Many of you have noticed changes in my Twitter and Instagram bio, that I’ve been “interested” in more queer events on Facebook, and others have had the pleasure to meet Les, my partner, in person or you’ve known her from her own work in faith-based LGBTQ and transportation advocacy (and you should get to know […]
Many of you have noticed changes in my Twitter and Instagram bio, that I’ve been “interested” in more queer events on Facebook, and others have had the pleasure to meet Les, my partner, in person or you’ve known her from her own work in faith-based LGBTQ and transportation advocacy (and you should get to know […]
Many of you have noticed changes in my Twitter and Instagram bio, that I’ve been “interested” in more queer events on Facebook, and others have had the pleasure to meet Les, my partner, in person or you’ve known her from her own work in faith-based LGBTQ and transportation advocacy (and you should get to know […]
This is The Black Urbanist Monthly. I’m Kristen Jeffers and I’m making this monthly digital newsletter to share my Black, Spiritual, Diasporic North Carolinian, Working/Lower Middle-Class, Educated, Queer, CisFemme thoughts on how places and communities work. Think of this as my monthly column, the one that flaps open as you start browsing that coffee table […]
I’m not naive to my role straddling the middle of design and social justice in the Place. What is the Place? I define the Place as the entity that comes up for discussion, dissection, or manipulation by policymakers, planners, residents, and developers. In essence, this concept is summed up in one word: Placemaking. Place is […]
Red and black and white inexplicably invigorate me. I need that for what I’m about to share. So, for those of you wondering, I did have a good time at my class reunion. Here’s the handful of us who came (btw, we were in a hybrid space, but I had to sit outside because people […]
I have always owed a great debt to the work of Sara Zewde, especially the usage of the term black urbanist and talking about black urbanism. Zewde is currently a principal at Asakura Robinson a designer at the Seattle-based firm GGN and in 2010, published her MIT graduate thesis, Theory, place, and opportunity: black urbanism as a […]
This is a companion bibliography, reference sheet, and toolkit to the work I’ve built over a decade, which reflects my journey to a black queer feminist practice and ethic. Just over a decade ago, I was a curious curator and voracious reader of thought around urban planning, architecture, public health transportation, and other elements that […]
I’m asking this question, in particular, this week, because last Sunday, November 10th, Sesame Street celebrated its 50th anniversary. To be honest, for the folks at Sesame Workshop, the production company behind the long-running show, have been celebrating all year. They came by NPR back in the summer to be interns and to perform at […]
Welcome to Kristen’s Gentrification Defying Summer Vacation log! This summer, well, until about the middle of August, I will be taking a break from the podcast and livestreams starting tomorrow, when my season finale podcast finally posts after technical difficulties. This week, some fun at Capital Pride in the midst of another week of bad […]
Previously, I’ve written about why words matter. Especially when we talk about what’s a town and what’s a suburb. Once again, people are people and places are places. So how should we talk about places? First of all, if you have a city, with either two large cities, that are economic powers surrounded by several […]
Judging debate with my CNU NextGen Colleagues in Buffalo, NY, June 6, 2014. So let’s just say the remainder of CNU and my weekend was a whirlwind. But it was fun. And for those of you sick of me using the words CNU, be patient, I’ll be done by Thursday, and you’ll have that podcast […]
Walmart store in Chicago’s West Loop by Flickr user Ifmuth Yes, Joe the Trader is still my friend. Why? Because he has good cookies. My silliness notwithstanding, the decision made yesterday by Trader Joe’s to not invest in Greensboro for the second time is not surprising. Honestly, it’s not the politics that I feel drove […]
Welcome to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation, the newsletter of me, Kristen Jeffers. A Black, queer, feminist, disabled, urbanist elder millennial (born 1985) from Greensboro, North Carolina USA, who lives in Southwest Washington, DC. This newsletter is my personal letter opening you up to how I crusade for a better living environment and my love for […]
