The Black Urbanist Weekly for July 4-10, 2022
Welcome to this week’s “holiday” edition, as many of us continue our reflection on this “false” independence we are asked to celebrate today. What’s on my mind this week as many more become aware of how tentative our lives are, especially in this particular country, but honestly on the globe as many places become and remain hostile — what if you must shelter in place?
How do you find joy in that place? Peace? Tranquility? Is stability just awkward laughter before drowning in streams of tears? After all, sometimes our disasters rain on top of us, a function of the Earth’s attempt to return to equilibrium.
As a placemaker. A Black Queer Feminist. An urbanist. A human. What does one make of these times?
My answer today and every day is a little bit of something tangible that brings me joy on the inside. For me, that will be breakfast, a yarn thing, maybe a museum downtown just before the fireworks, and writing this newsletter for myself and other journal pages for my personal growth.
So, here’s the first of the official (US) holiday format of this newsletter. I’ll include the links I find most important in a slightly longer By the Way. And Before You Go, I’ll include my tip jar at the end. And on Thursday at noon eastern. I’ll be releasing a special Open Studio episode where I experiment a bit with my usual format and/or offer a special masterclass outside of the paywall.
Expect this kind of newsletter after most major US holidays or on weeks I need a smidgen of a breather. Some exciting things are coming up for the fall across the platform and in my work life, I’ll include the link to one happening next week so you don’t miss out next to the said tip jar, but otherwise, this is how we’ll roll.
By The Way
Dystopia doesn’t have to win. A group of folks in Toronto reversed plans for the hyper-surveilled neighborhood planned for a portion of its waterfront.
Other sista/siblings are looking at how to create space for our Black queer selves that affirms us from all sides, specifically in this article in Detroit, but I’m hearing rumblings of other Black Queer Feminist Urbanisms that I’m really excited to learn more about and see more of.
Before you throw away a state or place because it’s under authoritarian rule, let’s think of the people there, in this case, Florida, who have been trying to make a different future, but they keep getting overruled and oppressed.
And likewise, recognizing how even “safe” states and places are vulnerable to the dark rhetoric and reversal/failure to fully provide and guarantee civil rights for all.
Continuing the process to un-Earth and re-center a Black (America) physical design aesthetic that’s in conversation and collaboration with Afro/Afri-centric architectures globally.
Re-imagining transit for those working with equipment-based service businesses that are dedicated to paying a living wage.
How Prince Georges County, Maryland, the county of my current residence, became the wealthiest Black county in the US and how it’s recently passed that baton to Charles County, Maryland, just to its south. However, so many Black communities aren’t successful, fade away and it’s not their fault.
Recognizing that long COVID is just one reason we need reform in how we manage disability.
To get through these times, we need to build up squad care, side-by-side with self-care, and the questions we can ask ourselves to build up that care apparatus, especially in those moments of harsh reminders that we are in a false state of freedom.
Plus, for those who need to make a move, how to find your place inside movements and the latest map of LGBTQIA+ safety globally.
Before You Go
Even though it’s too late to submit to be part of the workshop component, it’s not too late to join us on July 13th, from your favorite screen to explore smart growth strategies for preserving and protecting neighborhood culture during investment and neighborhood change, as well as how factors such as rapid development, gentrification, and rising housing costs affect community culture, cohesion, and belonging at Smart Growth America’s Equity Forum: Upending Cultural Displacement on July 13, 2022 at 12 p.m. ET.
Register here — Zoom registration link
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. App me. Plus, selecting a book or two off my bookshelf over at Bookshop.org and taking a “hook” at making my Kristfinity Scarf is a great way to not doomscroll throughout this summer and make something for your own internal freedom. Share them as you care for your squad and let them comfort you as y’all decide on your next major move.
Until next time,
Kristen