Welcome back to The Black Urbanist Weekly. I’m Kristen (she/they), a DC-based born-and-raised North Carolinian, who’s proudly Black, Queer, Feminist, Dynamically Disabled, and Urbanist.
This is a freemium newsletter, where subscriptions open up comments and archives, delve deeper into policy descriptions, and get more information about my favorite pieces of pop culture. However, scholarships exist! Reply back to this email and I’ll send you information about how to get one if you’re eligible! This edition, because it’s special, will be open to everyone, but the next dispatch will begin our freemium model.
We start off with a reflection from me Kristen, then go into our policy prescription, my pop culture faves, and then job and opportunity announcements.
Kristen’s Reflection of the Week — Seven Years a Washingtonian(ish)
This was what my morning looked like exactly seven years ago. To many, it just looks like I am moving from one place to another. But this is a bigger move. Seven years ago today, I chose to move to a place not because of a person or job, but because it was a place I wanted to be and create community. How has that gone for me in the past seven years?
So, when I arrived in DC on the afternoon of September 19, 2016, it was an overcast day. The cloud of the 2016 election was looming too, but I think I was very optimistic. I was one of the first people to start crying the night of November 8, 2016, at the watch party at the neighborhood bar and all I could do on the walk home was gripe about how I needed to move out of the country and fast. Never mind I just did a major cross-country move…
I spent all of November 9 in my perfectly apportioned basement apartment. That day was cloudy and rainy too, but it didn’t matter because all I had was a tiny window. I stayed in my bed, besides going into my tiny kitchen to cook myself meals and using my bathroom. I rationalized as a not quite out Black queer person it would only be a matter of time before we were bombed and I would be trapped under the rubble or I would be saved because I was living under the ground or that the feds in this new conservative regime would be knocking on the door to take me to jail.
So, none of that actually happened. In fact, just days later, I gathered with other equity and justice-minded transportation advocates in Atlanta and while we were facing challenges, we resolved to be the solution for everyone, not just ourselves and those who have the most power.
And over the next seven years I traveled and spoke on stages all over the country.
I’ve written this newsletter made lots of friends and strengthened a few friendships. Others fell away.
I’ve lived in all kinds of neighborhoods throughout DC, PG County Maryland, and Baltimore. And yes, y’all know that I fell in love with a fellow Black queer feminist urbanist.
Today, we are called to do the right thing when it comes to stewarding our Earth and creating a world that honors all of our abilities and deems all of us worthy of life. Who’s ready to come on that journey with me?
So under our new freemium format, everything after this short outline of what’s next in the newsletter is behind a paywall. But today, I wanted you to get a preview of what you’ll get, so, here’s what’s coming next in the newsletter, then after the outline the full text of what’s next.
— Policy Prescription—What this section, formally known as the Principle Corner will look like in the coming weeks.
—By The Way — Still including links, namely that yes, the housing boom in DC is real and valid, plus, why I totally would have welcomed a relocation bonus, but why I haven’t taken one.
— On the Shelf, On the Playlist — The adorable queer urbanism of One Last Stop, plus how I see Veronica O. Davis’s Inclusive Transportation as continuing the charges we made at that 2016 Untokening conference.
— Before You Go — This will look like a final reminder of what we have for sale in future emails for paid subscribers, but for free subscribers, it will be as follows:
Consider this job advertisement from the University of California San Diego…Thanks again for supporting our work and thinking of us as a place to find your next set of colleagues!
UC San Diego: Assistant Professor in Urban Studies and Planning
Apply link: https://apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF03697
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UC San Diego invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor working in the area of urban studies and planning, anticipated to begin July 1, 2024.
USP is a rapidly-growing department with strategic emphases on social and spatial justice; climate justice; and multinational planning. The selected candidate will be expected to contribute to our mission by building and maintaining a record of high-quality scholarship in transportation planning and/or spatial analytics; developing curriculum to meet department needs; mentoring and teaching graduate and undergraduate students, including teaching courses in quantitative methods; and engaging in university and public service to help build an equitable and diverse environment.
For applicants interested in spousal/partner employment, please visit the UC San Diego Partner Opportunities Program website: https://aps.ucsd.edu/recruitment/pop/index.html
Department:
POSITION OVERVIEW
Salary range: A reasonable salary range estimate for this position is $109,600-$132,200. The posted UC Academic salary scales set the minimum pay as determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See the following table(s) for the salary scale(s) for this position: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/oct-2023-acad-salary-scales/t1.pdf. The base salary range, from the salary table(s), for this position is $74,600-$97,200. “Off-scale salaries” and other components of pay, i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions, qualifications, and experience. Additional UCSD salary information can be found here: https://aps.ucsd.edu/compensation/apo-salary.html
APPLICATION WINDOW
Open date: September 14, 2023
Next review date: Saturday, Oct 14, 2023 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Apply by this date to ensure full consideration by the committee.
Final date: Sunday, Mar 31, 2024 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.
QUALIFICATIONS
Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
A Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning or a closely related field, or one who is in the all-but-dissertation stage of earning the PhD.
Additional qualifications (required at time of start)
Must hold a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning or related field by start date of appointment as Assistant Professor.
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.
And yes, that’s a brand new hoodie and there’s more new The Black Urbanist merch to come! You can find the store at www.kristpattern.com/blackurbanist.
This Week’s Policy Prescription
Yes, it makes a difference where you live. There is an urban hierarchy. I wanted to think otherwise and that’s another reason I’m re-writing and re-issuing my original book. It’s also the reason that this process has taken nearly a decade to do because I needed to live out my hypothesis. There’s only so much good that comes from hot urbanist takes and I’m ready to start writing prescriptions for what we best can do.
This week, I encourage you to examine where you live and why. Are you there by choice? Do others have similar choices? In the future, this section, which will be behind the paywall, will delve even deeper into my policy logic models, previewing several concepts that will be showing up in future master classes and my new book.
By the Way
- So, if you saw my IG post before you saw this newsletter or if you read the photo captions, you’ll know that yet again, I’ve moved to a new home. Something about all my leases ending or renewing around this time of year. I have to thank the will to build more housing and to create an inclusionary zoning policy that works here in DC. A recent study that digs deeper into that.
- And, so many of these relocation bonuses are so attractive, but they are often asking people, especially people from groups often discriminated against, to go into areas that may or may not accept them as new arrivals, either through these new laws criminalizing trans and queer identities or continuing to terrorize Black people of all kinds. I would love to see more of these programs consider racial and gender justice, along with disability justice, in how they administer these programs and encourage the community to welcome newcomers.
On the Shelf, On the Playlist
- So I very rarely have time to sit and read full books. That was part of the reason I went on this sudden sabbatical, because I missed the point of burnout. While I was resting and resetting and packing up our old apartment, Casey McQuison’s One Last Stop caught my eye. I’ll eventually read their more popular first book Red, White and Royal Blue, but the hard copy of this book that’s coming out with a bonus chapter, about a couple that’s semi-stuck on a Q train in New York City is just delightfully queer, racially diverse and yes, urbanist, feminist and size-inclusive. The first edition is It’s now in my Bookshop store and I encourage you to also read more books!
- And yes, Inclusive Transportation! It’s short, it’s too the point and it goes back to what I talked about at the top of the email with the Untokening and how many of us have taken action to change our story since we all convened in 2016 that first time.
- I’ve listened to so much good music over my break. Highlights have been Jon Batise’s new record, Rhiannon Giddens’ new record, and new to us but released in 2021’s Sam Sparro record. Oh and Jessie Ware came out with her new one before I went on hiatus, but it’s also a great bop!
Before You Go
Finally, the person I hired over the summer encouraged me to keep the funds for paying them and focus on fundraising. Plus, I realized just how much I needed to change neighborhoods and redirect that savings there. However, I want to thank everyone who applied for my job posting back in June. Your information is on file and trust me, when I get the funding to hire, many of you are first on the list. You wrote such thoughtful and robust cover letters and you have excellent resumes. Hopefully, you’re not still available, but if you are, I do still want to be helpful, but I want to pay fairly.
And that’s where everyone else comes in. Going paid on this newsletter for $9.99 USD monthly will help me do just that, open up doors for other talented individuals who want to work with me and the kinds of policies and research and work I’m doing to make it stronger and widespread. That’s one of my mandates, besides doing my part to save the world. Also, going paid helps me keep a decent work/life balance, one that’s not at the mercy of my client base and their funding and fiscal years. Finally, if you sign up for an annual subscription, you’ll get free access to the full masterclass, a signed copy of my book, and a merch prize pack, customized to the slogan that’s most appropriate to you of our merch over at the Kristpattern store.
You can also continue to take out classified ads, not just for jobs, but the job ads are great and will remain free.
Finally, thanks to all of you for your patience as I sorted out all of this. I thought today would be the perfect day to return because today represents to me everything that this work is all about — sharing why I as a Black queer disabled feminist continue to choose dense urban spaces and how we can tackle the problems keeping others from doing so with just and equitable solutions.
We will be resuming a regular Friday schedule again on 9/29/2023 with our partial paywall in place!
Until next time,
Kristen