Hey, y’all. I have to confess something. I’ve been cheating on urbanism with my crocheting and fashion design. This will surprise no one who gets to see the bottom of my face these days, but this may surprise you.

Longtime followers of me will know that I grew up in one of the original textile capitals of the world, Greensboro, North Carolina. Therefore, clothing made my town a city.

So my forays into fashion design, namely crochet and sewing, with a dedicated space for such in our home, do have an urbanist tie for me, because my urbanism has always been holistic and not just trains, apartments, and whatever else is in walking distance.

It also involves the people who are there and the economic factors that make each city what it is.

And yes, ableism, racism, queer and trans antagonism are just as much economic and labor issues as classism, as they all stem from imperialism, which is the root of capitalism.

But that’s not the whole story for me.

To be honest, I wake up every day and read and review all the urbanism, good or bad, in the DC region, inclusive of Baltimore and Richmond. I am paid to do such, but that is dependent on me doing so from 7:45-10 am Eastern, which is also my prime creative writing time. It does provide my primary source of business income, but the number of hours I can bill has dropped.

Another factor that’s key is that often this work exposes me to urbanist politics, policy, and behavior that is discouraging to me on a lot of levels, based on who I am, and what I know about how cities work.

However, it has allowed me to launch this experiment of living in the heart of a multi-gentrified neighborhood, and to record how I’m defying that gentrification.

So, I needed a creative escape and that’s what crocheting and fashion design have given me. My mom has always sewn and it’s been a source of joy throughout her career as an educator and her coping with chronic illness. Plus, one of my sibling-cousins is big into the sewing communities online and I too have found kinship amongst other craftivists and crafters who make to overcome the world’s obstacles, especially fellow Black, disabled and/or queer folks.

I’m working on a special project to combine my passion for holistic urbanism and crafting without always having to go out to a farm or a far suburb for later in 2024.

And despite how Nazi and fascist the world and these platforms are becoming, I as Black queer human have a right to exist in the world and on the internet. Palestine, Congo, Tigray, Sudan, Haiti and all the other countries under active genocide, and to take it all the way back, my ancestors and those already here on this land and who are still colonized to this day, have a right to not be slaughtered off the face of the earth for someone’s chance at living the high life. Or a life. So the bullhorn is going to be loud.

But, I am on my COVID sickbed and writing this in notes on my phone lying flat in the time that I give myself because I am committed to radical rest and my medication working right.

I will continue to mitigate and mask post recovery but we are at the point where we need HEPA, Far UV, and universal testing along with the shots and liberal use of antivirals and ample paid time to rest, recover, and cover our bills, along with fashionable respirators that are breathable.

In 2024, as I feel better, I want to be more present for those of you who rock with me no matter what and who love this kind of holistic urbanism, that defies gentrification and crafts liberation. Hence our new newsletter name (for the Substackers) — and tagline here Defying Gentrification and Crafting Liberation.

In each newsletter I’ll share ways I see myself and others defying gentrification and I’ll share what I’m doing in my craftivism craft room. And, I will link out to what’s happening on my YouTube, TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram accounts. And X, until the doors fall all the way off.

Logging off now to rest and I’ll see you soon.