For the uninitiated, what many North Carolinians consider a fish house is one styled on the culinary tradition of the town of Calabash, which has dubbed itself the seafood capital of the world.

This Visit NC article has a quick history of the tradition, but for me, the restaurant pictured above, in its second location of both of our lifetimes, is ground zero for my love of Calabash seafood. There are a number of Calabash restaurants called Harbor Inn, but the one in Burlington frequented by my family since they opened in 1985 is the one I’m talking about.

We and we meaning my grandmother and my mom and a handful of her siblings are such regulars there, they know us by face, if not by name at this point. The family-owned restaurant is now being managed by my generation as I saw at the Wednesday lunch I had there with my mom and grandmother and I told the manager on duty how grateful I was that they were keeping the tradition going, especially since like “beach music”, calabash seafood eating seems to be something that only grandparents who came of age in the 30s, 40s and 50s do.

(Yes, even backyard bone-in fish fries fall under that sometimes, even though I requested one for my high school graduation twelve years ago, and this is the seafood I’m talking about when I say seafood is one of my food groups.).

He said he appreciated it and folks like us are why they are there. If you want to visit Harbor Inn, they are located at 2408 S Church St in Burlington, NC and you can check them out on the web and Facebook.

That, learning that Harris Teeter sells gas now, making a scarf on my newly expanded finger loom, watching the Gilmore Girls revival in its entirety, attempting to go to the new Greensboro The Cheesecake Factory just because, and spending much needed time with my family, was how I spent Thanksgiving week. I hope your holidays were as free of drama as mine. And now, my usual weekly reminders:

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG AND PODCAST

We are still working on that special podcast episode. And I have two actual post drafts coming up.

In the meantime, this year’s holiday gift guide is here. Yes, it’s the same one from last year, but I added several specific products, including my own. More about that in the next section.

Listen to the entire podcast archive here or on your favorite podcast network. Also, I was on the Parkify podcast discussing the election a couple of weeks ago.. And yes, there’s a Bike Nerds episode with me also floating around.

Thanks always to Sustainable Cities Collective for continuing to syndicate my work, like this blog from a few weeks ago!

WHAT I’M WORKING ON AND HOW YOU CAN HELP ME

PlantoSpeak Office Hours, Private Coaching and the Big Event on January 6th in DC!

As I was planning the big gathering, I realized that what I want to do should have some smaller elements, like me coaching folks on their presentations and proposals one-on-one. We all know about that weird RFP or the special member of the planning board who holds all the sway. You can plan for those things, but sometimes it’s better to discuss them and your strategy to combat them, one-on-one.

Join me virtually every Tuesday from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Eastern, using the hashtag #plantospeakQ&A on Twitter, to discuss anything relating to public speaking or proposal writing. I tried doing this on Facebook today, but still having issues. I’ll be tweeting from the @plantospeak account.

Additionally, in addition to doing one big class, I’ll be offering one-on-one coaching on an hourly basis, virtually or in-person if you live in the DC Metro area. The fees include my Six Things to Do When You Present Your Work coursebook (either digital or in print. Schedule your first round of coaching now.

And don’t forget the big half-day course in DC on January 6th! I have great news for you, as I now have a sponsor, cove, and I’ll be holding the class, absolutely free, for both cove members and a few of you! Register here. I do have a suggested donation of all non-cove members of $75, but this is truly pay what you can.

Please fill out the order form and I look forward to seeing you either in my private class, on my weekly Q&A or at the big event!

A few consulting projects from my network: I can be your public engagement team member. Or I can help your office revise, revamp, renew or even just kick off a new media campaign. Take a look at my portfolio page and let me know how I can be of service.

And if you like what I’m already doing and just want to buy me a coffee once a month, click here to contribute to my tip jar . I can slide goodies back in there for you and will start doing so in January. (Because getting presents in January is even more awesome than doing so in December).

2016 The Black Urbanist Holiday Gift Guide. The gift guide is here. And yes, it’s the same as last year, because certain kinds of gifts are timeless. You’ll want to send this to any of your family and friends who need help buying things for you that are sufficiently plannery and bikey.

Also, if If you need wrapping paper, or you want quirky fabric or gift wrap I can help! You have until December 9th to order anything on my Spoonflower site to guarantee shipping before Christmas.

Also, if you click any of the I’ll send you a free copy of the Spoonflower sample book or a swatch of your favorite fabric. Also, my holiday prints are, is a great choice for wrapping paper! Thanks to you, if it was one of you, who purchased my Flowing Woman Christmas print, pictured in the center above. Also, I will be adding a few more finished product options next week, like phone and tablet cases via Zazzle.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE READING

Still (largely) on Facebook sabbatical, but I’m definitely alive and reading things on other sites and tweeting them if you want more real-time daily commentary.

• Thanks to Ariana of Bizqit.co for sharing this on the Black Urbanist Facebook group. I think all these scenarios for cities under the new administration could come true and all seven are worth a read.
• And yes, I heard about both HUD and Transportation. These probably don’t scare me as much as they should. One of these appointments has held the post before.
• Also, a good explainer on the Dakota Access Pipeline and the latest updates there.

MY TRAVEL AND EVENT SCHEDULE

In DC for the immediate future, save my trip home to Greensboro for Christmas December 23rd-27th. In the meantime, I’ll be around TRB at the happy hours, at Transportation Camp DC Saturday, January 7th and I’m almost always up for happy hour here in DC. Oh and don’t forget the Plan to Speak half-day on January 6th! And in NYC the weekend of the inaugural.

HOW TO REACH ME

@blackurbanist on Twitter and Instagram. kristen@theblackurbanist.com (this goes to my Gmail account) and if you already have my cell number, text me or message me. Otherwise, dial 1-888-207-9391.

See you next week,

Kristen

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