We can’t plan for others and create their boundaries if we aren’t in tune with our own boundaries and our limitations and safety nets.
This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, internationally-known urban planner, designer, analyst, keynote speaker, media maven, and fiber artist.
Some of you just graduated into the “real world” and I wanted to take these next few weeks to give you my own little graduation speeches in these newsletters, along with book recommendations from my Bookshop bookshelf, around the themes of setting internal personal, external personal and working with institutional and other folk’s personal boundaries. I’m calling these little notes Dear Graduates and I think there’s wisdom here for everyone.
Speaking of widespread wisdom, I’m going to be doing a special email edition on Thursday afternoon, to invite you to learn more about my Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Summer School — a one-day lecture+ group and individual meetups to help you apply a Black Queer Feminist Urbanist framework no matter what your occupation or lack thereof is.
To start us off this week with our reflection on personal boundaries I’ve chosen our book Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab.
How exactly does this personal boundaries book based in psychology apply to my career in urbanism and adjacent spaces?
First of all, if you don’t know who you are and what you don’t want to do, anyone can convince you to do anything.
That could be a parent who wants you to start your career at a government agency because they are looking only at the pension. Never mind you work part-time on a (humane and cost of living adjusted) full-time salary for a community development corporation (CDC) that takes seriously the community part and constantly challenges and remakes the development corporation part into an entity that benefits the entire community and not just a few.
Or, you’re at that government agency, going into your 10th year, third mayor and you’re worried that this might not be a good fit. You can assess if you want to stay on and create the next set of standard operating procedures or if you have what it takes internally to call up a few of your friends working for consulting firms and lock in some subcontractor work, so you can remain at home and continue to heal your mental health and Long-COVID complications.
Finally, you can say no to planning another Pride or Juneteenth event haphazardly thrown together for optics, and work on that grant for the Black queer youth community center you want to operate year-round, with programming that doesn’t have to be crammed into June.
I’ve had to make a big boundary by not going everywhere and doing everything, especially as I await news about when I have fibroid surgery. However, I have learned about new takeout places. I have a new, shiny, properly fitting set of roller skates. And yes, because masks are not optional at yarn maker night (or at many theaters), I can still keep up with some great plays and I’m now a knitter! I know.
On a more professional level, I did my own set of whys around Black Queer Feminist Urbanism a while back.
There are so many feminisms and I want to be mindful of them all, but as I’m just one individual person with just enough spoons to get up some days, I decided to center my feminism on some key personal characteristics. Since I am more focused, I can also write you with more of a purpose.
Oh and I can better coach you to, if you would like! The Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Intensive, is currently live on Patreon. However, I would love to coach 5-10 of you directly this summer, as part of your yearly professional development, as a graduation present to someone who could use some identity affirming career coaching or if you want to create a community institution and want to understand how you fit in, so you can be a true institution and not a threat. I’ll have more details about this program in a special email on Thursday, but you can go ahead and put the special Zoom informational webinar on your calendar and start asking about your professional development budgets or checking how much you have left to participate in something like this!
By the Way
I wanted to start giving props to articles and other content that I really liked that I thought was relevant again, much like we have a section for shoutouts/classified ads. So, welcome to By the Way, and make sure you check out Before You Go too.
South African Black feminisms are showcased in this book. I myself am working to make sure that I keep a global lens and not just my African-American feminist one.
And speaking of funding African-led aid organizations versus projects doing aid from abroad for Africa, boosting this article on why that’s vital.
Before You Go
Check out some special announcements from me and friends of the platform.
Advertising in this section has helped people find jobs and new opportunities. It also gets you and your newfound commitments to solidarity, justice, belonging, and equity in front of those who are your backbone and the base of those commitments. Learn more on how you can purchase ad space!
#
This is more of an announcement than something else to read, so I’m placing this here, as a favor — the deadline for the Desiree Cooper Awards has been extended to June 1. These scholarship awards are for Black women architectural designers looking to fund the exams needed to become official architects and in addition to the awards, they are looking for folks who want to donate to increase the amounts that they can give to Black women architectural students and architectural designers to help them swell the ranks of the just over 500 Black women architects licenced in the United States across all time.
#
If you just want to support me for any reason, but don’t need anything in return, you can donate to my capital campaign, or Venmo or Cash. Appme.
#
My bookshelf over at Bookshop.org is very much alive and well, purchase your copies of the books I talked about above, plus more that I’ve designated part of the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist canon, the general urbanism canon, and other lists because you can never have too many books.
#
My very first official crochet pattern is for sale. It’s been tested and reviewed and you can join the club of folks making their own Kristfinity Scarves!
#
I’ll be live on Patreon, LinkedIn, and YouTube talking about everything I mentioned above and then some for my Open Studio/Office Hours at 4 eastern. Don’t worry if you can’t watch live, it will be archived publicly on all spaces. Also, all of my prior video chats under the Public Lecture/Open Studio label are now available on Patreon and will be making their way to YouTube little by little over the next few weeks.
Until next time,