THE SCIENCE OF CHANGE & UNDERSTANDING

BY SULIN NGO

How do we change our minds in relation to others? How do we form understanding and affect change? These questions sparked Urban Consulate’s virtual salon on October 11, 2021 with special guests joining from Cincinnati and Seattle:

Key Takeaways:

1. Acknowledge Our Own ComplexitieS

When it comes to truly changing, we must first understand the complexity in ourselves, otherwise we cannot recognize the complexity in others, said Dr. Robin Martin. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Martin saw a lack of government attention and support, which changed the way she saw herself in the context of her community. She studied Ubuntu philosophy to try to understand how decisions could have been made differently.

2. Shift the Narrative

Viann Barnett, who works with victims of human trafficking, can see the importance of a shift in public mindset that trafficking is not just a foreign issue, but a domestic one, too. To change the narrative, we need to shift the language we use to discuss this topic, away from criminalizing prostitution to humanizing people.

3. STORIES MATTER

"Until we experience it personally, we have a hard time understanding it," said Mary Annette Pember about the need to humanize lived experiences, and how that changes public perspective. Pember, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe tribe, is a longtime journalist driven by a desire to tell authentic stories about her community. She has seen the science of change up close in her own award-winning reporting on sex trafficking and the health impacts of historical trauma, and changing narratives about Native peoples away from stereotypical impressions.

4. Study History

“Until we fully understand the paradigm that we sit in today, we will continue to repeat history,” said Dr. Martin. “We must recognize how we are connected to everything around us. If I see myself as connected to the community, then I can take action.” Martin invited guests to take all of these stories in totality in order to recognize the pattern of dehumanization that threads together tragic narratives in the U.S., such as genocide of Native Americans and chattel slavery of Africans.

5. SUSPEND SELF-INTEREST

“Sometimes you need to suspend self-interest to be able to change,” said Pember. “It's not really encouraged in our current capitalist culture. But if we are able to step back and participate in community and nurture that culture of sharing, we feel good – better.” Martin added, “We step up at a time when we can really see ourselves in community – and then we act. When we can't see ourselves in others, change doesn't occur,” she said.

6. CHALLENGE ASSUMPTIONS

Elissa Yancey, co-founder of A Picture’s Worth, a media platform that builds inclusive audio narratives, offered as one tool the Ladder of Inference, the multi-step path we take to arrive at a belief or impression. “Instead of jumping to conclusions, analyze and test the assumptions, meanings, selected data and observations that created them.”

7. CREATE SAFETY

Making change, in oneself and in community, is risky, therefore taking steps to create safe environments promotes positive change, Pember and Barnett both emphasized. Safety is a prerequisite for change.

8. CONVERT ANGER INTO FUEL

You cannot have courage without some level of anger and frustration about the status quo, said Dr. Martin, pointing out that the word “courage" contains the word "rage.” Dr. Martin’s rage allowed her to set herself aside and take action on behalf of her community. “There are consequences for our actions and inactions.” Read more in her book, Navigating Courage.

With special thanks to Urban Consulate advisor Elissa Yancey who served as guest curator and moderator for this conversation! And to Preston Bell Charles III for performing his original piece to open the evening. To learn more about Preston’s music, visit Make it Happen Music.

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for more just and equitable cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with The Mercantile Library, Afrochine, Cincinnati Music Accelerator and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

AFFORDABLE FOR WHOM?

BY SULIN NGO

Video & Photography by JP Leong, Afrochine

It was good to be back at the beautiful Mercantile Library in Cincinnati. While the pandemic hasn’t stopped Urban Consulate from holding necessary conversations — from building racial solidarity to building equitable spaces and places — the team gently returned to gathering in-person September 13th, showing care for one another by masking. Recognizing the very real ongoing public health risk, many friends opted to tune-in online — a welcomed way to stay connected.

Holding Space for Change

The evening began with music by multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Sarah Gorak, in partnership with Cincinnati Music Accelerator, followed by a land acknowledgement by host Naimah Bilal. Cincinnati rests on Kaskaskia, Osage, Shawnee, Myaamia, Adena and Hopewell land. Acknowledging this contextualizes ourselves in the past and ongoing oppression of displaced peoples — especially important for a conversation about housing, land use, property ownership and how we think about “home.”

Housing is a matter of life or death, a fundamental element to sustain human life, health, and well-being. Whether driven by a sense of responsibility to others or a belief in housing as a human right, guests agreed that every person deserves a home. Housing is a right, not a privilege.

To explore this together, Bilal welcomed guests:

Why Affordability Matters

This dialogue was inspired by Urban Consulate thought partner Katherine Gardette, a Walnut Hills neighborhood advocate who stresses this question — “Afforable for whom?” — whenever she enters a conversation about community development.

Set against a backdrop of national conversations about the growing affordable housing crisis across American cities, calls for eviction moratoriums to protect millions during an unprecendented public health crisis, proposed investments in infrastructure, and big bets to tackle homelessness, this dialogue focused on local efforts in Cincinnati.

Currently, the Cincinnati region has a housing shortage of 40,000 units, according to LISC Cincinnati. “The combination of rising housing costs and stagnating incomes is creating unprecedented housing affordability challenges. Cincinnati and Hamilton County now have a deficit of at least 40,000 units affordable and available to extremely low-income households.”

It’s why Jenkins says she fights so hard — “So it doesn’t get worse.”

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Homesteading to Home Ownership

Rachel Hastings serves as Executive Director at Price Hill Will, leading staff, volunteers and partners in collaborative efforts to improve the quality of life in the Price Hill neighborhoods.

In 2015, Price Hill Will created a homesteading program to help families overcome systemic barriers to homeownership, such as racial discrimination and lack of access to financial institutions.

“This is an equity building program for families. Equity in home ownership is the primary way by which Americans make money,” said Hastings.

In fact, she said, seventy-three percent of white families are homeowners, compared to 48% of Latinx and 42% of Black families, highlighting an intense racial disparity this program is working to overcome.

Breaking Cycles of Discrimination

There’s a connection between fairness and affordable housing, says Jeneice Jones, Executive Director at Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Greater Cincinnati (HOME).

“Affordable housing is people being able to afford a house where they want to live. The fair housing aspect comes into play when there’s a lack of that affordable housing,” said Jones. “That gives rise to a lot of predatory, exploitative behavior that violates the Fair Housing Act. It’s my organization’s role to find out what’s going on.”

It used to be that housing discrimination was very overt, Jones said. But today it might be as subtle as lower home appraisals or a property manager’s refusal to make timely repairs.

“More access to affordable units would even the playing field with some of these discriminatory practices,” Jones said.

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Eradicating Homelessness 

Mona Jenkins, Director of Development and Operations at the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition, is working to put herself out of a job. Meaning — eliminate homelessness.

The coalition is a unified social action agency, fully committed to the eradication of homelessness with respect for the dignity and diversity of its membership: people experiencing homelessness.

Coalition members work towards this goal by coordinating services, educating the public and engaging in grassroots organizing and advocacy — including petitioning the city of Cincinnati to invest in an affordable housing trust fund.

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Calls to Action

The work these leaders are doing is not limited to housing alone. They emphasized the many intersections between housing, access to food, and a livable wage. They encouraged each of us to walk away knowing that there are tangible ways we can have impact in our own communities:

  • “Engage in the democratic process at all levels and hold corporations and elected officials accountable,” said Jenkins. One way to do that is by participating in your local neighborhood citizen council, and evaluating developer proposals against an equitable development rubric to ensure the community’s needs are represented.

  • “Vote with your feet,” said Hastings. There are ways to make your voice heard outside of the electoral process, in every action you take – including where you spend your money.

  • Ask ourselves: “How do we become a good ancestor while we’re alive?” said Jones. “What do we want to give forward so future generations will say ‘They rolled up their sleeves and carried us forward, and they didn’t allow these inequities to stand’?

“Black and brown people toiling under the circumstances today are descendants of the greatest Afrofuturists that ever lived,” said Jones. “Because they saw our freedom – they saw it when there was no evidence to call upon to say that it could happen.”

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for more just and equitable cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with The Mercantile Library, Afrochine, Cincinnati Music Accelerator and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

Suggested Resources

BLACK PLACES MATTER

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Exploring the Future of Black Ownership, Imagination and Narrative in American Cities

BY SULIN NGO

Video & Photography by Afrochine

On Monday, July 12, Urban Consulate held its first in-person conversation in over a year at Five Points Alley in Cincinnati’s historic Walnut Hills neighborhood. Over 100 people attended both outdoors and online for Black Places Matter, a cross-city conversation about the future of ownership, imagination and narrative in Black neighborhoods.

In true cross-city fashion, each Cincinnati guest paired with a Detroit guest to pose questions to each other. Co-hosts Naimah Bilal & Megan Trischler welcomed to the stage three pairs: Kathryne Gardette, civic leader & cultural innovator with Chase L. Cantrell, Building Community Value; Lauren Hood, Institute for AfroUrbanism with phrie, restorative culture designer; and Destinee Thomas, Cincy Nice with Orlando P. Bailey, BridgeDetroit.

Ownership Matters.

Kathryne Gardette of Cincinnati and Chase L. Cantrell of Detroit started the night by exploring the importance of Black Americans owning property, first by examining the history of Black ownership across their two cities.

Cantrell, as the founder and Executive Director of Building Community Value, a non-profit dedicated to implementing and facilitating real estate development projects in underserved Detroit neighborhoods, realized that rebuilding Black Detroit was not just about redeveloping vacant buildings, but “walking alongside [Detroiters] to help them realize their own dreams.”

Gardette, as a longtime resident of East Walnut Hills, is a businesswoman, investor, advocate, booster, and — yes! — even match-maker. She and her husband own the Miller-Gardette building on McMillan St. in East Walnut Hills, which is a “go to” place for everything from meditation to book signings to classes in African drumming.

“What IS the importance of Black property ownership?” asked Gardette, as she and Cantrell recounted the historic decline of Black ownership in both of their cities.

In the multiple generations that Gardette’s family has lived in Walnut Hills, Gardette was raised to believe that “if you own, then you have a responsibility and you cannot be pushed out.”

This, combined with witnessing an exodus of Black businesses and investment from her neighborhood due to increasing rents, spurred Gardette to put her stake in the ground and purchase the building. “Being creatives and artists, we said, ‘We’re going to make a mark,’” said Gardette.

But Black spaces, she said, are not solely defined by geographical boundaries.

“I think Black space is defined by culture and history. It's where Black people gather. Eden Park, Sunday dinners, book clubs. The union workers in Walnut Hills who fought for representation — that's Black space as well.”

Cantrell and Gardette agreed the conversation about “who gets to own” businesses and homes is part of a larger conversation about the survival of the Black middle class and options for building generational wealth, as affordable housing shortages impact American cities, and financial institutions continue to make loans and other home financing options difficult to access.

Imagination Matters.

Lauren Hood, founder of the forthcoming Institute for AfroUrbanism in Detroit, announced her intention at the start of her dialogue: “I want us to take up space as Black girls talking about Black imagination and our wildest dreams for Black space.” phrie, cultural strategist and principal investigator at phrie worlds, didn’t hesitate to take up the challenge.

“I have a very active imagination,” said phrie, “because right now I’m not in Cincinnati. I identify as a Turtle Islander. I want to help us orient ourselves in space and time, because as Americans… we think we are the center of the world. We are on North America, in the Ohio River Valley, which has existed before humans. And thinking about Black places and spaces, I want us to contextualize the fact that we are a stolen people on stolen land, and acknowledge that and think about what that means as far as ‘imagining’ on a place that is stolen.”

“Imagination is setting the background — bringing the past into the present and our futures,” said phrie, who talked about worldbuilding, a method used by writers and video game creators to design fictional universes, expanding imagination beyond the limitations of personal experience.

Beyond geography, phrie also designs from memories and feelings, like “Cincinnati in the 90s, being at Melrose YMCA, being at a Black party, at Swift & Commons.”

Hood shared the challenge of helping people imagine beyond their immediate circumstances.

“If you ask people what they want for their community, they’re going to talk about what they immediately see... fix these lights, fix the trash pickup,” said Hood. “Our imaginations have been stolen from us when we keep people in a present-day conversation.”

“I’m always trying to figure out how to create space for somebody’s wildest dreams to show up. I’m trying to figure out what is the question to ask to activate people’s imaginations beyond the present moment?”

Hood and phrie challenged people to imagine beyond “ownership” of Black places, noting the difference between having “meaningful connections” with a place versus an “attachment.” “Sometimes there’s violence when people have these place-based identities,” said phrie.

“When I think about ownership – is it a colonial concept to have to possess land?” asked Hood, comparing the way indigenous peoples nurtured a relationship with the land, whereas European colonizers sought to possess it.

“Situating ourselves in the context of world history and geography is important.”

Narrative Matters.

When Emmy-award winning journalist Orlando P. Bailey, host of Urban Consulate Detroit and Engagement Director for BridgeDetroit, returned home to Detroit from college in 2012, the city was going through bankruptcy, and there was an overarching local and national narrative of “Detroit in ruin.”

Civic leaders worked to change the story from one of desolation to one of revitalization and redevelopment — the problem was this new narrative erased the experience of Black resident leaders who stayed through the city’s economic decline to preserve and revitalize their neighborhoods. This fueled Bailey’s passion to “offer a counter to that white normative narrative.”

Cincy Nice founder and Cincinnati native Destinee Thomas spent much of her career telling stories about the city, first in public relations and then working in tourism. But much like Bailey, Thomas recognized that Black voices and experiences were not being included in the city’s story. That’s how she found herself working to create the true “feeling of the city” through Cincy Nice.

 “You can bring someone here and still show them that there are issues,” says Thomas. “But if you can show them that the feeling of this city is a place that wants to improve itself, that there are neighbors who gather, that there are people who want to create spaces and join for conversations, then the same story is happening. It’s a story about revitalization, but you’re including the people that are here. It’s a full picture.”

While Bailey and Thomas’ current work deals with city narratives in the present, Bailey emphasized the urgency of capturing historic stories to inform the future.

“The record is important because, systematically in the journalism industry, Black people have been locked out of being the “expert”… not just the subject of something that is subjugating them,” said Bailey. “Put [the record] down on paper, because somebody as curious as an Orlando Bailey is going to be on Ancestry.com a hundred years from now trying to figure out, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I come from?’ and ‘Who are my people?’ and ‘What place in time did my folks find themselves in?’”

“I think that’s the urgency,” says Bailey, to preserve resident narratives.

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Black Places Matter.

Following these three dynamic conversations, all six guests came together to answer questions from the audience, which touched on gentrification, generational trauma, and the power and comfort of Black-owned spaces.

The group left us with powerful calls to action:

“In Cincinnati and Detroit and Baltimore and Memphis and New Orleans — wherever Black people are — we are experiencing similar American systems that we’re living in, fighting against, and trying to change. If we think it’s just a Detroit story, or just a Cincinnati story… and we’re not learning from each other… we’re not going to change the systems.” —Chase L. Cantrell, Building Community Value

“We are creating history right here, right now. What are we going to do tomorrow with the history that we learn today? Because ultimately, each and every one of us who lives on this planet is connected. So how are we individually going to connect with someone else — to hear their story, and share our story — so that humanity continues?” — Kathryne Gardette, Walnut Hills

“I always want to leave with a call to action. We do so many of these conversations on equity, and Black people bare their souls. I need everyone to do something. Can you advocate? It was not enough that you came here. You have to leave here and behave differently. You can’t just take in knowledge and be like ‘I’m woke now.’ No, woke requires advocacy and action. So you have to do something. Learning is not enough.” — Lauren Hood, Institute for AfroUrbanism

Host Naimah Bilal closed the evening with appreciation:

“Let’s savor a moment of gratitude. When we talk about Black space, part of Black space is gratitude. So thank you, everybody.”

Special thanks to JP Leong, Yemi Oyediran, Hannah Kenney and Sulin Ngo for video, photography & communications, and event partners Cincy Nice, Five Points Alley, The Mercantile Library and The Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. Urban Consulate returns to The Mercantile Library on September 13, 2021 for monthly parlor talks every Second Monday, 7 p.m.

LIBERATING OURSELVES & OUR COMMUNITIES

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BY SULIN NGO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JP LEONG

On June 14, over one hundred guests from across the country registered to join Urban Consulate for an advanced digital screening of Liberation Story, the second episode of a collaborative series on Cincinnati’s PBS station, CET.

Liberation Story was created in observance of Juneteenth – and in recognition that freedom is not equal for all – with host Naimah Bilal inviting audiences to navigate the ongoing quest for liberation from oppressive systems, mindsets and cultures.

Through the lens of Black changemakers in Cincinnati, the conversation explored what true freedom looks like for our communities — and how to expand our collective potential. 

Juneteenth Past & Future

Short for "June 19th," the annual (and now federally recognized) holiday commemorates the day enslaved Black people in Texas were informed they had been freed — nearly three years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

It is especially meaningful for liberation to be explored here in Cincinnati, a city whose greatest natural landmark — the Ohio River — was a significant hurdle to cross for Black Americans seeking freedom.

To start the conversation, Bilal offered some situational and historical context:

“The Ohio River reflects the natural beauty of our region. It also emanates haunting echoes of our national history. It's a channel of leisure. It's a channel of commerce. But, not so long ago for some Americans, it was a borderland, a line of demarcation between slavery in the South, and a hope for freedom in the North. For Black people living in America more than a century and a half ago, crossing this river not only meant escaping physical bondage. Through this heroic and dangerous act, they were also reclaiming their full humanity,” said Bilal.

Cincinnati was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Since then, it has also had a long legacy of redlining and gentrification.

Against that backdrop, Bilal asked guests, “What does liberation mean to you?” 

Liberation Through Healing

Dr. Tia Sherèe Gaynor, whose research is centered in social justice issues of equity, said that liberation is “the ability to be one’s authentic self,” free from external social controls and factors like white supremacy, capitalism, heteronormativity and homophobia.

In order to do that, we must realize that "healing is at the core of truly being free and liberated — not just for Black people, but for everyone," she said. "One of the very foundational components of that process is truth-telling. We have to be able to have open conversations. We have to be able to hold multiple truths at the same time.”

To give more people tools to do this, Dr. Gaynor started the new Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation at the University of Cincinnati, which "uses research, learning, and action to provide space for healing the harm caused by the matrices of oppression." Resources they offer include ally trainings and their downloadable Race & Racism in Cincinnati Toolkit, which includes discussion guidelines, suggested reading, quizzes and action steps for anyone looking to advance racial healing in their work or community.

Liberation Through Expression

In a moving personal account, artist Michael Coppage shared how he defied expectations throughout his life—by pursuing the arts rather than sports, by leaving his neighborhood in the South Side of Chicago, by speaking his mind through art. And in doing so, shaped his idea of freedom.

“Liberation for me is the freedom to navigate the world without others’ projections, without others expecting something negative to be born from just your presence,” said Coppage. “Liberation is the works of art that depict the Black experience without fear of retribution, physical harm or persecution.”

He helps pave the way towards liberation through his own art, which facilitates discussions and tells stories about Black people to promote lasting societal change. Coppage’s “BLACK BOX” mural, currently on display at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center, is part of a 5-part community impact project aimed at demystifying black men and creating authentic experiences that replaced bias and preconceived notions.

Liberation Through Justice

For Fanon Rucker, an attorney and retired judge, the idea of “liberation” was instilled in him at a young age, he said, through the choice of his name and an upbringing that encouraged him to be comfortable with being himself.  

“Liberation, particularly when we talk about Black liberation, it means to me to not be afraid to be who you are in your Blackness,” said Rucker.

“But what I encourage about us being free and being liberated as a people has to in some way focus on the justice system, that big monstrosity of an intentional oppressor,” he continued. “The liberation of our people has to mean the dismantling and the reshaping of the justice system for it to have different objectives and endgames. Because the system is not broken. It operates like it was intended to."

Rucker has pursued this through his legal work, including participating in early reform efforts to bring Community Oriented Policing to the Cincinnati Police Department and the Fresh Start Expungement Clinic to Hamilton County Public Defender’s Office.

Liberation Through Love

 “Liberation and freedom are multi-dimensional. It’s spiritual. It’s mental. It’s physical. It’s financial. It’s ‘create creatively,’” according to AprinasRevolutionaryLove. It’s practicing what she calls “revolutionary, radical love,” which is difficult to do, “because it means you have to love, trust and respect yourself, and then you have to open yourself up to do that with others,” she said. “Make room for other stories, other people’s truths.”

Despite the burdens of racism and white supremacy, Aprina believes wholeheartedly that “love can be the cure.” She sees the evidence in her work as a musical artist, when she can stir thousands of people to move to a single beat. “If one person gets up there and they start leading something like this, and we have this huge group of people who are doing this particular thing – it’s contagious. You can’t fight it.”

AprinasRevolutionaryLove leads by example through her work, which combines music and communal activism. Her workshops include more than a lesson in dance and music, but also an encouraging message and a dose of radical, revolutionary love.

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What Does Liberation Mean To You?

Thank you for joining us on this exploration of liberation from oppressive mindsets, cultures and systems. Our guests offered approaches to finding freedom in their own lives and city; now we invite you to imagine, too:

  • What is your liberation story?

  • What could your city be if we were all truly free?

Some responses submitted by viewers:

 
 

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with Afrochine, The Mercantile Library and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT & RACISM

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How can we work together toward a more just and equitable future? What are ways we can hold ourselves and others accountable for achieving climate and energy justice in Black & Brown communities? What can each of us do in our spheres of influence today?

On June 23, following the leak of a draft UN report warning that dangerous climate thresholds will be hit sooner than feared, over one hundred concerned citizens from Detroit and across the country registered for a virtual interactive dialogue hosted by Orlando P. Bailey with special guests:

"The choices societies make now will determine whether our species thrives or simply survives as the 21st century unfolds,” warned the leaked UN report.

What is Environmental Racism?

"Environmental Racism" was coined in 1982 in North Carolina by Benjamin Chavis, an African-American civil rights leader. In his youth he was an assistant to Martin Luther King Jr. who inspired him to work in the movement.

Chavis defined the term as “racial discrimination in environmental policy making, the enforcement of regulations and laws, the deliberate targeting of communities of color for toxic waste facilities, the official sanctioning of the life-threatening presence of poisons and pollutants in our communities, and the history of excluding people of color from leadership of the ecology movements.”

Disproportionate Impacts

To frame the conversation, Dr. Reames quoted a 2004 report, African Americans and Climate Change: Unequal Burden from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation:

“Where U.S. energy policy is concerned, African Americans are proverbial canaries in the mineshaft. We are on the frontline of the likely social, environmental, and economic upheaval resulting from climate change.”

“The pervasive narrative that has always bugged me is that Black Americans are at fault,” said Dr. White-Newsome. “We must acknowledge that people are not at fault; it’s the systems that have failed them.”

"When I think about racism and the environment, it's more than land, air and water,” continued White-Newsome. It's all the systems that impact social determinants of health. “We must do a racial equity analysis in all of our work.”

Urgent Action Initiatives

Dr. Reames shared several initiatives to follow and stay engaged:

  • Energy Equity Project - a national, collaborative journey to create a standardized framework for equity measurement, reporting, and tracking that drives clean energy investment and impact for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and frontline communities.

  • Justice40 - Recommendations from The Equitable and Just National Climate Forum on actions that the Biden administration should take to effectively implement the goal of targeting 40 percent of the overall climate investment benefit to disadvantaged communities.

  • EO 14008 - President Biden’s Executive Order On Tackling Climate Change

Breakout Dialogue Questions

  • What is your role in environmental equity? Where do you sit in an organization, neighborhood or community where you can make a difference? Is racial equity currently prioritized in your work?

  • How can we hold ourselves & others accountable for achieving climate & energy justice in Black & Brown communities?

  • What is one thing we can each do in our spheres of influence today?

Barriers to Equity

In breakout dialogue, participants shared where they see need for improvement:

1) Communication can cause a disconnect between utilities and communities — and even between people who work in the sector.

"We don't share the same language, so even people with good intentions aren't on the same page," said a former environmental attorney in one breakout dialogue. Things can get lost in translation agreed Dr. White-Newsome. Beyond the scientific, academic or social justice jargon, people have very different perspectives and lived experiences. Everyone must listen deeply to understand the people they serve.

2) Utility payment and cut-off processes cause added stress to people already experiencing high stress.

“The cut-off process must be looked at in a more humane fashion,” offered environmental advocate Audra Carson. Paying in cash, to a real live person, could also ease anxiety for people experiencing economic insecurity and limited digital access. Communities would have a lot better feeling in dealing with utilities if there was greater humanity.

What Accountability Looks Like

1) Listen to the community — for real.

"Active, genuine listening to community members; not just personal career advancement,” said breakout participant Dominic Bednar, who shared the importance of community-based participatory research methods for authentic engagement. "Being available to listen," even if the input is hard, shared Jennifer Lawson of DTE Foundation.

2) Respond to community feedback by providing status updates on improvements.

"Organizations are good at dodging accountability,” said Candace Miller in breakout. “There’s a lot of 'we're listening' — then somehow, the decision is made with very little reflection of what was said on the ground. And that happens time and time again."

"There is nothing worse than when you take time to fill out a survey, or make public comment, and you don’t know what happens after that,” said Dr. White-Newsome. It erodes trust and faith that improvements will be made. Her advice to institutions: 1) Acknowledge the problem; 2) Let people know what you’re doing about it; and 3) Share feedback that something is happening.

3) Advocate for reform inside institutions.

Advocate for people who don’t have a seat at the table, shared Jennifer Lawson. Pursue best practices in grantmaking, including unrestricted investments in community organizations led by people of color.

4) Name the root causes of inequity.

"There isn't a racial disparity in this country that doesn't stem from residential segregation," said Devita Davison of FoodLab Detroit, citing Harvard University Professor David R. Williams, who in his TED talk called segregation the "secret source" of inequity in the U.S.


5) Participate in democracy.

“As a Black woman, I can’t afford to tap out of the promise of democracy,” said Devita Davison. Whether it’s energy equity, climate equity, or health equity, being an informed and engaged voter, electing leaders who prioritize this, and holding them accountable for measurable action is essential.

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MADE POSSIBLE BY DTE ENERGY

Thank you to everyone who participated in this conversation! For every registered guest who participated, we are making a contribution to Detroit Hives, a Black-led nonprofit working to create sustainable communities and bee populations by transforming vacant lots into pollinator friendly spaces. Follow and support their work @DetroitHives and DetroitHives.org.

BLACK & ASIAN SOLIDARITY

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How can we build cross-racial solidarity?

Takeaways from a Conversation AMONG FRIENDS about IdentitY & Healing

Video by JP Leong & Yemi Oyediran. Photography by Hannah Kenney.

Black Lives Matter. Stop Asian Hate. These two public movements are shaping an era of grassroots advocacy as news headlines make their way into dinner table discussions across America. But relationships on a personal level, with the opportunity for curiosity and candor in trusted friendships, have their own power to change communities as well.

On May 10, Urban Consulate Cincinnati co-hosts Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler — together with Afrochine and the Asian American Cultural Association of Cincinnati — welcomed 178 registered guests from across the country to participate in a virtual conversation livestreamed from The Mercantile Library. The program was one of many public events offered around the city for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

Sitting together in real space for the first time since COVID (thanks to vaccines!), the evening’s featured guests were three friends who have built deep personal relationships across racial divides – attorney Angela Jo White, founder of DebatABLE; Ronnie Iquina of AACAC & NAAAP; and Urban Consulate Cincinnati’s Sulin Ngo, who also organizes with OPAWL.

Host Naimah Bilal opened the evening by offering a context-setting quote:

“Black Americans and Asian Americans have been intentionally bound within the system of white supremacy and forced to compete with one another in staking our claims to citizenship and belonging in this country.”

— Aaliyah Bilal, writer & artist

“So, if we’re indeed bound together by a system designed to divide us,” continued Bilal, “what does solidarity look like that stands to shatter relational bonds forged in such a poisoned setting? What is the everyday interior reality of Asian and Black relationships that support creation of new bonds of love, shared vision for equity for all, and a recognition that our liberation is bound together?”

Some excerpts from the evening’s discussion:

The Shaping of Personal Racial Identity

  • Ronnie Iquina’s identity as a Filipino evolved from being a defense mechanism in school – standing his ground against racist slurs – to a community he actively pursued in college. But even so, living in the Midwest was isolating. “In Cincinnati, often times it’s Black or it’s white, and Asians kind of sit in the background like, ‘Where do we fit in?’” said Iquina.

  • Growing up in Alabama, Angela Jo White was made aware of her Blackness at a very young age. “We all have to find ourselves and understand who we are before we can even talk about creating coalitions between our communities,” said White.

  • For Sulin Ngo, trying to embody the model minority myth was an act of survival – until a college professor helped her see other possibilities. “It’s been a real journey to where I can come before you and say, ‘I am not your model minority.’ This is who I am, I belong here, and this is my space,” said Ngo.

Building Cross-Racial Relationships

  • Ngo and White’s friendship was a connection forged through food and trust. Ngo opened the door to her home and introduced her to cultures outside of the Black-white dichotomy. Similarly, White held space for Ngo to learn. “We're not comfortable being uncomfortable. But when I'd approach Angela, she would listen,” said Ngo.

  • For those without friends of different races, Iquina recommends exploring different cuisines, music, art and cultural expression to elevate and expand our mindsets. "As agents of change, we need to be proactive in reaching out to different people," he said. 

Learnings for Coalition-Builders

  • "White supremacy impacts us all,” said Ngo. “The model minority myth doesn't protect us. What impacts Black Americans, impacts us [Asian Americans]. It benefits white supremacy to keep us divided. Push past the discomfort and be vulnerable with someone you don't know.”

  • “Nowadays people complain about everything, said Iquina. “I often think to myself, like what are you doing to do? So I challenge people to come out to a Consulate event, or come to the community rally in response to hate. Just be present. Then from there, take steps for your journey.”

  • “What I want people to recognize is that we all have a role we can play in building coalitions amongst ourselves,” said White. “Although our fight may feel different, it is the same: We're all looking to break down the walls of white supremacy.”

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Reflection & Discussion

The trauma inflicted by white supremacy on Black and Asian communities is not easily resolved, as demonstrated by some challenging comments in breakout dialogue. But as our guests discussed and modeled, creating change may start with simple acts – like building relationships across racial lines. 

During breakout dialogue, co-host Megan Trischler invited participants to reflect on the following questions. What arises for you?

  • What narratives might you be presently holding that reinforce a stereotype?

  • How did this conversation spark new awareness in you?

  • Are there any ways that you are feeling compelled to act or respond based on what you heard?

Continue the Conversation

As a next invitation to gather, AACAC invited Urban Consulate friends to join the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Closing Party on Sunday, May 30, 4-8pm, at Five Points Alley in historic Walnut Hills, with food by Mahope & music by Daybreaker Trio. Co-hosted by Cincy Nice Social House. Hope to see you there!

Special Thanks

Deep gratitude to bassist, composer & teacher Steven Shinji Whipple who joined remotely from New York City to perform an original work inspired by a personal experience with exclusion. And much appreciation to JP Leong and Yemi Oyediran of Afrochine for encouraging this conversation and producing our first post-COVID hybrid IRL/virtual program. (Phew!)

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with Afrochine, The Mercantile Library and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

BRINGING RADICAL TRUTH & JOY TO CITY-BUILDING

Across the country, Black city-builders are imagining and creating more just and beautiful communities. What are they learning and dreaming? On April 21, Next City hosted the virtual release of Urban Consulate Confidential, a series of candid cross-city conversations hosted by Orlando P. Bailey in Detroit, made possible by the Ford Foundation, and rooted in radical truth, joy and love. The release event drew over 550 registrations from around the world.

In this one-hour virtual premiere event, Bailey welcomed three featured guests from Washington, D.C., Minneapolis and Cincinnati to delve deep into key themes and invite audience reflection and action. As it so happened, this conversation occurred 24 hours after the Derek Chauvin verdict in Minneapolis, so the ongoing trauma of George Floyd’s murder and racial violence was top of mind.

Here are key outtakes from their conversation:

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"City-building is both seen and unseen. I think a lot about world building when I think of city building. N.K. Jemisin has this really beautiful analogy that she uses to frame it as a fiction writer. How do you even start to create a world that doesn't exist? And the analogy that she shares is that it's almost like this iceberg effect, right? There's the 10% of what you see in our built environment, the cityscapes. The streets, the roads, parks. But 90% of that iceberg is completely unseen.

And when I think about city-building, I think about all of the people and energy and souls and spirit and advocacy that is totally unseen. I think about the caretakers in my life who take Grandma to the doctor every day. That's a city builder. I think about the single mother who doesn't have the supports and infrastructure because of inequity, and she has to work two or three jobs to ensure her children have what they need. That's a city builder.

So city building is an act of creating, and it likely being unseen and unrecognized. And that 10% that we see is but the physical manifestation of a lot more."

-Naimah Bilal

"I'm not a planner per se. I'm certainly not an architect. I've never seen myself as someone who worked in the built environment. What I do is show people through research that it's not the people that create the conditions in which they are in, it is the policies that have extracted wealth, talent and opportunity from Black communities — that throttle the growth and prosperity in Black communities.

There's nothing wrong with Black people that ending racism can't solve. I say that over and over again because when we see the conditions of Black cities, when things go wrong in Black majority cities and neighborhoods, we blame people. And my job is to show that no, that's not the case. It's actually the policies that extract the wealth, talent, and opportunities from us. And that's what you're seeing — a lack of investment."

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"I will say just one more aspect of being a city-builder. It's also about building family. If you can leave a place and honestly say that you have another brother, you have another sister, you have another auntie, another uncle, then you are a city builder.

If you walk into a place, and you've not met and locked in lifelong friends and family, and it's an inconvenience for you, then you are not a city-builder.

We have lots of people who are focused on brick and mortar, and are so disconnected from the people themselves that they're actually not building community, they're deconstructing it and tearing it apart. And so it's all about people. All about people."

-Dr. Andre M. Perry

"I would argue that I know several hundred Black people across this nation — and many of them are Urban Consulate family too, right? — if we were to invest directly in them today, we would not even have to wait a generation to change our country.

Reparations at its core is just a return on the investment that we have put into this nation from the very, very beginning. We know that's a $32 billion investment into our ecosystem that benefits every single person. If we look at Chicago, New York, D.C., Cincinnati, Detroit — if we go around our country — we can quantify immediately, the benefit to investing in Black people.

We're going to see a decrease in our health care costs, right? We're going to see an increase in life expectancy for folks. We're going to see an increase in graduation rates. We're going to see an increase in all of the joy and the peace, we're going to see more people at work, we're going to see more inventors who actually are getting their technologies patented, who are moving forward in life. And overall, we will see national productivity actually put us back on a competitive market with the rest of the world.

Getting rid of this anti-Blackness actually catapults the United States of America into a place that makes sense for the type of country that we are supposed to be."

-Shauen Pearce

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FINAL QUESTION:

What do you want more people to understand about this collective work to build more equitable cities? Dr. Andre M. Perry responds:

1. Safety:

"The same attitude that Derek Chauvin had, teachers have. Mailmen have. City-builders have. Policymakers have. Presidents have. So for me, the point is absolutely clear that you need to get guns out of racist hands in the military and police forces. That has to be central, there are few other things that will lead to protection in my mind.”

2. POLITICAL REPRESENTATION:

“We don't have the political representation reflective of where and how we live. Period. Our voting rights are constantly eroded. If we are blocked from various offices, we are not going to be protected.”

3. INVESTMENT:

“We do need investment because of years of wealth extraction from anti-Black racism, Jim Crow, all these other things. We do not have the wealth other people do, and wealth is a predictor for health, education, all these other issues. So we do need investment in the form of asset acquisition. Why I'm a supporter of Reparations is because you can actually create a level playing field. But if people don't get investment, it will still be a hard road. We know because of New Deal housing and transportation policy that investment can lead to building up communities, almost within a generation. And so we have an opportunity — not just with this American Rescue Bill, but also the Infrastructure Bill — to actually direct resources that will lead to our protection.”

4. RACIAL EQUITY SCORECARD:

“I do believe we need some form of equity scoring at the city, state, and national level. Just as we score bills against their impact on the budget, we should be scoring bills on their potential impact on Black and brown people in this country. If you're going to have a bill, and it's not going to lead to Black jobs, it's not going to lead to wealth-building, it's not going to lead to ownership — then it's not a good bill. Period."

Read more on scoring from Dr. Perry here.

HOW ARE WOMEN CHANGING CITY-BUILDING?

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BY SULIN NGO

“The future of city-building is female, unapologetic & intersectional.”

-Jay Pitter, international placemaker & author

When you think of city-building, do you think first of bricks & mortar? For this conversation following Women’s History Month, we expanded our aperture to a more holistic view of community infrastructure, including public health, education and care.

Urban Consulate knows that women are making history all year round – and not always in ways that are acknowledged. In celebration and acknowledgement of these often unseen, unsung contributions that fuel our communities, Consulate hosts Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler convened a virtual salon on April 12, 2021 to ask: Women are working to build better cities. Are cities working for women? How are women changing how we think about city-building?

To explore this question, the Consulate welcomed three guests:

Daniel set the tone for the conversation by performing an original poem titled, “Every day I am awake, I am made aware.” Then Bilal guided virtual participants through a conversation starting with a nod to history – including Black feminists bell hooks, Audre Lorde and The Combahee River Collective — and ending with the future. 

Who is a woman?

McClain and Trabue both stressed that “womanhood” is not defined solely by biological sex, and that important contributions have been made in shaping the meaning of the word by those who have historically been excluded by it, such as trans and non-gender-conforming people. McClain drew from her experience reporting on pregnancy and reproductive health, and from the long and rich history of Black women writers on the subject.

“One of the most useful ways of defining womanhood is through the lens of misogyny. We know what it’s like to be hated for being a woman. If we think about what it is that’s so threatening, it’s instructive,” said McClain. 

Trabue derives meaning from her relationships. “For me, it’s being a mom, a sister, a daughter to others and being in relationship with other self-identified women who go through the same triumphs and struggles I do,” she said.

Is city-building welcoming?

Trabue is a city-builder not just by virtue of contributing to the region’s health agenda through The Health Collaborative and now bi3 – she is also the mayor of the Village of Woodlawn in metro Cincinnati.

But despite her accomplishments, not all spaces are accommodating. 

“When I walk into a room, I always walk in as my full self, so you always get Kiana Trabue every single time. But Kiana Trabue is not always received that way,” she said, describing the microaggressions she encounters on a regular basis, such as comments on her hair, age and position.

“Most of these [comments] are rooted in the fact that I am Black and I am a woman, unfortunately.”

Is health valued in city-building?

“What being in public health taught me is that all health is political,” said Trabue. “So when we talk about how healthy cities or communities are created or destroyed, it’s through politics and policy.”

Programs designed to address health issues, such as weight loss programs or healthy eating programs, are ultimately limited because they do not address the root cause of the problem – structural discrimination based on race, gender, class & more that is reinforced by laws, budgetary decisions, law enforcement and other political tools, Trabue explained. 

“[By] taking a public health framework into the political world,” said Trabue, “I realized it’s the same game with different players.”

How do we shift policy?

McClain challenged us to think outside the box about “city-building,” noting that defining women’s contributions by the geographic boundaries of a city was limiting. 

“Women have a lot of power, wherever we are, wherever we show up. We have the potential to shape our immediate worlds and the broader world,” said Trabue.

“Kiana talked about changing policy... In order to move policy, you have to simultaneously shift culture alongside that policy creation. And I think that women play a role in shifting culture,” said McClain.

One example of this is the current national conversation about caregiving as essential infrastructure for a post-COVID future, led by women organizers including Ai Jen Poo, Sarita Gupta & more. #CareCantWait

What is the legacy you hope to build?

“For a long time, asking hard questions about race and gender wasn’t seen as serious,” said McClain. “I hope I’m part of changing that and showing that writing about families, parenting and the decisions we make about our bodies is serious. I hope this is part of my legacy.”

“I work to center other people and what types of opportunities are being created for others as a result of what I’ve been able to do. And so that’s what I hope my legacy is. Not someone talking about how, ‘she was this’ or ‘she was that’ but, ‘She did XYZ that created a path and a space for someone else to come in and succeed,’” said Trabue.

“I want all of the different multiple facets of my work to serve something beyond myself,” said Daniel.

Reflection & Discussion

Following the conversation, Megan Trischler invited participants to engage in breakout dialogue:

  • Who are the women city-builders in your lives?

  • How can we better appreciate what women are building when we expand the definitions of both “city” and what can be “built”?

  • What can we do to support them? 

Many thanks to all who participated. We encourage you to continue the conversation and explore how you can recognize, support and promote women city-builders in your community.

Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with Afrochine, The Mercantile Library and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

WHAT DOES BUILT EQUITY LOOK LIKE?

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by Sulin Ngo

What is “built equity?” How does design and planning influence our physical environment — and how does it impact a community’s well-being? 

On March 8, Urban Consulate hosts Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler invited three leaders with Cincinnati roots to share their stories and experiences shaping more equitable places, spaces, and experiences:

Defining Built Equity

What does built equity even mean? And what does it have to do with the environment? We started this dialogue the way we always do — with some level-setting definitions. Our guests broke the terms down into their basic building blocks. 

  • Built: “What comes to mind is ‘constructed,’ or ‘manipulated,’ usually by humans,” said Professor Michaele Pride. 

  • Environment is something that influences people, and that people carry with them, according to Napoleon Maddox. “It is social, cultural, political, physical and economic.”

Why Built Equity Matters

  • Because communities matter. “I’m motivated by and appalled by the inequities I see as a Black woman, as an architect. Environmental design is a tool to create a more equitable and a more just environment,” said Professor Pride.

  • Because its potential extends beyond here and now. “If your life's work can be accomplished in one lifetime, you're not thinking big enough. Built equity asks, ‘How can you make change that will be ongoing and long lasting?’” said Sears.

How to Create Built Equity

  • Be ready to start from scratch. “I’m a different kind of builder than Michaele or Jonathan – but my father was a serious builder. He came from a time when things weren’t given or sold to Black people, so he had to build. So my way of thinking as an artist and as a person is – if it's not there and I want it to be there, it's something that I need to be willing and ready to build,” said Maddox.

  • Be inclusive. “Let's examine every aspect of the way we teach, who we teach, with whom we learn. Everybody comes with expertise in their own lives. The more voices we have around us participating in that process, the more lively, rich and equitable that environment will become,” said Professor Pride. 

  • Think outside of the box – like kids! “How far are we letting kids push our imaginations? They're not thinking about the rules, they're thinking about how far I can jump or throw this thing. By incorporating their influence - maybe we'll create something surprising in the process,” said Sears.

Reflection & Discussion

As we move about in our daily lives, we can see the effects of built equity in our communities by asking ourselves questions like: Who has access to bathrooms and water fountains? Shelters and well-lit streets? Whose faces are represented in art?

We challenge you to continue the conversation and explore how you can create built equity in your communities. What's one advance towards built equity that you're longing to see in your neighborhood or city?

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Urban Consulate brings people together to share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly salons are hosted by Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler in partnership with Afrochine, The Mercantile Library and the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation. For past & future conversations, click here.

TRUTHTELLING FOR TRUE EQUITY

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In a time of racial reckoning, how can civic leaders lean into truth-telling and repair within their organizations & spheres of influence? Where are the landmines for practicing equity?

On October 12, 2020, Naimah Bilal and Gee Horton of Urban Consulate Cincinnati hosted Jennifer A. Ingram, founder and CEO of Calibrated Lens and John Faherty, Executive Director of The Mercantile Library for a livestreamed conversation with audience questions. Recorded by Afrochine. Thanks to support from Haile Foundation.

REFERENCES

VALUING BLACK CITIES

The deliberate devaluation of Black communities has had very real, far-reaching, and negative economic and social effects. In his new book, Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities (Brookings Institution Press, May 2020), noted educator, journalist & scholar Dr. Andre M. Perry takes readers on a tour of six Black majority cities — including Detroit — whose assets and strengths are undervalued, and provides a new means of determining value.

On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Dr. Perry joined Orlando P. Bailey, host of Urban Consulate and Director of Engagement for BridgeDetroit for a conversation with Brookings Institution and Detroit leaders:

Follow Dr. Perry on Twitter (@andreperryedu)

SPACE FOR NEW QUESTIONS

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BY AARON MONDRY

The coronavirus pandemic has completely upended society. Even for those who have managed to stay healthy, it has altered our professional, social, economic, and political lives. Will these changes improve our public life? Will they raise social consciousness around issues of equity? Or is all of this temporary?

These were some of the weighty questions posed to and answered by Urban Consulate advisors Chase L. Cantrell and Lauren A. Hood in Detroit about the long-term societal effects of COVID-19. (Questions were submitted by Consulate followers. Read the full list here.)

While both Cantrell and Hood admitted that properly answering these questions could consume a whole symposium, they engaged in a deep and heartfelt conversation for over an hour, broadcast live from their homes in Detroit, that effectively framed some of the major issues we’ll have to address in this new world.

Here were three takeaways:

We shouldn’t want to return to “normal.”

When most people reference the end of the pandemic, they talk about bringing back society exactly as it was before. That’s what we should all want, right?

Not at all, argued Cantrell, founder of Building Community Value.

“The status quo hasn’t served the majority of humanity,” he said. “I’m concerned that there’s been so much conversation about going back to normal. When we talk about reopening the economy, it’s around the idea of normalcy—we want to consume again, get back to restaurants and bars, and go to shopping malls. The nature of the conversation is we need those who are already marginalized, oppressed, cogs in the system, to continue to make that system function.”

And how can we demonstrate that they aren’t just “cogs in the system” but truly essential?

“Pay them right,” Cantrell said. “Give people a livable wage with healthcare. Show them real value.”

But because the urge to return to normal is so great, Cantrell believes that there will be a significant economic rebound once the pandemic is completely over. “I keep thinking about the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic,” Cantrell said. “After that we got the Roaring 20s. I’m wondering if we’re going to be so starved for interaction that once the danger has actually passed, it’s going to be like that.”

Which could create even greater urgency to enact the changes we want to see.

We must grow our capacity for empathy

Hood hopes that the disproportionate suffering endured by essential workers and people of color will cause everyone else to recognize their shared humanity. 

“This moment has given the broader majority of people an opportunity to be more empathetic,” she said. “I feel like we’re all suffering from collective trauma right now. Because we have this shared experience, hopefully we can build from that. There really is an opportunity for people to reflect and become more humane, more empathetic.”

But Cantrell expressed skepticism that this could come about, saying that people are “siloed in their communities by design, and don’t have a way to come to a common understanding.”

Art has an important role to play

How do we communicate the truths that coronavirus has revealed about the value of everyone in our economy? Art can certainly be an avenue. 

Hood believes that artists have a freedom of expression that those in the political and philanthropic realms don’t, and can therefore state hard truths. (Earlier in the conversation, Cantrell and Hood also downplayed the value of civility.) 

But with the closure of galleries and venues, artists of all stripes are suffering financially as much as anyone. And the rest of us are missing their ability to entertain, move, and heal when we need them the most. 

“Arts can lead revolution, but we need to build support communities around the arts because it’s hard to make a living,” Hood said. “We need to reprioritize where the arts live in our lives. Now is the time when we need to recognize how vital they are to our wellbeing.”

NEXT UP

Lauren and Chase return Tuesday, June 2 at 7pm with Consulate host Orlando Bailey for a Deeper Dive into new possibilities and next steps. The conversation will be livestreamed at Facebook.com/UrbanConsulate.

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Aaron Mondry is a Detroit-based journalist and the editor of Curbed Detroit, who think his hometown since 2009 is the most fascinating city in America. His writing has appeared in the Detroit News, Splinter, Crain's Detroit Business, Bridge Magazine, and more.

WHY DO ARTISTS BELONG AT THE TABLE?

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By Leyla Shokoohe

Photography by JP Leong

“The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.”

—James Baldwin

Sometimes in city development, artists are an afterthought — invited in the final stage to paint a mural or perform at the ribbon-cutting. But artists are more than beautifiers — they can help us remember forgotten histories, or imagine possibilities that yet to exist.

On a Monday evening in early March — just days before the world shifted to social distancing to protect each other from the Coronavirus — Gee Horton of Urban Consulate Cincinnati brought together three artists — Damian Hoskins, Toilynn O’Neal, and Cal Cullen — at The Mercantile Library to ask why artists belong at the table, discuss why diversity is so important, and explore the essential role artists play to engage and enliven our communities.

Horton opened with a favorite first question —

When did you fall in love with Cincinnati?

“I fell in love with Cincinnati probably every day, but twice that are poignant,” said Cal Cullen, executive director of Wave Pool, a community-based art center in the neighborhood of Camp Washington. “Once when I left Cincinnati in 2009, because I realized how much I was leaving behind and what I was missing. But then even moreso when I moved back in 2014. It was only upon leaving and coming back that I really realized everything is here, it’s just how you look at it. It just had so many possibilities.”

O’Neal and Hoskins echoed that sentiment. The “boomerang effect” is a strong one in Cincinnati, with many leaving to pursue their paths elsewhere before returning home to contribute to their city.

Folks come back fired up. Where does that come from?

“If I did not go away from Cincinnati, I wouldn’t have been as powerful,” said O’Neal. “I had to see some comparison and contrast. But I also had to recognize my purpose here. Many people stay in silos. When you go away, you see the world is expansive — and the possibilities. You have a purpose. I had a purpose to come back here and implement some of those thoughts.”

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With the love you have for community, how does it feel to watch the community transition?

“Looking back, I felt that the inner city was, for a whole host of reasons, manufactured to house poor people,” said Hoskins. “But there was a creative side of how people lived — that they took what they had and made the most of it, turned something that was intended to be utilitarian or ugly into something incredibly beautiful. That’s art. That’s creativity. That’s creation.”

“When I go back now, it’s the commodity of land. It’s the commercialization of space versus that creativity inherent in making the most of what you had. That hurts, to be quite frank.” 

Both Hoskins and O’Neal attended the Arts Consortium, formerly Cincinnati’s leading African American arts center located in the West End of the city, the same neighborhood where the football team FC Cincinnati is now constructing a multi-million dollar stadium. “It was the place you went for resources,” said O’Neal.

One community-driven arts response to this need to share community knowledge & resources is Wave Pool, the contemporary art fulfillment center started by Cullen and her artist husband Skip. Their mission: “By pairing communities knowledge of their needs with artists’ sense of possibility, we aim to create a society where contemporary art and artists are integrated fully into the fabric and success of our neighborhood, our city, and beyond.”

“It’s all about listening,” said Cullen. “A lot of our art projects are about listening to our neighbors, being neighbors, getting to know our neighbors, really centering them and responding to the needs and desires with contemporary art projects that support artists and connect us all to be a stronger community.”

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How important is it for the younger generation to be aware of the historical contributions of the artists who laid it down for us? 

“There’s this gap between the generation of artists that did legacy movement change in Cincinnati, and this vibrant group of artists doing exciting things [today],” said O’Neal. “Not a lot of people know about them because there’s no place for them to express themselves and get the accolades people in the past would get because they were a community.”

Lost in the gap is the passing down of earned wisdom, including pitfalls to avoid. Knowing some of the steps artists took then could prevent artists from taking those wrong steps today, said O’Neal.

“They laid a path that if you knew about it, you could be a bomb-diggity artist. The reality of it is, you don’t know that history, that story.”

By recognizing the past, and documenting that story, a sense of consciousness develops that can elevate where you are. 

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Why is it important for artists to have a seat at the table? 

“Perspective from diverse voices makes any table richer, and makes any dialogue more meaningful,” said Hoskins.

“It’s important to be at tables, and not beholden to an agenda that doesn’t match your purpose. If we don’t have a seat where a lot of these decisions are made, then life will happen to us, and we don’t have the voice to inform the decisions that are ultimately going to affect us.” 

When you’re at the table, how should you use that opportunity?

“As a creative person, when you join tables, if you don’t know what you bring to that, and how you can contribute to that, it almost becomes a waste,” said O’Neal. “No matter what the table is and how grand it seems, if you come with nothing and you’re just observing the table, it’s a waste of your time. You start to lose part of your creativity. I search for tables where I can be useful.”

“It takes a level of self-awareness,” added Cullen, “to be able to sit in your power and show them what you have to bring.”

“We have to know what we’re bringing, and what its value is, and make sure we’re being compensated,” said Cullen. “Not even just personally, but through social well-being, or knowing that the social justice you're advocating for is going to happen.”

The learning goes both ways.

“I think there’s a lot of education to do — both for artists to realize what power you have as artists, but also to show the rest of the world what power artists have and why they belong at these tables.”

As Baldwin wrote, the role of the artist in society is to not lose sight of our shared purpose “to make the world a more human dwelling place.” How can you make sure artists are at any tables where you sit?

* * *

Urban Consulate is a network for exchange. Since 2016, the Consulate has hosted hundreds of conversations in Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Austin, Cincinnati and Chicagoland to bring people together and share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly parlor talks gather at The Mercantile Library, hosted by Garry “Gee” Horton, Naimah Bilal & Megan Trischler, recorded by Afrochine. Free & open to the public thanks to support from the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

PHYSICAL, NOT SOCIAL DISTANCING

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We admit — when we first saw the term “social distancing” emerge as a precaution to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, we groaned. (The last thing we need is more separation & polarization!) But alas, this is exactly how we must take care of one another. So as we reluctantly reschedule our planned gatherings for an uncertain timeline, here are some words we have found helpful:

ARTICLES

We Need Social Solidarity, Not Just Social Distancing

(Eric Klinenberg, The New York Times, March 14, 2020)

Social Justice in a Time of Social Distancing

(Kenneth Bailey, Design Studio for Social Intervention, March 11, 2020)

Principles for Ethical Cancellation

(Springboard for the Arts, March 13, 2020)

When Cancel Everything Means Disaster for Artists

(Sarah Holder, City Lab, March 16, 2020)

Coronavirus is an Indictment of Our Way of Life

(Helaine Olen, Washington Post, March 13, 2020)

Tell Us Your Stories of Community Resilience

(Jessica Lee Martin, City Lab, March 16, 2020)

QUOTES

“In the rubble of our foiled plans, in the fog of uncertainty, we keep looking for beauty. That is how civilizations endure, how societies and the human beings that constellate them heal. It may be the only way we do.” -Maria Popova

“We are all realizing how interconnected we all are as we distance ourselves from each other.” -Ibram X. Kendi

“As a sociologist can I just remind everyone that we should in fact try and minimize "social distancing" whilst maximizing physical distancing. To get through this our ability to maintain strong, connective social bonds is as important as having a strong, biological immune system.” -Ben Carrington

“Who will we be to each other? In our young century this question is inextricable from the question of what it means to be human. How we live into it, or flee it, will be the difference between whether we flourish as a species or merely survive.” -Krista Tippett

“We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just — do something about it. Say something. Have the courage.” -John Lewis

“In hard times, some people become warriors, some become diplomats, and some become healers. They're all needed.” -@yayfrens

“How are we demonstrating compassionate action? We are being forced to shift. Let’s stay in Love.” -Bernice King

"We are not a country that is divided, we are a country that is disconnected." -Rev. Dr. Steve Bland Jr.

“We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say, ‘It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem.’ Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes.” -Fred Rogers

"We have survived apart, and distance has created many problems. We now have a greater challenge; we must learn to live together. It’s a greater challenge than surviving apart, but infinitely more rewarding.” -Rev. Jesse Jackson

“Our moment of crisis is decades in the making, the endgame of decades of embracing the idea that we are not interconnected, that it is each man and woman for themselves.” -Helaine Olen

“Civic life is not about being alone. It’s about getting along with other people in a real place. Not just because you have to, but because of the wonderful benefits conferred on us by the condition known as civilization.” -James Howard Kunstler

NOW YOU:

Whose words do you turn to in hard times?

How are you practicing social solidarity?

WHAT DOES NEW LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE?

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by Leyla Shokoohe

Video & photography by Afrochine

What does new leadership look like? On February 10, the second gathering of the Urban Consulate Cincinnati at The Mercantile Library brought together a powerhouse trio of women — Lauren Jones, Inclusive Giving Advisor at the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Kate Tepe, Engagement Manager for the Women’s Fund, and Consulate co-host Naimah Bilal of University of Cincinnati Foundation — to discuss stepping up, speaking up and lifting one another up. 

What’s the most essential definition of leadership? 

“The most essential definition is being able to really see and encourage what makes us human, each person as an individual. Because if you can’t connect, you can’t hear, you can’t listen — you can’t observe,” said Jones. 

“In this time where people don’t feel like their voices are being heard, leadership is not really about the ego. It’s about shedding that and really understanding and advocating for the community.” 

The communal focus of Jones’ perspective on leadership rings true in an era where we as a populace are finally starting to divest of traditional hierarchical structures. Where the idea of supporting one’s neighbor is as important as supporting oneself. “A rising tide lifts all boats.”

“At its most basic level, leadership is the ability to see a need, and step up and attempt to fill it,” said Jones.

“It’s successive — how are you reaching back to bring the next person along? Who can be a better version of you? Are you feeding into that? It's collaborative — working with your peers to see how you get there together. Working in solidarity across political affiliation, race, identity, faith. Getting there together or not at all.” 

What experiences taught you that?

Behind every great student is a great teacher. Both Jones and Tepe ruminated on the experiences that led them to their perspectives, and their positions. 

“For me, it was a very specific experience working in fast food for a number of years,” said Jones. “I worked as a line cook, a waitress, a line runner.” The pressure-cooker situation of a restaurant was, for her, a foundation for learning basic relational management. She segued that knowledge from customer relations to donor and constituent relations. 

“I started to observe people becoming their own worst enemy,” said Tepe. “[There was] this fear that somebody was going to take from them what they had. People would bring in all these sparkly people…and they were intimidated. That fear of being left out is what really encouraged me to not operate that way,” she said. 

How do we exercise leadership when we don’t find ourselves as part of a hierarchical system?

“I think it’s as simple as operating with integrity and authenticity,” said Jones. When someone operates with those tenets in mind, people around them notice, she said. They move from being a resource to being an asset. 

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If you were both to co-author a book about leadership for Black women, what are the top most vital to-do’s?

“I'm getting as real as I possibly can,” said Jones. “The top thing on the list for me — and this is so poignant, something I’ve been banging my head up against as of late — is to observe more and pay attention to all of the unwritten rules. As you ascend to new levels, new levels bring new devils.”

Tepe delved into ascendant leadership — the difficulties of moving up the ladder rungs to positions with even more power and attendant responsibility. 

“I think sometimes it’s really important to acknowledge that leadership — good leadership, tough leadership — oftentimes is a huge emotional labor,” said Tepe. 

Jones picked up that thread and hit on a poignant truth: good leaders are supposed to shoulder the burden, not share the load. 

“I think that’s especially true for Black women. I think it is our responsibility to be like, ‘Sis, don’t go over there. There’s nothing good waiting for you over there.’ I wish there were more women who could reach back. I just needed that one red flag.” 

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How do you refresh yourself and draw inspiration to go back into the rigors of leadership?

“One way is to lean on whatever resources you might have,” said Jones. “It can be difficult to stay buoyed when you carry such great weight. But that’s what you sign up for when you take these opportunities.” 

Tepe acknowledged that while that’s the case, it doesn’t exist in a binary yes/no vacuum. Successful contemporary leadership can look like resistance when in fact it encourages growth. 

“Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is step away,” said Tepe. “No, I cannot… and no, I'm not going to explain this to you.” She has found that “encouraging conversation that sometimes is a little less personal can help people come up with their own discoveries.”

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How do I reconceptualize my notion of leadership and resist performing maleness and whiteness? How do we resist the urge to perform those characteristics that may or may not fall within what's natural to us? 

“I think the truth is you can’t reject all of them,” said Jones. “You can subscribe to some of them. If you’re already F.O.D. — first, only, different — you want to be seen, you want to be heard.”

“You have to position yourself in a power way. I pick and choose which ones work for me,” like sitting at the head of the table.

“I have a voice,” said Jones. “I'm going to speak up.”

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How does one care for oneself with an 18-hour schedule? What do you do to refresh, unplug, disconnect and re-center? 

“Meditation is powerful, breathing is powerful. Learning to breathe is really powerful,” said Tepe. “Knowing I have people who support me and not be in constant competition with me is so invaluable to my own growth as a person. It’s helped me be able to ask for help.” “I try to schedule as much downtime as possible,” added Jones.

Finding and maintaining healthy rhythms is essential for all city builders & changemakers — especially for leaders breaking new ground in our community. 

Urban Consulate’s monthly parlor talks in Cincinnati are free & open to the public thanks to support from The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

Locals & travelers welcome.

SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE CITY

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BY LEYLA SHOKOOHE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JP LEONG

New year, new Urban Consulate location! Cincinnati is the latest city to welcome the civic-minded salon series, with community connectors Garry “Gee” Horton, Naimah Bilal and Megan Trischler taking the helm to guide Queen City lovers through opportunities for reflection and transformation.

“We’re going to learn together, we’re going to heal together, and we’re going to act together,” said Bilal as she welcomed over 100 diverse guests to The Mercantile Library, where conversations will be held every second Monday, free & open to the public, thanks to support from Haile Foundation.

Rooted in love for the city, Bilal and Horton began with a first question to their inaugural guest, Stephanie Byrd, CEO of the American Red Cross of the Greater Cincinnati-Dayton Region:

When did you know you had fallen in love with the city of Cincinnati?

“One of the things that has caused me to love this city,” said Byrd, “is our quest to be the best we can be, and to be very transparent about our opportunities to get better and better.”

The idea of loving a place while still welcoming the opportunity to critique and cultivate its potential was a common thread throughout the evening — and indeed, underpins the ethos of the Urban Consulate. “These conversations are going to unfold in a way that seeks to illuminate the city’s advancement,” said Bilal in her introduction.

Learning TO LOVE the City

Byrd, a native of Indianapolis, first experienced Cincinnati through family vacations. The city was part of her growing up, she said. When the time came to look at college, she settled on Miami University, just under an hour north of the city. She became politically active while an undergrad, and looked south to Cincinnati after graduation. 

“I thought this city really had a lot to offer for somebody like me. I enrolled in grad school at Xavier University. I absolutely fell in love,” said Byrd. “I truly felt like I belonged here. I was very welcomed here. I had a great start, a great introduction.” 

For all her love of the city, Byrd was clear to let those gathered know that she was aware then, and now, that there remain very real issues. 

“While I love the city, there are also those moments when I think, ‘When are we going to get a clue?’ Some things we just ought to be doing better in 2020. We have faced them over the years, and are doing better, but we always seem to have more to do, and tend to backslide a little bit before we jump forward,” she said. 

Stephanie Byrd & Naimah Bilal

Stephanie Byrd & Naimah Bilal

“Why did you decide to say ‘I want to fight the fight’ here in our city?”

“For the folks in my generation, it would be great to hear that,” Horton continued. “We, too, are dealing with challenges. They might look different, but they feel the same.” 

Byrd said she renewed her fondness for Cincinnati post-riots and conditions “that fractured us” through her investment in initiatives focusing on young children, and movements that fought for equality of all citizens. Recognizing that issues still exist — for example, Cincinnati’s black infant mortality rate is higher than the national average, and homelessness is still pervasive throughout the city — is essential to solving them.

“If you choose not to fight and you run, then you really don’t win. Because you’ve not done anything to solve the issue,” said Byrd.

Stephanie Byrd, Naimah Bilal & Garry “Gee” Horton

Stephanie Byrd, Naimah Bilal & Garry “Gee” Horton

ACTING TO IMPROVE the City

For her part, Byrd has been a shining example of how to fight. She was most recently in leadership at the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and before that, the founding executive director of Preschool Promise, a $15M early childhood education initiative that passed Hamilton County ballots. She returned to the healthcare industry when she was named to her current role.

Byrd is the first African American woman CEO of this American Red Cross, and has broken that racial and gender ground in previous positions, too. 

“It is hard as an African American woman to be seen and to be heard,” Byrd said, to a flurry of snaps from the audience. “It’s a huge frustration. I will say something, and it’s like glazed-over eyes. And someone else will say the same thing, and it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. And it drives me crazy. I’ve not gotten over that, it still happens.”

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HEALING THE CITY

“We take on a lot of burdens by ourselves,” said Byrd. “It’s hard to form a coalition because of real or perceived barriers as African American women. But the first thing is to find someone who believes what you believe, because it’s too hard to do by yourself. We’re getting to the point where we’re comfortable creating collaborations.”

Horton picked up on that thread, speaking to a rising consciousness about representation and equity in Cincinnati, indicated by the very existence of the Urban Consulate.

“How is the city adapting to this transformation? How can the city cultivate a new generation of leaders so we don’t leave?”

Examples of that cultivation are growing, in organizations like MORTAR and increasing citywide equity initiatives. But there needs to be buy-in from both younger and older generations.

“We have to be bold about allowing young people to do what they can do. And to be willing to mentor, to understand there is some wisdom that comes with time,” Byrd said.

“That means sharing power, sharing control, sharing resources.” 

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OPENING CIRCLES

“Part of what we’re doing now is having dialogue to get to know each other better. But part of it is knowing how we can all be human together,” said Bilal. “To be a person in this world is to know the story of fear, and to build your resilience to reach out and connect with others.”

“What are things you rely on to step outside of comfort and diversify connections?”

Byrd’s answer was simple and immediate:

“Kindness. There’s a lot to be said for being kind and nice to people. Saying hello never hurt. Being self-effacing,” she said. “You can get more bees with honey than vinegar.” 

“What is your heart longing for in this city?”

“More progress on getting better at being good, so that we get to great,” said Byrd. “I love Cincinnati. I’ve had my moments, but I’ve stayed because I know there’s a lot of potential. I would love to see it reach its full potential. The thing I’m curious about is how we overcome our hesitancy to bring more people to tables that affect everyone.”

Before closing, Byrd answered questions from guests, including:

In your experience interacting with other Red Cross executives across the nation, is the state of black America fairly constant across the United States? 

“I do see the same kinds of dynamics. The disparities that exist in this city for African Americans exist in many other cities where there is a Red Cross. What gives me hope is a recognition of that. You have to remain hopeful — and you have to have a strategy.” 

How can we as a city forestall gentrification? 

“Through the ability to engage early on, so there are opportunities to participate and have needs met, or at least understood. We have to be at the table. If a meeting is held, we have to be at meetings. But first, we have to be sure there is a meeting. And we have to express what our needs and desires are — it’s a two-way street.” 

To that end, Urban Consulate offers a space to unpack those needs and desires — and support one another in advancing them. “The ability to have honest dialogue based on love and hope for our city is key to our being great,” said Byrd.

Next up:

* * *

Urban Consulate is a network for exchange. Since 2016, the Consulate has hosted hundreds of conversations in Detroit, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Austin, Cincinnati and Chicagoland to bring people together and share ideas for better cities. In Cincinnati, monthly parlor talks gather at The Mercantile Library, hosted by Garry “Gee” Horton, Naimah Bilal & Megan Trischler, recorded by Afrochine. Free & open to the public thanks to the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation.

CROSSING BORDERS

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What happens when we take our city conversations to the suburbs?

We’ve only ever hosted conversations in cities — until the 2016 election made clear there is learning to do across borders & zip codes. So we’re hosting A Year of Courageous Conversations in the Village of Barrington, 35 miles northwest of Chicago, to explore our greatest challenge: how to live together in difference. From fear and bias, to privilege and prejudice, to equity and inclusion, we’re taking topics one by one, in monthly sessions, through Summer 2020.


LISTENING AS A SOCIAL ACT

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We were thrilled to welcome Krista Tippett of On Being and The Civil Conversations Project to Chicagoland for a sold-out talk on May 23, 2019 to launch our new series, A Year of Courageous Conversations.

WHAT MAKES PUBLIC SPACES JUST?

We talk a lot about what makes urban public spaces vibrant — but what makes them just?

This was the question for our City Lobby conversation on April 16, 2019 at PhillyCAM, where Philadelphians gathered for an interactive dialogue led by Erica D. Atwood, Veronica O. Davis and Andrew Stober, advisors to the Just Spaces Initiative in Philadelphia.

Watch the video livestream of their presentation here:

JUST SPACES FRAMEWORK:

When Stober joined University City District over three years ago, they started thinking about public space and collecting data around equity.

“What felt clear to me was that no one really knew what they talked about when they talked about equity in public space.”

They had data on users, but what they didn't have was non-users. “Who is absent from public spaces, and why aren’t they here?”

To analyze this question, the Just Spaces Initiative, led by a large advisory committee, started with three axes of justice conceptualized by anthropologist Setha M. Low, director of the Public Space Research Group at the City University of New York:

  • Distributional Justice — Who has physical proximity to space assets?

  • Procedural Justice — Who is listened to and how are they listened to in the planning, design and operations of a public space?

  • Interactional Justice — What makes people feel welcome or unwanted in a public space?

Plus two additional elements:

  • Representation — What does it mean to see yourself and your history in a space?

  • Ethic of Care — How do people care for each other and the space that they’re in?

DEFINING JUSTICE:

To illustrate the difference between equality, equity & justice, Davis shared three images:

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  • Equality shows everyone getting the same size box to peer over the fence

  • Equity shows everyone getting the size box they need to see over the fence

  • Justice asks: Why is there a fence?

“The idea of justice is: Break the whole fence down,” said Davis. “Why are we fighting to see over the fence, when there shouldn’t be a fence in the first place? This is where we’re coming from—let’s remove the fence in order to have more just public spaces.”

Added Stober: “Often one of the problems is that we don’t even see the fence.”

“What’s really interesting,” said Davis, “is when you start having conversations about equity, everyone agrees: ‘Yes, everyone should have what they need.’ But the minute you put money on the table, then it’s like ‘Welll, maybe they can have some of what they need,’ and the other stuff goes away…”

Interactional Justice:

“What makes you feel welcome and gives you a sense of belonging in a space?”

—Erica D. Atwood

“One of the biggest fears in a rapidly changing city is cultural erasure—what was once familiar to me is no longer there.”

—Veronica O. Davis

Some examples of what could make you feel unwanted or unwelcome in public space:

  • How far do I have to walk around a fence to get in?

  • Where is the closest bathroom?

  • How is the space policed?

  • How much do I have to pay for ice cream?

Speaking of ice cream—when monetizing spaces with concession sales, park operators must be transparent. Dilworth Park, for example, offers tremendous public programming. Revenue is needed to produce this, the costs must be made more transparent to the community. On the other hand, could vendors also consider: if you’re selling ice cream for $5, could you also offer something for $1?

PROCEDURAL JUSTICE:

“People get so caught up in the design of public space, that they don't think about the people who will use them.”

—Veronica O. Davis


“It’s important for whomever is designing a park, to really be working with the community,” said Davis. For design and planning professionals, “It’s about going to where people are, while they’re doing the thing they’re already doing, engaging them in the process, and designing space that can be flexible for multiple users.”

“It’s also about being very deliberate about whose voices are being amplified in a discussion,” added Stober. “Especially voices that aren’t showing up through traditional means of public engagement.”

ETHIC OF CARE:

“Public space can serve as a refuge from society’s ills, it can also serve as reflection of those very same ills. You often see that expressed in how people are cared for.”

—ANDREW STOBER

  • People — How do we care for people using public space who are the most marginalized?

  • Maintenance — How does the party responsible for maintaining a space (municipal or other) maintain it or not, and what message does this send to people who are using the space? How can this be interpreted differently by people from different backgrounds?

  • Volunteerism — How do people step up for events like “Love Your Park Day” to take care of spaces in an informal or organized way?

On the issue of maintenance, Stober shared an example:

When a public water fountain in the city was shut down, local focus groups interpreted it differently. People of color read it as discouraging use of the space, while white residents assumed it was because the city didn’t have budget to maintain many public amenities, not just this one.

“Neither is the specific reason why that water fountain isn’t working,” said Stober, “but they both speak to systematic reasons” for disinvestment and disparity in public space.

REPRESENTATION:

“The only two public statues of women in Philadelphia are martyrs— and they’re white martyrs. What does that say?”

—Erica D. Atwood

AUDIENCE QUESTION:

“What about large public spaces that serve an entire city or region? How do you keep space flexible for users from everywhere?”

Davis shared the National Mall in Washington D.C. as an example. “It is just grass. But if you go there any day of the week, it is always full of people.”

“How do you have this space that is for the world, but is also where locals go to toss a frisbee or fly a kite? It’s because it’s literally nothing, and everyone can make it whatever they want. You take your corner, and you define your space for the time that you’re there.”

Comparing parks in America and Europe, Atwood added: “There is not enough opportunity for adults to play in parks. In thinking about your space, think about how you remove restrictions and allow opportunity for grown folk and children and everyone to have an equitable space to play.”

“We’re so worried about liability and safety,” added Atwood. “What’s more important is to have a space that is open and dynamic and available to everyone.”

WARMUP EXERCISE:

To get the conversation started, guests were asked to share their favorite public spaces growing up:

  • “I spent most of my time on the city sidewalks, and we congregated on a big hill in the neighborhood.”

  • “My space was the Mt. Airy playground. It was my first introduction to public spaces and the recreation department.”

  • “My public spaces were indoor spaces. I was from an immigrant family, so I went to the library and the public schools.”

BREAKOUT EXERCISE:

To put the Just Spaces framework into practice, guests were asked to consider three case studies from public spaces across the country:

Discussion QUESTIONS:

  • What are the elements of justice that apply to your case?

  • Put yourself in the shoes of a policymaker, an operational manager or an advocate: How does the Just Spaces framework apply?

PARTING QUESTION:

What will you do to make public spaces more just in the next 10 minutes, 10 days, 1 year?

POWERPOINT

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THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS:

City Lobby: Just Spaces was hosted by Urban Consulate at Philadelphia Community Access Media and made possible thanks to support from Knight Foundation and Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. For future Consulate events, follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

Photo Credit: Heather McBride Photography

BETTER ARGUMENTS

On the first day of spring, at the historic Eastern Market in Detroit, Urban Consulate co-hosted The Better Arguments Project—a national initiative of The Aspen Institute Citizenship and American Identity Program, Facing History and Ourselves and Allstate to invite Americans to reach across political, cultural and economic divides for more productive dialogue.

The Better Arguments Project is inspired by the idea that America doesn’t need fewer arguments—just less stupid ones. (An idea we can get behind!)

Founder Eric Liu of Aspen Institute and Citizen University introduced five features of better discourse:

  • Take winning off the table

  • Prioritize relationships & listen passionately

  • Pay attention to context

  • Embrace vulnerability

  • Make room to transform

To read more, check out this piece in The Atlantic.

In Detroit, we practiced these principles in conversations between city longtimers and newcomers, who at times have been pitted against one another (even unwittingly or unwillingly) about changes happening in the city.

Some took issue that this is not an “argument” but a conversation — a perspective we deeply appreciated. Many agreed we need to have better dialogue across generational, geographic, racial & economic difference, and came eager to learn & practice skills to do that.

To start off the morning right, Detroit writer & storyteller Marsha Music opened with a reading of her poem, Just Say Hi: The Gentrification Blues. When moderator Lauren Hood asked the audience of 200 community members, “Who here has had their consciousness shifted by Marsha?” a sea of hands went up.

Then breakout conversations were led by Jennifer Jones Clark of Facing History and Ourselves, who grew up on Detroit’s Eastside, and shared her own ambivalence about how the city is changing.

So did it work? Did the principles foster productive dialogue?

Of course conversations at each table varied, but the ones we participated in and overheard were beautiful and powerful—with many tablemates trading contacts and making plans to keep in touch after the event.

Just to give you an idea, here is a small sampling of “I Will” pledge cards that participants left behind:

To learn more, check out the Twitter Thread and follow @aspencitizen and @facinghistory for tools & tips to #ArgueBetter.