Sometimes, we need someone to affirm us. To be in solidarity with us. To get us through the final details and steps to heal injustice and to provide that sense of belonging above and beyond that affirmation and solidarity.
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. This week I talk more about what May will look like if you choose to join me in the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist intensive. Additionally, this newsletter is brought to you this week by Elsewhere’s new job openings, Greater Greater Washington’s Spring Gala, and my Patreon supporters, who will have a first-row seat to next month’s intensive. Scroll down to the Before You Go section to learn more.
This is what I want to do next.
Affirm my fellow Black Queer Feminist Urbanists.
Walk with my other people of color, queer, broke/poor, chronically ill, neuroatypical, and otherwise disabled navigating the overwhelmingly white, straight, abled, generationally wealthy design and planning industry.
Help all of us in positions of power and influence, but especially the folks I just lifted up above who already do enough of this just to survive and thrive, but those with those advantages can make it so that it’s easier for all, in tangible and transformative ways.
I’ve done a course before. Many of y’all were here with me when we originally launched the Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School. Well, this time we are going into actual mode, instead of pilot mode, taking an extension of the K. Jeffers Index for Black Queer Feminist Urbanism, and doing a month-long focus on how to implement Black Queer Feminist Urbanist principles in our lives and work.
I decided to do this in May because it was two years ago in May when many of us experienced a major shift in how we thought about our identities and privileges in the world.
In addition to seeing state-sanctioned violence continue on in law enforcement, we also saw how different states were handling (or not handling) this public health emergency and we saw how our offices and our professional spaces were doing the same.
I want us to start making May a month of reflection, as we get ready to relax into summer vacations, Pride celebrations and enjoy one of the more fulfilling times of year, where we can participate in safer outdoor activities and hope that once this variant goes through, this might be the last time.
As I am still hyper-conscious about events on my own, especially unmasked indoor events, and my own solo workload, I still want to do something, but something that works well for all of us.
So, I am creating a worksheet, a companion video, and weekly-throughout-May office hours/check-ins around the themes of Affirmation, Solidarity and Facilitating Justice and Belonging.
Affirmation will be available to all those who are currently eligible for Black Queer Feminist Urbanist Lounge membership, as this is geared specifically to help Black queer, trans, and gender non-conforming folks make sense of the worlds they inhabit. You can access your worksheet right now and I’ll post the video at the beginning of May and set up a poll for the day most folks can come to the check-ins. Lounge members will also have special bonus material that you have to come over to the lounge to find out about.
Solidarity will be available to all $10 level and up Patreons and as a $75 PDF package available on May 4th if you want to purchase it without making a monthly pledge. The PDF will include embedded links to my main teaching video and to the office hours along with your worksheet, which will be similar to the one in the affirmation group (because you need it too), but also address the ways you can be in solidarity to those who are affected by anti-Blackness and misogynoir when it shows up in community spaces or as a lower-level volunteer or employee. There will also be bonus content and additional content suggestions here as well.
Facilitating Justice and Belonging will be available to everyone at the $40 level and up on Patreon, much like the original school pilot was, and will be a $175 PDF package available on May 4th. This worksheet, video, and office hours series will focus on creating an action plan to actively dismantle and reset an unjust system or create a place of community belonging — i.e. creating a mutual aid group; drawing up working and sealable engineering or architecture plans for a place or space or route that could fix an inequity or an injustice; creating a co-op or community land trust or something else we can discuss together.
I will be hosting a live Zoom office hour at 4 pm Eastern on Mondays for the rest of the month where I’ll go into more detail about each section, answer any questions and get folks signed up at the right place. I’ll share recordings of these office hours as well, with descriptions of key questions asked.
You can also still do the quick quiz to see where you might fall, but note that signing up for a clarity call or coming to office hours is the best way to know what course to take.
Also, this year will be the lowest rate of any year for this program and if you are already in the Lounge now, hang in there so you can continue on through all the other programs at the same rate. Same with all the other levels — this program will go up, so get in now if cost is an issue. Scholarships will be available in the future, but it will never be this easy to join.
I’ll be back next week and during today’s office hours with more details and answered questions, but if you’re ready to join this week, head on over to the lounge or on Patreon.
Before You Go
Elsewhere, the extraordinary living museum and artist residency in Greensboro, NC, is now hiring two key managerial/curatorial positions that will lead organizational programs and communications. Both roles are highly collaborative, shaping their respective work through collective visioning and goal setting, project management and coordination, and on-the-ground facilitation.
The Program Manager/Curator will lead curation and operation of the museum experience, the international artist residency, and alternative learning programs. The Communications Manager/Curator will lead the development of social media, newsletters, press releases, print objects, and museum interpretive materials.
Both positions are 30-hour per week roles starting at $18–20/hour. Benefits include 160 hours of paid time off, $1,000 of healthcare/self-care reimbursements and $1,000 of professional development annually, daily participation in Elsewhere’s vegetarian food co-op, and FMLA leave.
Applications are due May 1st at 11:59PM EST. Cover letters can be a barrier to entry. Elsewhere is asking applicants to complete a questionnaire in lieu of a cover letter and submit work samples of any kind along with their resume. Additionally, Elsewhere will host two town halls to introduce current staff, share information, and answer questions. The first town hall is for everyone on 4/13, 6:30–7:30PM EST, (register here) and the second town hall on 4/20, 6:30–7:30PM EST, will be exclusively for BIPOC participants (register here).
Elsewhere is artist-run space, but has a radically expansive definition of artist that can include practitioners from many fields and backgrounds (educators, organizers, etc.). Elsewhere seeks staff who are visionary, curious, self-reflective, assertive, proactive, solution-oriented, and mission-driven.
Elsewhere shares a radically expansive understanding of creative practice and identity. We strive for a diverse representation of voices, life experiences, views, and interests to reflect the collaborative community we have and wish to serve. To decolonize systemic structures of institutional oppression, we encourage queer creatives of color, as well as all other marginalized groups, to apply. Elsewhere is a ‘second chance’ employer and believes that those who are judicially challenged have a place in our community. If there are accessibility needs or questions, please contact museum@goelsewhere.org.
More information and applications: https://www.elsewheremuseum.org/apply
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It’s not too late to get tickets to the Greater Greater Washington Spring Gala, which will be on April 28 from 6–9 pm at Mess Hall, a wonderful indoor/outdoor event venue in DC. Head here to purchase and learn more. COVID-19 full vaccination is required and if the event is canceled, attendees will be able to request a refund.
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If you just want to support me for any reason, but don’t need anything in return, you can become a monthly Patreon supporter, or you can donate to my capital campaign, or Venmo or Cash. App me. You can join the advertisers above, learn more and secure one starting at $75/week. You can also help me with my investments through Acorns. If you open up an account before 4/16 using my link, you could help me get $575 in my retirement accounts. I’ve been with Acorns since 2015 and only now am I starting to see the benefits of having this in my investment and growth strategy. If you aren’t already saving for retirement, and especially if you don’t have a company doing this for you, hop on this link!
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Until next time,
Kristen