The body is not an apology. The body does not deserve the terror we put on it. And yes, those of us in the built environment and design trades and movements have everything to do with how comfortable folks are in things that go beside and beyond nature.
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’m going to continue what will be a summer series of highlighting why I’ve chosen certain books to be on my Bookshop bookshelves. This week, no spoilers, just a nice call to action to stop apologizing for our natural body shapes and sizes, especially as we build for them and work with them in nature and as many of us celebrate and call for their liberation this month.
Our first home is the collection of skin, bones, muscles, nerves, and other organs we have termed as the body. We come together as bodies to create a simple village as we stand in crowds and sit in circles.
Our first civilizations did this in direct relationship with other organisms that were plentiful and bountiful on the Earth, in a way that was regenerative and respectful of our unique characteristics and gifts.
We built and created, but we did so in harmony, not against each other or to capitalize or exploit each other.
However, now, we apologize for what makes our bodies unique and we trample the resources that nature has brought to us.
And yes, those of us who are builders and even some conservers have picked up swords of body terrorism instead of plowshares of radical self-love for our first homes and verdant gardens, forests, and seas.
Those of you who have already been on the journey of reading through this week’s book, The Body is Not An Apology, by Sonya Renee Taylor, are very aware of how terrorism starts with our individual thoughts and how we live in a system made up of all those individual terrors, made manifest into all kinds of major terrors, both as dramatic and violent as all of the mass shootings we continue to see or going to theme parks and not being able to fit in certain spaces, that are crafted to bring all joy.
This terror has manifested itself in so many systems of belief and action directed towards and around individual people and particular clusters of people — enacted in public spaces, constructed spaces– done subconsciously, as “the way it’s always been and established”.
I come from people who were once forced to move off sidewalks years after they were supposedly emancipated. I also come from people who don’t need definitions of what gender and sexuality are, they just are. No, neither group are criminals and imbeciles, but nevertheless, here we are.
We have invested so much into policing, prisons, gates, walls, and collections — mostly, sometimes blatantly, directed at ways to restrict bodies like mine, versus honoring our gifts.
This is why this month exists in the way that it does. To reclaim our dignity and humanity. It’s not just a party. And it’s definitely not full liberation, even late liberation, but it’s a call for continued liberation and return to a right relationship with nature. First with one’s individual body and then with how we present those individual bodies to the world and how we cluster ourselves in a right-relationship with nature.
Next week, we are talking about arbitrary borders and how we commit that version of body terrorism as we lose ourselves in regional borders in a time when diseases are airborne and messages are digital and wireless. Today though, take time to radically self-love yourself and then bring that energy to the communities you care about and want to build.
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.
Of course, you know I’m so proud of my partner in love and life Lessie “Les” Henderson, for being one of Capital Pride Alliance’s Heroes for 2022. While there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done for our Prides to be fully in the spirit of liberation — for this one moment, they did honor a liberatory work. Check out the write-up in Metro Weekly and see us both on ABC 7.
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These 10 Ways to Keep Your Disabled / Chronically Ill Friends Safer This Pride can go for any special event. If you’ve struggled to figure out what I’ve been saying about how to make industry events safer and accessible going forward, here’s a nice checklist to get you started.
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Appliances are not luxuries, but mobility devices.
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And finally, what if caring for yourself is the work?
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!
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Learn how and what you can book me for in 2022.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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,