This is The Black Urbanist Weekly, an email newsletter that highlights the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist thoughts and commentary of me, Kristen Jeffers, an internationally-known urban planner, fiber designer, and contributing editor. Think of this as an editorial page column, but directly in your email. This week, how you should be gifting and sharing this holiday season. Also, we have a special message from the University of California at San Diego. Learn more about how you can advertise in this newsletter. Prices start at just $75 a week with a four-week commitment.
It’s almost time to make urbanist wishes again. Before I do, let me tell you how I think you can infuse Black queer feminist urbanism into your gift-giving and resource-sharing.
So, I realized as I was drafting this week’s email that these emails now come out on Mondays and today is Cyber Monday and tomorrow is Giving Tuesday and Small Business Saturday was on well Saturday.
Plus, we all buy things. We all have relatives, both chosen and from birth, that ask us what they can do for us for the holidays. Or, a not-so-secret Santa. Or, you want to pay it forward, signal boosting campaigns and individuals as you work to do system dismantling and rebuilding.
So, I wanted to take some time and infuse some Black queer feminist urbanism into the litany of gift guides circulating and to capture the free-flowing funds back into causes that actually contribute to system breakdown and global liberation.
Here are some ways I think you should consider gifting and sharing:
— Picking a few GoFundMes or other fundraisers and mutual aid efforts where you can set up recurring small donations for people dealing with medical challenges. I’m going to proudly plug my partner’s health support organization endoQueer and Marked by COVID, which are working to make sense of two key areas our healthcare system has failed us recently.
— Also related to the section above, but deserving of its own section — pay (or forgive) rents and mortgages or help someone negotiate a better home situation. If you work in affordable housing or real estate, take this time to see how you can start shifting your industry to benefit all people, not just those who can buy or sell homes.
— Becoming a Patreon or paid Substack member of mine or other pages from marginalized creators that help spread the word on social justice and community organizing.
— Purchasing and reading a comprehensive city biography that covers the racial and social dynamics of particular regions (I’m still working on this one on DC) so you can understand why certain ways of helping and providing aid do harm and instead shift to doing the work that’s needed to heal communities of racial injustice, especially as it shows up in the built environment.
— Supporting community craft and vendor markets (like this one in Dallas) to reduce how much stuff we make and honor the traditions of slow food, slow clothes, and local commerce. Also, stock up your community’s fridges, free libraries, and other grab-and-go centers as you let go of gently used items in your home and organizations.
— Volunteer to help small and marginalized businesses through their zoning/planning, disadvantaged enterprise, legal, and other complicated compliance paperwork.
— Look into what it takes to make sure your organization is providing proper accessibility. Let this be the year you train your staff in relevant sign languages; get an energy, access, and air quality audit for your building; and host regular health screenings and clinics
— Purchasing fare cards, plane, and train tickets or utilizing internal programs if you work for these agencies to ensure that individual people are not punished for not having enough funds to get around your region, and you can identify entities that could be large revenue sources for your transit system due to their institutional wealth.
I only listed a few specific places, because I want to encourage you to do some research on the mutual aid groups, political organizations, small businesses, and individual folks in your community that could use aid and help, not just during the holiday season, but all year long.
Plus, we all need help in one way, shape, or form. Let’s not abandon the spirit of sharing and giving as things attempt to “normalize”. Let’s also not give up hope that there’s a better way of organizing the world either.
Next week, I’ll start my 2022 wishmaking by highlighting wishes specific to one of my 8 pillars of Black Queer Feminist Urbanism.
By the Way
If you’re new here, I write out my grand thesis of the week above, then I share other articles/videos that were noteworthy for me this week in this section. Apologies in advance for things behind a paywall. Some things I subscribe to and others I grab just before the wall comes down on me. I will start marking these articles and describing them.
A deep dive into the benefits and necessities of QTPOC-led land stewardship projects. In short, land reclamation without understanding how all marginalized identities intersect can lead to failure and further marginalization, just in a less developed environment.
More of what’s happening in the real world around themes brought up by Wakanda Forever: a Smithsonian-led group of African scuba divers doing their own research and analysis of wreckages and artifacts in the Atlantic Ocean and more awareness around Latine colorism.
Finally, while this article is a snapshot of implicit bias in government child welfare in New York City, these systems nationally need to be dismantled and recentered on efforts to end poverty and empower people and families, rather than send people who resemble them to punish poorer people who can’t overcome stress and fall into cycles of self and child neglect. It’s also important to think about how people at the mercy of this system interpret the city as their enemy, rather than a friend helping them live their best lives.
Before You Go
Check out some special announcements from me and this first one from the University of California at San Diego.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN URBAN STUDIES AND PLANNING
The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of California, San Diego invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning to begin July 1, 2023.
This is a position for a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Urban Studies and
Planning at UC San Diego, a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning.
The department is interested in candidates who have demonstrated commitment to excellence by strong engagement in teaching, research, and service toward building an equitable and diverse scholarly environment. The successful candidate will be an excellent scholar with an active research program in one or more of the following areas: transportation planning; climate change mitigation and adaptation; environment and land use planning; health and wellness, and/or spatial analytics.
The University of California, San Diego is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer advancing inclusive excellence. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, covered veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC nondiscrimination policy.
Department: https://usp.ucsd.edu
Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03452
Open date: November 21, 2022
Next review date: Tuesday, Jan 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Friday, Mar 31, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.
***
I’ll be live on LinkedIn and YouTube and Instagram talking about everything I mentioned above and then some for my Open Studio/Office Hours sometime this week. Don’t worry if you can’t watch live, it will be archived publicly on all spaces.
***
My bookshelf over at Bookshop.org is very much alive and well, purchase your copies of 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.
***
Finally, learn how and what you can you book me for in 2022 and 2023. I am also available to edit and for freelance articles. I’ll be updating the capabilities deck soon for 2023 to reflect that.
***
If you 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.
***
Until next time,
Kristen