Category: Weekly Newsletter

Weekly analysis, news and notes from Kristen

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Blackboards and blackouts

The Black Urbanist Weekly for May 5, 2023 This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E.  Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner,  fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email.  Let’s… Continue reading Blackboards and blackouts

Step back, doors closing.

They really should keep making transit vehicles colorful and art-filled. Plus, I absolutely adore the Transit Museum! Take the train to Brooklyn and see this for yourself, plus get all of the train videos and pictures you want without interruption!

This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers for April 28, 2023, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E. Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. Let’s get started with our… Continue reading Step back, doors closing.

Four posts, four walls, or four people?

The Black Urbanist Weekly for April 21, 2023 This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E.  Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner,  fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email.  Let’s… Continue reading Four posts, four walls, or four people?

Squeezing the (plastic) lemon

This week, squeezing one of these is a time portal into how restaurants have made me feel over the years. Image via iStock

In a week full of dark news moments and absurdities, the best way I could bring you the next part of my series on personal comfort in physical spaces was through a little bit of magical realism, centered on those lemon juice bottles shaped like lemons. If you’re still interested, come along with me as… Continue reading Squeezing the (plastic) lemon

Between the folds and under the threads

That one time I had a table at the WunderGarden and technically I had a craft and novelty store of my own, for two weeks on two consecutive Thursday nights, near Metro and downtown. This week, I talk more about my quest to bring my hobby into my profession.

Think about that feeling you get in a pillow or blanket fort. Now think about where that fiber comes from and how you can purchase it to make into said fort. Are there spaces like that in your community and if so, do they fill like a blanket fort? This is The Black Urbanist Weekly… Continue reading Between the folds and under the threads

I  could go anywhere. And I did.

When I couldn’t physically go somewhere, the inside of a book could take me there. And thankfully I had the kinds of mentors that made sure I always had one. This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen… Continue reading I  could go anywhere. And I did.

It makes me feel like a natural person

Meet Stumpy, the cherry blossom tree that is managing to make it despite all the odds. Of course this time of year, a lot of us who live in the DC area and many who come from around the world descend on this particular part of our natural spaces. However, it’s been three years since I was down here and a very long time since I’ve been to the Tidal Basin for fun. This week, I talk about how the Earth in its most raw state, gives me the the pleasure of life, despite its challenges.

The Earth is always there to hold us, mold us, and heal us. Can we let it do its thing, instead of trying to manipulate it, causing its destruction?  This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E. Jeffers,… Continue reading It makes me feel like a natural person

Unsafe vs. uncomfortable space

Standing on a bridge is scary, even if the bridge is made for you to stand on it. While I may have been uncomfortable, with the wind and sun in my face, knowing that I’m only separated from the Anacostia River by concrete, I was not unsafe at this moment, nor was I alone because Les took this picture! This week, we talk unsafe versus uncomfortable in spaces.

Without humanity, everything we build is just statues and structures and experiments. Empty, hostile, and haunting. When we think about how people use what we make, and honor their diversity and ensure their inherent humanity, we always win. This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer… Continue reading Unsafe vs. uncomfortable space

De-marginalizing measurements starts with being honest about personal comfort.

What it looks like these days to go to my outside of home happy place. I’m usually carrying some yarn, reading a mixture of yarn and memoir and social science books in the cafe and sneaking a few bites and drinks behind my mask as I try to control my viral load. Les is usually reading a magazine of her own and we are people watching, Sometimes, we would have made an afternoon of all the stores at Potomac Yard Center in Alexandria, Virginia and I suspect that will only increase as we are able to use Metro to directly go there or leave our car there and go elsewhere. This was in August of 2021, but honestly, it could be this afternoon, if it wasn’t 40 degrees here. I would be in a regular sweater and not a halter sweater.

Yes, you can go off vibes and create a space. However, we can’t expect all of our vibes to always vibe together and that’s where the data comes in to meet us. This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of… Continue reading De-marginalizing measurements starts with being honest about personal comfort.

Thriving beyond marginalized measurements

I don’t know why I took a picture of this part of my tape measure I use in the craft room, but since we’re talking about measuring Black folks with white measurements, it seems like a nice little illustration.

Yes, some things need to be measured properly to work. However,  when we measure actual humans in a certain way, it just creates marginalizations rather than liberation. This is The Black Urbanist Weekly with Kristen Jeffers, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen E.  Jeffers, an… Continue reading Thriving beyond marginalized measurements