This is a special preview edition of The Black Urbanist Daily. The Black Urbanist Daily will feature Kristen’s Black Queer Feminist Urbanist commentary on one key issue every weekday. Expect these to appear in your inbox after work hours, but be ready for you to read first thing in the morning. Want to keep receiving these after the pilot period ends on November 19? Head over to Patreon and pledge at any level. Don’t want to be emailed this much? No fear, we will be returning to a weekly format here on these Mailchimp powered emails on November 20th. You’ll get a preview of those this coming Saturday. Today, I’m (still) thinking about Election Day as a Black politically engaged feminine person.
No, I’m not shocked about Virginia. Same with Buffalo.
Disappointed. Yes.
Sad. Yes.
But, unlike prior disappointing election nights, Atlanta and Durham are full of hope.
Which is also not surprising, considering I’ve been tracking these cities and their willingness to lift up Black women municipal leadership.
And after a result like yesterday, I’m ever more committed to working on the K. Jeffers Index for Black Queer Feminist Urbanism.
Our survival as Black folks of marginalized gender varies greatly and is often tied to the ballot box.
I want us to be able to wake up, do our self and community care and know that our basic needs can’t be legislated, ruled, arrested, charged, or sold away.
I want us to be elected and uplifted and appointed, when we are championing community and self-care and joy.
I don’t want to hear that we are worthy of government, corporate and even community leadership only after signing up to be of service, especially not to judicial or militarized bloodshed, white cisheteropatriaricial industrial complexes of community care, or to our family and faith community’s happiness and their happiness alone.
I’m still chipping away at my spreadsheet, updating it with a couple of new columns tracking things like abortion access and what places have attempted to have Black leaders of marginalzied genders and what their affiliations are and you’ll see a first edition of the full index soon.
However, if you haven’t watched my summit keynote (which is why I’m in your inbox daily, this is me bringing my virtual event to you whenever you have the time to pause and read), I’ve talked about the pieces of community and self-care I need and if you missed yesterday’s daily letter, I talked about how I’m still wrestling with what it would mean to be a Black elected official in my own body and without the connections that one seems to need to make it in politics as a Black woman.
On a lighter note I told you in the last email I’d be telling you more about Kristpattern Art Class and the return of my Patreon-only podcast, Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers
People will have to take my yarn balls and fabric yards out of my hands with force. It is one of those ways I’ve been able to reclaim my joy and I think there are a few of you who would love to be a more direct part of my art and craft journey.
If that’s you, there’s a special level of my Patreon, Kristpattern Art Class, that allows you to dabble as I dabble in my art practice, see if it might be a good self care fit for you and still get these emails daily, plus there’s already two episodes of my rebooted Patreon-only podcast Public Lecture with Kristen Jeffers and we’ll be releasing a new one at 7 pm Monday November 15th . Go all-access and you’ll get everything I’m working on, including my rebooted Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School, re-launching in January.
And here are a few more things before you go.
— Once again, Watch the launch keynote of the Black Queer Feminst Urbanist Summit/Festival. This special event is why I’m emailing you daily, since we can’t be in person this year and I wanted to make the conference truly portable.
— Register for our special virtual movie screening, The Dominance of Motherhood, next Monday at 7 pm Eastern. (thanks to our generous donors and sponsors of this year’s summit, it’s free, scroll down to the HealthWeek ticket and you’ll get access). We will also stream this on all of our channels, but we will be taking down the livestream at the conclusion of the documentary, to allow the filmmakers to show the film at other festivals.
— Pledge at any level on Patreon to get these emails after November 19th.
—Black LGBTQIA+ Siblings — let’s talk one-on-one about life, urbanism and thriving. Reply to this email and we can set up a time. Also, I’ve lifted the all-access fee for the summit, thanks to more generous donors!
Coming tomorrow — going back in my archives to the times just before the pandemic upended our lives and when I started this process of defining myself for myself.