Defying Gentrification

No city (or metro region) is defying gentrification. All of them are failing at it.I feel that in my bones and soul when I step out of my creative studio and into a world where the train might be cancelled after I made the 15-20 minute walk to the station, and I can only get to McDonald's on foot within 5 minutes.A world where my younger cousins in school may not be valued because they're Black, but maybe they have a good doctor, an amazing community recreation center, and someone to make their hair look dope? I know they probably don't say dope for any reason anymore, but still, we are all aging and growing on this round planet with dwindling water together.That's why I decided to take cities back to school this fall and grade their performance! I did a more qualitative measure of this back in 2018-2019, and now I want to put a number on this work, so you all can more easily measure your city's progress and improve on areas that would be graded “needs improvement” on a traditional report card. A version of this report card is also in The Defying Gentrification Playbook.I graded the six metros/cities I've lived in (Greensboro; Washington, DC; Baltimore; Kansas City; Raleigh; Durham) and four cities I would consider living in (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Atlanta) I counted the core city elements and included adjacent counties if they behave as suburban satellite business districts and villages, not just the legacy city limits and their central business districts. Still, my 13 rubric points for metro regions may not be your 13.However, as a scholar of cities for nearly two decades and a multiply marginalized person as a regular human in cities for 40 years, I feel like my rubric covers everything.I've created a JotForm survey to capture cities and specifically metro regions I haven't been able to include in this series and to test the validity and reliability of my rubric so that this measure can be expanded. I also added a block so that you can tell me what I missed, so it can be added in. My rubric is very US-centric, but a lot of what I'm grading is affected by US federal law. I'd love to see how a Vienna or Hong Kong or London would look in my metric. That's where this survey comes in. Take the survey.Over the next few weeks, as I celebrate my tenth anniversary of dropping everything and moving from Kansas City to Washington, DC, out of my own volition, on the assumption that I could thrive in the District, I'll share my personal grades of cities/regions I've lived in or frequently visited. Over time, I'll update the grades based on what you've told me.This is our bridge between our Black August series on what I can control as a Black queer feminist disabled urbanist, the elders that guide me spiritually, and the on-the-ground facts of what is and isn't present in a city that tickles my Black queer feminist disabled urbanist spidey senses!Now let's get to those things I'm grading on!What's On The Report CardJotform will not let me give cities zeros in its automatic grade setting. It's very similar to my retired middle school teacher mom, who always stopped her Fs in her classroom grades at a 60. Her logic is that a 0 is hard to recover from, but a 60 is fixable. 0.5 signals fixable, but needs fixing.As I mentioned at the beginning, no city achieved a perfect score. The highest grade achieved was a 78, a low C, and the lowest grade was a 67, a high F. The average grade is a 73, which is a low D. Not failing, but barely passing. You'll have to come back in subsequent weeks to find out which cities failed and why. But I will tell you this week what I graded them on, in no special order of importance:Art and creative spaces for all skill and desire levels2- Both amateur and professional artists have somewhere to go that fulfills their need for creativity and a livelihood for their work.1- Only amateur or only professional artists have somewhere to go to practice their art and craft. There's also no real pipeline between the two types of artists, and professional artists are often not homegrown.0.5- No art at all, at least not in visible spaces.Thriving entrepreneurship and gainful employment are available to more than white, straight, abled, wealthy people.2- Both thriving entrepreneurship and gainful (above a living wage based on the MIT calculator) employment are present in folks who aren't straight, white, cis, male, and have family wealth1- Only one or the other is present in non-straight, white, cis, male, and family wealthy folks. Tokens are made of the few people who stand out, because it's not normal; it's extraordinary.0.5- Nobody is working or owning businesses besides the straight white cis male with family wealth. Or others are working, but for under a living wage.Wraparound medical care2- Yes, with a care center that's not a hospital, with all specialties present or able to be referred in-house, an urgent care and pharmacy that are open 24 hours, and accept all insurances and genders.1- Yes, the care center is there, but it's not all inclusive of hours, specialties, genders, and insurances. Or there's just a hospital.0.5- No hospital, no care center.Culturally competent non-medical hair and body care2- You have hair salons for all textures, hair care for all textures in all of your beauty supply stores, and you have practitioners of all types of non-medical or quasi-medical body care sensitive to all skin types and tones and sizes.1- You have these spaces, but they have documented issues with diverse hair types, skin tones, and body sizes0.5- No spaces will even accept a non-white, skinny, straight-haired person into their establishmentsFood that provides both joy and basic nutritional needs in all neighborhoods2- The food is fun and nutritious1- The food is fun or nutritious, not both0.5- There's no food at all. This is not a food desert; this is apartheid.Public transit exists for more than just paratransit users2- Public transit of all types runs for 24 hours a day1- Public transit exists, but outside of paratransit, there are restrictions on its timing, where it takes people, and what type of vehicles/trains there are.0.5- Even disabled folks can't get transportationSpiritual spaces of all faiths that affirm and delight in Black, disabled, feminist and/or queer lives2- All faiths have somewhere to go where their gender, sexual orientation, skin color, size, national origin, and their politics are affirmed and loved in the pursuit of good morality or a divine presence. These places also honor that there are different faiths, or lack thereof, and that's ok. These places respect a gray area, but have clarity on right and wrong that doesn't dehumanize people.1- Some houses of faith behave like the above, but they are few and far between, making it harder for people to plug in and for the communities to have a positive impact on the community.0.5-Houses of faith are all hateful, dogmatic, and even actively terrorizing those that don't believe in their tenets.Schools that affirm Black children K-12, no matter their ability level or perceived behavior.2- Every school, no matter who runs it or how much that might put a target on their backs, believes that Black children can thrive. This investment in Black kids reaps across all children, as in many schools, they are the most marginalized.1- Only a handful of schools, and they are ones you have to apply to and/or pay for, are affirming of Black children.0.5- No schools affirm Black children, and they may be terrorizing them and contributing directly, without shame, to the school-to-prison pipeline.Bookstores and libraries that affirm all authors and all readers.2- Specialized bookstores and libraries exist, and the regular ones honor books that aren't written by white, straight, cis, and male authors.1- Only specialized bookstores and libraries exist, or the regular ones are hostile to readers that aren't white, cis, straight, or male.0.5- No bookstores or libraries exist at all, except for maybe an aisle in Walmart, Target, Dollar Tree, or Dollar GeneralParks, playgrounds, waterfronts, and other natural resources/outdoor activities are not closed off to the public.2- These resources and activities are free and open to the public.1- These outdoor resources have a price tag, or they are partially operated by private entities.0.5- They don't exist at all or are all privatized with no kind of public accessBlack, LGBTQ, disabled, feminist, and other community centers and community events.2- All community centers and events understand that communities overlap and could need support services and culturally competent activities and vendors. They also provide safety for their primary audience of people, while being welcoming.1- Community centers and events for specific groups exist, but they don't serve others or understand intersectional identities or the need for core community safety.0.5- No community centers at allBasic housing that doesn't exceed 30% of one's income at the poverty level and for those under the area median income.2- Housing that meets and exceeds these standards, happily and fully.1- Housing that meets these standards, but begrudgingly and with an outside emphasis on mixed-income areas and market rate areas, without ensuring those who need housing and have no or low income are housed.0.5- People who can pay for housing are unhoused, and of course those who can't are unhoused by default.A way to get out of town that's not your personal vehicle (if you even have one).2- You have an airport that flies internationally, a train station that can take you to all corners of your country and possibly into others, and you have rental cars, rideshares, bikeshares, and trails connected to other cities.1- You have a handful of the above, but not everything0.5- You have none of this besides private vehiclesWhat else stood out with these cities and their initial gradesMost cities had perfect scores on the following measures:* Art and creative spaces for all skill and desire levels* Culturally competent non-medical hair and body care* Spiritual spaces of all faiths that affirm and delight in Black, disabled, feminist and/or queer lives* Bookstores and libraries that affirm all authors and all readers.* Parks, playgrounds, waterfronts, and other natural resources/outdoor activities not closed off to the public.This is not surprising in that these are the easiest things for any city to provide, often without political pushback, although some libraries are under fire for being so diverse, equitable, and inclusive.This is also in line with how movements and lifestyle changes that emerged and became more mainstream during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have affected and stuck with certain sectors of society, like houses of faith and arts spaces.No city scored above 0.5 on housing, because most cities, even the most progressive ones in the spaces above, meet the standard that warrants a 1. This is a measure I am most looking forward to your feedback on. Same with community centers. I've heard some community centers really struggle with how to be in community and properly handle conflict resolution and intersectional identity. This might actually go down because of things you share with me.In the meantime, Greensboro, my beloved hometown, is up first on a deep dive analysis. I'll be sharing its scores and sharing specific places that fill in the gaps, along with city-specific ways the gaps that aren't filled can be filled.Your city might be a failure now, but by the end of this, it will be a winner!Before you go…I'm bringing classifieds back! All you need to know about how this will work, plus an order form, is right here in the application. All ads will follow my announcements in this section of the newsletter and can start running as soon as the next newsletter. I also have a solid editorial calendar in place through the end of the calendar year, so we can talk about ideal placement too!I am currently in Greensboro for a panel on my colleague and friend Marrianne LeGrecco's book on food justice in Greensboro, Everybody Eats. We'll be at Scuppernong Books on Elm Street this afternoon from 4-6 pm.If you want my guidance on anything, especially on how to respond to ads in the classifieds, I'm booking 90-minute strategy sessions! This is a great way to have me help you plan something, namely your career or funding strategy, and they are rebookable!Thanks to everyone who came to the inaugural Making New Fantasies: A Defying Gentrification Workshop, which we decided to do on every third Thursday as a virtual journaling workshop around processing what cities do and don't do for us. Registration is free, and you can register at this link. Join us in September if you want encouragement to write your own stories and make your own plans to make your community better.Get The Defying Gentrification Playbook full-color PDF for just $19.99Finally, for one last time, grade your city!Until next time,Kristen Get full access to Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Listen to the podcast version of this above.I could have made this post a part two on Audre Lorde's influence on why I'm moving in this direction. After all, she was the one who said our silence wouldn't protect us.But in meditating on said silence and learning more about my Black queer feminist foreparents, I came across a The New Yorker article from 2020 that detailed how June Jordan was a noted scholar of what she called “environmental design” despite being lauded in most writings about her as just a poet.June Jordan, The OG Black Queer Feminist UrbanistRecently, the Black radical publication Hammer and Hope dug even deeper into the journey of her not publishing what they and she called a “land reform” novel called “Okay Now”.It was right on time for this Black August series.The New Yorker article details how she reached out to Buckminster Fuller, the designer of the architectural geodesic dome, of which the most prominent example is the blue golf ball-looking building at Epcot Center, among other housing, transportation, and spiritual inventions.She'd spent several months studying architects on the weekends at a Manhattan library and taking a trip to Greece, despite struggling to make ends meet and living in a Queens housing project. Her husband left her and her toddler during this time, and she sent her toddler to his parents because of her poverty.However, she did have the ear of folks like Fuller and writers at publications such as Esquire and the New York Times.But, when writing about a joint-conceived project with Fuller for “urban renewal” in Harlem for Esquire, she omitted her role in it in print. Then the editors at Esquire turned around and turned the article into the case for getting rid of the Black folks that Jordan had reached out to Fuller to create the project for.In the Hammer and Hope article, it mentions that she visited Mississippi for the New York Times and had become a housing researcher, espousing many of Jane Jacobs' tenets of housing and street design, helping people be better humans at the same time as Jacobs.However, Jacobs was able to get her nonfiction urbanist manifesto published, multiple to be exact, even though she was not without criticisms of her own, just for being a woman.While Jordan was questioned by her publishers at Knopf for her own urbanist nonfiction draft, which diverged from Jacobs' reasoning on what was needed for a better relationship between humans and the Earth. Jordan asserted, based on her Mississippi trip, that Black Southerners held the keys for land reform, on their farms and in their towns and cities.Jordan tried to pivot her manifesto into a novel, Okay Now, that never was completed in her lifetime and she was working on up to her death.Fuller at least wrote her a letter or recommendation for a fellowship in Italy that allowed her to start on Okay Now; other reporters and museum retrospectives continued to allow Jordan to be erased from their Harlem project, which was never built.And she continued to write poetry and speak up for folks in Palestine and the US South!How I'm Changing this Narrative of No Black Woman “armchair” urbanistsJane Jacobs is considered an expert on urbanism, despite having only some college credits from Columbia University, being married to an architect, and writing commentaries, articles, and books. She does not hold a degree, and neither did June Jordan. They both self-studied or took classes that enhanced their writings, but didn't result in a full degree, some of which could be blamed on the sexism and racism around Barnard College and Columbia University at the time.So how does this relate back to me.In this current backlash against DEI and in my first ten years of running my design consultancy and practice, I've been met with more criticism than praise, despite holdiing a Master of Public Affairs where I concentrated on community and economic development, along with my own writings and speeches around the US and Canada.I was used to how we as Southerners can praise and criticise and then go back to praising over a plate of barbecue and sweet tea.June Jordan notes our vibe herself in a line from her New York Times piece on how the Mississippians of 1969 didn't label themselves as rebels or radicals or bohemians; they just did them. There was also immense Black class solidarity.At times I worry we are losing some of that, especially with the pressure we get to be more “Northern” in the South. Now, with the internet and cultural exchange being at the tip of search bar or prompt, I'm seeing breakthroughs in Black folks finding subcultures like goth, but making it our own. Afro-Punk is a key site of this happening, both on and offline. Some will say that hard segregation was why we were in Black class solidarity, but I would counter that even with integration, in the South, we aren't that far apart from each other in the way we are in other regions that have better worker rights and pay equity.And as for me and my street cred…When I put them all together like this, erasure of my life and career is a joke.These photos and pictures stand for myself and themselves on what my career and life have looked like over the past 16 years. I wonder what our feminist foreparents would have done with the kind of access we have! But I am determined to pick up the baton and pass the torch.I need to finalize my The Defying Gentrification Playbook copyright registration, but I own my book, and I made it and published it myself.I own this newsletter space. I'm working on my own political thriller romance trilogy, that I'll design and print, and promote myself if I need to!I journal privately daily, and I have so many ideas for this newsletter and other publications I plan to pitch.Yes, I'm taking the book on tour.And I'm grateful for my Buckminster Fuller figures, who have answered my letters, booked me for speeches, and given me bylines.I will not let myself be erased, and I will not shrink myself anymore! I can open my own gates and I will press past any criticism!AnnouncementsI am going to be traveling to Greensboro next weekend for a panel on my colleague and friend Marrianne LeGrecco's book on food justice in Greensboro, Everybody Eats. We'll be at Scuppernong Books on Elm Street on Sunday 8/30/2026 from 4-6 pm.Next week's newsletter will be a returning classic from my archives that I'm annotating live from Greensboro. Then the following week we launch our next series here. It's the tenth anniversary month of the big cross-country move of my own volition. Get ready for me to revisit my reflections on bouncing between DC, Baltimore, and PG County, along with how I see myself as a North Carolinian and African in the diaspora.Finally, thanks to everyone who came to the inaugural Making New Fantasies: A Defying Gentrification Workshop, which we decided to do on every third Thursday as a virtual journaling workshop around processing these kinds of things. Come join us in September if you want encouragement in writing your own stories and making your own plans to make your community better.Until next time,Kristen Get full access to Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

(Listen to this post as a podcast above)Welcome back to our Black August series. This week, I'm sharing how I know what I can and can't control and how that (and the Defying Gentrification Manifesto) are different based on what resources we all have. Let's tap in for the week!Defying Gentrification would be easy if I had a magic wand.People would have clean, reliable public transit at their door; they would have a basic, humane living situation, subsidized as needed, so that construction and operating costs are adjusted based on income.Said incomes would be equal and equitable, inclusive of reparations for communities marginalized by slavery and other underpayment schemes. Finally, people would love each other unconditionally, and that love would repair so many ideas about body autonomy, creativity, and freedom of movement and existence.But we live in the world we are in.Yet, I know that expressing these words on paper helps me visualize a better world and visualize how I can bring that better world out with both my unique gifts and despite my limitations.Introducing again, my Defying Gentrification Manifesto.I can have faith. I can create and cultivate. I can take care of myself. However, I need community care, infrastructure, access, and convenience to defy gentrification.So how does this connect with the circle of control?The circle of control has origins in several mental and emotional therapeutic practices, according to Therapist Aid.There are two circles, one inside of the other. Inside the circle are the things you can control, and outside of the circle are the things you can't control.Per the manifesto, I put faith, creation and cultivation, and self-care inside the circle. Community care, access, infrastructure, and convenience are outside.To make that determination, I used money. I need money for the things outside of the circle to defy gentrification, and I can do the things inside of the circle for free.Each person's circle of control is different. Just like your version of the Defying Gentrification Manifesto may be different, depending on what resources, energies, and life experiences you have. However, you should be mindful that you are listing things you do control, not bypassing things you don't want to control.If you are a real estate developer who wants to actually provide housing and build community, your manifesto and your circle of control will be different from mine.You have access to capital and probably expertise in building homes, so infrastructure, access, convenience, and community care would all be inside your circle.I can watch YouTubers who build houses. I could join a city program to teach me how to build homes. I could convince a bank to let me build an apartment building. But I haven't done those things before, and the barrier to entry for me doing them in the midnight hour, when I am in despair about not making enough money or being the kind of person who places want to hire to do a job, is high.However, I'm learning how to be a better prospector and resource-generator, so that I can cultivate and create those kinds of opportunities. But for right now. I can do that with yarn because I have so much of it, rather than wood or even my words.When I'm in despair, I can drive to the Canton Waterfront Park and park, then observe the Patapsco River, much like I used to drive to the Tanger Outlets at National Harbor to have prime access to the Potomac. Or I'd walk to the older areas of the Southwest waterfront and look out to the intersecton of the Anacostia and the Potomac.As my friend Phrie says often, water is the true gateway to our cities.Water often reminds us that it can take over the land whenever it feels like and that we can't always control it. When we try to control it, like what's happening with these over-indulging data centers, it becomes scarce.But the things we can control, and control in a way that enhances our natural spaces, then our community building, we absolutely should control.And i realize now that I don't need to despair when I don't get press calls or even the money I'd like to have.I can always type on this newsletter and send it out. I can make a portfolio website for free so you can see all that I have done. You all can go paid on said newsletter. I can make my own clothes, do my own hair, and cook my own food.And I can have faith that one day more things will fall into my circle of control and others will recognize what they need to be controlling, for our wellbeing.Next time, I'm going to talk about how I'm determined to continue to be visible in my work, so that folks don't discover that I was a Black queer feminist disabled urbanist from the South after my death, the way that June Jordan's contributions to urbanism are erased.Before you go, make plans to join me virtually at 7:30 pm Eastern on this Thursday, August 20 for the inaugural Making New Fantasies: A Workshop in the Pursuit of Defying Gentrification. Learn more and register here! We'll do this again, so stay tuned for more dates. And purchase a PDF copy of the full Playbook here. Get full access to Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to the Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers Black August series. This month, as we honor our political prisoners and radical revolutionaries, I'm situating myself in that literary canon and providing clarity on how The Defying Gentrification Playbook can give you the inspiration for your and your community's journey to liberation.Today, I talk about muses and how Audre Lorde became mine in this moment of reclamation and redefinition!Make plans to join me virtually at 7:30 pm Eastern on August 21 for the inaugural Making New Fantasies: A Workshop in the Pursuit of Defying Gentrification. Learn more and register here! And purchase a PDF copy of the full Playbook here. Get full access to Defying Gentrification with Kristen Jeffers at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

I was so proud on the morning of Tuesday, May 28, 2013.I was sitting in the Harvard Club, awaiting the beginning of my very first influencer event, sponsored by Siemens for environmental influencers.My cousin called, and I hit ignore, making a note to call him back and get a vibe check on the music scene here, since he was a budding producer at the time and he would know.Then, his parents called, and one of my Dad's neighbors called.When the neighbor called, she told me Dad was hurt- murdered, actually.My aunt and uncle confirmed the news.The crimson red of those walls closed in on me rapidly, and I was never the same again.Fast forward to May 25 of 2020.We all have restrictions on how much we can go outside because the air is poisoning us in a way that can't be controlled. And then, in the midst of all of that, somehow, a man was outside on a block in Minnesota that I'd come to love when I was representing what I thought was just my race in an urban planning room just six years earlier.Instead of COVID killing him, the cops did.I'm feeling even more grateful that, despite how tragic my Dad left this Earth, at least we know it was a person who did it, not the air.And certainly not the cops, who at least in Greensboro, were doing their best not to live up to the stereotype and the system, at least when it came to taking care of my dad, despite the many times 911 was called to his home in those three years.But, something else died that week in 2020.And it was similar to the thing that died besides my dad in 2013.What died, was just being a Black urbanist.What came alive, was the notion that being queer, neurodivergent, radical, feminist and unapologetically Southern, didn't need to hide.In fact, it's the fuel that's kept me even writing on this platform.Even through the breaks and the feelings of it not being good enough or worthy of being listened to.And now, 13 years of my Dad being an ancestor, and six years of the response of George Floyd and COVID (and Breonna Taylor and so many others), I feel more settled in the body and platform that has emerged since then.Radical doesn't scare me like it used to. Being rejected doesn't either. Being multifaceted and realizing that it's ok to have this space as a hobby and to not know all the answers is also easier.Now that I know that colonialism has tried and is failing to make me not love myself and my people and my ancestors.That defying gentrification is what makes life, life for me.And with that, next week, I'm bringing back something I started six years ago, but in a way that feels just as grounded as this space is now.You don't want to miss that!Until next time,Kristen Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

I was listening to Alex Elle's most recent Insight Timer meditation series, and on day five of the series, she talked about ways of being and relationships being obsolete- not all in a bad way, but in a “ sometimes you evolve, and that makes things obsolete”.Or maybe this was my reflection as I did said meditation, based on her new book The Company You Keep. Either way, I went down a deep dive of what it means to be obsolete or be made obsolete, especially in this current moment. And since I do care a whole lot about how gentrification has played into that feeling of being obsolete, that's what I want to share with you this week.I share a lot of big thoughts around people, places, and things every week, with the aim to build a culture of stewardship and community, no matter your zip code. Make sure you're subscribed so I'm always in your inbox. And even better, help me get my last few books shipped and more ordered to be gifted by becoming a paid subscriber!So much of the concept of obsolescence is rooted in the idea of controlled or planned obsolescence, which forces us to give up things that are actually good, but not to capitalists and oligarchs that need us spending constantly.Reflecting back on my experience with losing jobs and contracts, which then made me too depressed to go to work, which then made so it was harder to pay our household bills, including our rent, then losing what I thought was a dream apartment, I came to the following conclusion.Gentrification is planned obsolescence when it comes to place and culture.Policy leaders can aid major developers in claiming that a neighborhood is a slum, then tearing it down and building over it, but only because said neighborhood has a lot of Black bodies doing well.Some Black communities have watched lands sit vacant for up to 30-60 years, because those who decided they were unworthy to have community wanted to wait to build on it when the money is “right”.And yes, even when someone loses access to income from a job, it's still gentrification because often the person who is being replaced at work is Black or another undesirable person of color, disability, or gender/sexual diversity. Many companies that think like this will hire someone for said diversity, until the money gets funny because it takes time to build on that diversity, or they do the work better than expected, but jealousy builds up because the racism of expecting your non-white employees to do worse than you was exposed. Then the company dumps everyone back out, and makes them struggle to pay their rent or mortgage; then the landlords and mortgage companies protecting their investments dump them out of their house.And before you claim that racism isn't always a factor, so much of our working world is built on white supremacist cishetero patriarchal capitalism. Anyone trying to contort themselves to fit that mold in the pursuit of not being obsolete, while not being fully embodied as a white cis straight racist patriarchal capitalist, is going to be obsolete, but then possibly spiritually bankrupt!So many of us who lost our jobs in 2025, many with stellar work records and without prior warning, are really feeling this pain. Especially if for a hot minute, you did try to contort yourselves a little bit and you're trying to regain your spirit and soul from the near purging.I'll admit that over the years, I had been taught certain ways of contortion, and they worked for a little while. But, later down the line, I've also been in situations where I've always done the right thing, and it still wasn't enough. Both are painful for us as Black folks.I wrote The Defying Gentrification Playbook especially for you, because I'm determined that none of us will be made obsolete, no matter what kinds of sacrifices we made to try to fit the mold.Take a moment to grab your copy and support my Bookshop storefront. Or ask your favorite Black and/or queer bookstore to order The Defying Gentrification Playbook. Those who ordered way back in November, we are finally shipping and hand-delivering; your wait is almost over!I also don't want us to be luddites, but the way this change is happening is similar to what the original Luddites went through, and it's tempting!Having had this lived experience of losing my job for saying no to being complicit, especially this past year, I often feel like a luddite in the midst of this conversation around how gentrification is supposed to be a net positive.I've heard for years from middle-class Black folks across the diaspora that gentrification is what we need, after we “tore up our own neighborhoods”.Never mind that tearing up came from a rage of being made obsolete, after already having been enslaved into labor that we didn't choose, denied reparations for how said system wreaked havoc on us across multiple continents.And in this current moment, we are supposed to be ok with not being needed at jobs, because we don't look or sound right or we do too much.How the machines are supposed to do us better, at work and selling products on and offline and on music streaming sites.And when it is a human involved, they better be as thin, light, white, and docile as possible.Somehow I'm supposed to make enough money to pay the rent, and then eventually qualify for a mortgage in this environment.If I do speak up for human rights, I need to do it as an ally, or I need to do it next to a white partner or with the bloodied flag of fighting for “my” country or with perfect grammar or diction. Stop stimming so much, so I don't look like one of those people.Or all of the above, all at once; otherwise I am obsolete.And said obsolescence is the plan.Again, I decided that I'm going to build my own plan as a shield. A Playbook. And even if no one else buys it, it's at least my spiritual compass.I'll hold it in the fiery furnace, and neither it nor me will burn down or be put out.We will emerge victorious, smelling nothing of smoke.The machines and their makers will be melted and of ash beside me.Our bellies will be full, and our heads will be sheltered, comfortably.And everyone who refuses to conform to obsolescence and everything that makes this Earth an ecosystem without extraction will continue to thrive!Until next time,Kristen Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

I'm back going live with a visual representation of what my big theme post was this week.I originally had an even longer post where I had even more grievances that didn't make the cut last week, but I didn't want to rage again, at least not for the email.But here on the "talkback" I do talk about why I got to this point where I realized The Defying Gentrification Playbook is my own bible that gets me up in the morning.I also set some goals for myself to show up more, just as mysef!Read this week's post that I reference -- https://theblackurbanist.substack.com/p/i-wrote-myself-a-bible-to-heal-myselfRead the post where I talk about what's enraging -- https://theblackurbanist.substack.com/p/the-roots-of-my-rage-in-a-genocidalAnd make sure you are following me on my new personal Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kristenejeffers/ Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Hey y'all! This is an update on the future of this platform. My health has dictated that instead of leading with defying gentrification, I need to lead with crafting liberation. Or in other words, I need to center my art projects and imbue them with the values about community and collectivity that I've always honored. I'm tired of being sick and broke trying to make folks listen. So this podcast will be shifting focus, but keeping the same name for now. Oh and to make it clear from what the episode title is and why, here's my final word on Black folks and gentrification:Black folks, especially in the diaspora, but sometimes even in heavily colonized areas of our home continent, can facilitate gentrification over their own people. And of course it can happen to us. But until the day we globally admit that Black folks that aren't named Oprah, Beyonce, Tyler Perry, and other documented Black billionaires and millionaires can't be gentrifiers, we are done as a movement and as a people. Those people I named aren't above being followed, sanctioned, denied financing opportunities, and the like for what they are intending to do with their work, because of global white supremacy over the financing markets and sometimes just the pettiest of racisms and other isms we do need to process as a people.Also, I will have 15th anniversary celebration this falll, a showcase of what the future of Kristen Jeffers Media will hold. Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Today I am back to meet the moment with encouragement for us to meet our fears and comfort head on, around defying and ending gentrification, so that we can beat fascism, not just at the White House, US Capitol, and Supreme Court, but in our hearts, minds, neighborhoods, and communities.I encourage you the listener, to have faith, to ground yourself and to remember that you one, aren't alone or powerless and two, you don't have to stay got by the system, but you better wake up to the fact the system as it is is probably not in your favor.People and Things I Mentioned in the EpisodeThe songs I played (copyrights maintained by each performer)Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr Singers, I Almost Let Go - Beautiful Chorus, I Am Enough - Toni Jones - Currensea - The articles I mentioned in the first halfHampton Insitute on Gentirfication as a Settler Colonial Project — makes the case for gentrification as settler-colonialismMore on Ruth Glass, the British scholar who gave us the word gentrification — s original definition of gentrification, which was more relatable to the context of London and how it had become “Americanized” (in her words)And I don't mention this Liberation School article directly, but it ties gentrification back to what begat it, capitalism — https://www.liberationschool.org/gentrification-a-revolutionary-understanding/And finally, my podcast from earlier this year on building radical communities from a faith-based perspective with Rev. Dr. Andrew Wilkes Listen on YouTubeAnd of course, the full newsletter that I read from and played music from — https://theblackurbanist.substack.com/p/yes-gentrification-is-fascism-but?utm_source=activity_itemWays to Support Me That Help Me Pay the Bills in These Times— Become a Patreon — https://www.patreon.com/kristenejeffers— Become a Medium Member — https://medium.com/@blackurbanist— Go Paid on Substack — — Shop my Store on Bookshop.org - www.bookshop.org/shop/kristenejeffers— Shop my Kristpattern fiber arts supply shop — https://www.kristpattern.com— Watch the Defying Gentrification YouTube Channel —https://www.youtube.com/defyinggentrification— Watch the Kristpattern YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kristpattern Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

These are times that call on a radical belief in oneself and their community. Back in October just shortly before the US Election, I interviewed Rev. Dr. Andrew Wilkes about his book Plenty Good Room, which invites the Black Church to think beyond electon cycles and go to the root of how it can be a radical force in not just American politics, but the wellbeing of all of us as Earthlings.Yeah, timely. Unfortunately, because of the recent US Election and regime change, it took me a minute to prepare this episode for you, but it's here now and ready. Plus, my beloved partner Les Henderson joins me for a moment of reflection on faith and will be joining me in our next few episodes.Here's Rev. Dr. Wilkes's bioReverend Andrew Wilkes, Ph.D., is a pastor, political scientist, writer, and contemplative. He is the co-lead, co-founding pastor of the Double Love Experience Church in Brooklyn, New York, and the former Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute, a social change organization founded by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Wilkes is a 2022 inductee into the Martin Luther King Board of Preachers at Morehouse College and a proud alum of Hampton University, Princeton Theological Seminary, CUNY Graduate Center, and the Coro Public Affairs Fellowship. He is the author of Freedom Notes: Reflections on Faith, Justice, and the Possibility of Democracy; co-author of Psalms for Black Lives; and author of Plenty Good Room: Co-Creating an Economy of Enough for All. His writing and voice have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Essence Magazine, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Dr. Henry Louis Gates' PBS Gospel series. Dr. Wilkes is the elated husband of Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe-Wilkes and lives in Brooklyn, New York.Watch PBS's The Black Church Herehttps://www.pbs.org/show/black-church/Read my recent newsletter spelling out the seven principles of Defying Gentrification (since i forgot to put them in the episodehttps://theblackurbanist.com/this-is-my-house-and-in-it-i-get-to-defy-gentrification-my-way-all-day-every-day/Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast! And merch and crafting classes via www.kristpattern.comNever miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack , LinkedIn, Wordpress, or PattreonYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

Even though this was a rough week for me, I decided that I wanted to let you in a bit and drop a few moments of a chat on how gentrification compounds my grief. This is a raw edit with no full ad and no full segments, just me reflecting on how I've been grieving this week for years and how gentrification adds to that.Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast!Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

I knew this week sitting down with Chicago-based journalist Arionne Nettles was going to be a great conversation, but I was very excited about what she had to share, about how Black migration and neighborhood choices past and present are in defiance of gentrification.And our hot topic this week is the terrible parking meter deal that the mayor of Chicago made in 2008, that's actually not how you want to pay for parking.Watch and listen above!About Our GuestArionne Nettles is a university lecturer, culture reporter, and audio aficionado. Her stories often look into Chicago history, culture, gun violence, policing, and race & class disparities, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Opinion, Chicago Reader, The Trace, Chicago PBS station WTTW, and NPR affiliate WBEZ.She is a lecturer and the director of audio journalism programming at Northwestern University's Medill School as well as host of the HBCU history podcast Bragging Rights and Is That True? A Kids Podcast About Facts. Her book, We Are the Culture: Black Chicago's Influence on Everything, will be published by Chicago Review Press in 2024.Hot Topic Reference articlehttps://news.wttw.com/2023/07/27/wttw-news-explains-what-happened-chicago-s-parking-meter-dealPurchase Arionne's book from my Bookshop https://bookshop.org/a/5060/9781641608305And no Sunday essay or Monday livestream this week for the holiday weekend. I'll see you again on May 31 with another great podcast episode! Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

I knew this week sitting down with Chicago-based journalist Arionne Nettles was going to be a great conversation, but I was very excited about what she had to share, about how Black migration and neighborhood choices past and present are in defiance of gentrification.And our hot topic this week is the terrible parking meter deal that the mayor of Chicago made in 2008, that's actually not how you want to pay for parking.About Our GuestArionne Nettles is a university lecturer, culture reporter, and audio aficionado. Her stories often look into Chicago history, culture, gun violence, policing, and race & class disparities, and her work has appeared in the New York Times Opinion, Chicago Reader, The Trace, Chicago PBS station WTTW, and NPR affiliate WBEZ.She is a lecturer and the director of audio journalism programming at Northwestern University's Medill School as well as host of the HBCU history podcast Bragging Rights and Is That True? A Kids Podcast About Facts. Her book, We Are the Culture: Black Chicago's Influence on Everything, will be published by Chicago Review Press in 2024.Hot Topic Reference articlehttps://news.wttw.com/2023/07/27/wttw-news-explains-what-happened-chicago-s-parking-meter-dealPurchase Arionne's book from my Bookshop — https://bookshop.org/p/books/we-are-the-culture-black-chicago-s-influence-on-everything-arionne-nettles/20193723?ean=9781641608305 Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Christine Edwards of Civility Localized, a Charlotte-based public engagement firm that is changing the game on so many levels.But most of all, this is an episode of two Black Southern women who are connected in some shape or form to North Carolina, talking about how we both are motivated and have or haven't been supported by that state.About our GuestChristine Edwards is a civic firebrand who has immersed herself in helping urban communities grow with dignity. Since founding Civility Localized in 2018, her work has affected change nationwide through innovative outreach strategies that support racial equity, reducing barriers to participation, and encouraging sustainable growth for cities. Christine earned her Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Urban Management and Policy from UNC Charlotte. Christine's work has been featured in Fast Company, Axios, The Business Journals, Queen City Nerve, Mountain Xpress, Pride Magazine, QCity Metro and many other local and national publications. Christine serves as a board member for Generation Nation, an organization cultivating the next generation of civic leaders and is a member of the board of directors for the Humane Society of Charlotte. She enjoys southern food, and loves seeing urban policy theory play out in daily life.* Social Media & Websites:* Websites:https://www.CivilityLocalized.comhttps://www.CivicImpactAcademy.com https://www.MeetChristine.co* Facebook: https://facebook.com/civilitylocalized* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/civility-localized/* Twitter: @CivilityCo* Instagram: @CivilityLocalizedAlso, I had to have an NC-related hot topic this week and it's about this new mask and protest banning bill, that's just the latest of laws making me not want to move home again, despite my love and homesickness.Read the reference article here — https://www.wral.com/story/nc-senate-votes-to-ban-people-from-wearing-masks-in-public-for-health-reasons/21433199And I found two Black North Carolina authors for you to read this week, you can purchase then in my Bookshop.org store:https://bookshop.org/a/5060/9781982163693https://bookshop.org/a/5060/9780679737889Never miss an episode, subscribe to my Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find me, Kristen , @blackurbanist or @kristpattern. Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

This week on the podcast, I'm joined by Christine Edwards of Civility Localized, a Charlotte-based public engagement firm that is changing the game on so many levels.But most of all, this is an episode of two Black Southern women who are connected in some shape or form to North Carolina, talking about how we both are motivated and have or haven't been supported by that state.About our GuestChristine Edwards is a civic firebrand who has immersed herself in helping urban communities grow with dignity. Since founding Civility Localized in 2018, her work has affected change nationwide through innovative outreach strategies that support racial equity, reducing barriers to participation, and encouraging sustainable growth for cities. Christine earned her Master of Public Administration with a concentration in Urban Management and Policy from UNC Charlotte. Christine's work has been featured in Fast Company, Axios, The Business Journals, Queen City Nerve, Mountain Xpress, Pride Magazine, QCity Metro and many other local and national publications. Christine serves as a board member for Generation Nation, an organization cultivating the next generation of civic leaders and is a member of the board of directors for the Humane Society of Charlotte. She enjoys southern food, and loves seeing urban policy theory play out in daily life. Social Media & Websites: Websites: https://www.CivilityLocalized.com https://www.CivicImpactAcademy.com https://www.MeetChristine.co Facebook: https://facebook.com/civilitylocalized LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/civility-localized/ Twitter: @CivilityCo Instagram: @CivilityLocalized Also, I had to have an NC-related hot topic this week and it's about this new mask and protest banning bill, that's just the latest of laws making me not want to move home again, despite my love and homesickness.Read the reference article here — https://www.wral.com/story/nc-senate-votes-to-ban-people-from-wearing-masks-in-public-for-health-reasons/21433199/And I found two Black North Carolina authors for you to read this week, you can purchase then in my Bookshop.org store:https://bookshop.org/a/5060/9781982163693https://bookshop.org/a/5060/9780679737889Never miss an episode, subscribe to my Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find me, Kristen , @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

Kristen spends some time this week talking about her personal needs to defy gentrification. And her hot topic is something she's been boiling over about for decades, teen curfews in public spaces.Show notesHot Topic Article from NBC Washington on teen curfewsWhat's happened since they implemented the curfewWhat I said in 2013 when my hometown of Greensboro, NC faced the same issueParameters of DC's Summer Youth ProgramSins Invalid Disability Justice ParadigmPurchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast! Never miss an episode, make sure you're subscribed here on Substack or on LinkedIn.You can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern. Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

Kristen spends some time this week talking about her personal needs to defy gentrification. And her hot topic is something she's been boiling over about for decades, teen curfews.SHOW NOTES(Apologies for the slightly rough audio, re-recorded and then realized I was on the wrong mic!)Hot Topic Article from NBC Washingtonhttps://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/prince-georges-county/prince-georges-county-fast-tracks-teen-curfew-bill-after-national-harbor-brawl/3600453/What's happened since they implemented the curfewhttps://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/prince-georges-county/its-100-different-national-harbor-marks-first-weekend-of-emergency-youth-curfew/3603452/What I said in 2013 when my hometown of Greensboro, NC faced the same issue, and what my solutions were then.https://theblackurbanist.com/thoughts-bringing-youth-downtown/Parameters of DC's Summer Youth Programhttps://summerjobs.dc.gov/page/faq-hsipSins Invalid Disability Justice Paradigmhttps://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justicePurchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast!Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

This week on Defying Gentrification, I, your host Kristen Jeffers, talks to our first guest, Derek Moore, who came by to talk about their experiences with land use and gentrification. Stay tuned to the end to hear what I did after having this conversation! Plus our hot topic this week is how the remaining residents of Chinatown who are Chinese have to take a long bus ride to a grocery store that truly services them. I recorded that part at a store that serves the same role for me and reflect a bit on how that's affected me over the years, as well as issue a call-to-action for the news site that it came from, as I usually do.About our guest!Derek Moore (he/they) is a Central West Baltimore-based Urban Planner and Non-Profit Development professional. He grew up in an Army family and has since lived in many cities across North America. Derek is a transportation advocate - co-founder of local urbanist group Friends of the Underground, Greening chair of Madison Park Improvement Association, and City and Regional Planning master's student at Morgan State University.Our hot topic reference article for this week — https://wamu.org/story/24/04/16/dc-chinatown-chinese-residents-leave-city-grocery-shop/The WAMU takedown that I somewhat reference — https://www.washingtonian.com/2024/04/19/why-did-wamu-close-dcist/An analysis and webinar on the lack of grocery stores in Black neighborhoods, focused on the Washington region (DMV) — https://ggwash.org/view/89226/premium-grocery-stores-are-missing-from-the-regions-high-income-black-neighborhoodsLearn more about Eden Center — https://edencenter.com/stores/(Note, they do NOT have an H Mart, but there is one nearby in Fairfax County, VA)Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast!Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

On this episode of Defying Gentrification, I spend my homeroom time clarifying that gentrification is not a remedy for urban renewal, it's the continuation of urban renewal, land theft and seizure, forced assimilation, and redlining.And on my street corner this week, I urge Black women to answer the call for liberation, especially when we are given positions of power, and to do our best to not let it kill us, and honor the memories of those that we have lost to the system despite being in its power structure.—Here are some of the things I referenced on the episode:The Assembly article on Yolanda Hill shuttering her organization helping childcare facilities to receive federal funds so her husband could look more Republican as he runs to be the first Black governor of North Carolina.Dr. Ruha Benjamin's full remarks at Spelman CollegeABC News report on the legacy and the tragedy of Dr. Antoinette Bonnie Candia-BaileyMy tweet on the depression that comes from reading bad news for a living, even when you have supportive people helping you do so.The full article from the Inclusive Historian's Handbook on urban renewalHistory of the Warnersville neighborhoodThe Amendment Podcast episode on Representation for the Cherokee Nation in the US Congress—Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store and support the podcast! Also, the Rothstein's book is called Just Action, not Just Law.Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedInYou can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

On the third episode of the Defying Gentrification podcast, your host Kristen Jeffers (she/they), spells out why we need to treat gentrification like a disease and eradicate it.But first, on our street corner, the hot topic is the need to call in our Black siblings who think that verbal transit and street harassment, especially the queer antagonistic kind, is ok, the need to care for our communities over policing them when they err in this manner, and why we should continue to support public transit and increase access to it.Here's the news article about the incident. Read my tweet about this situation. (CW: The recording of the incident discussed is in this tweet, which I quote tweeted)(Also I misstated in the audio that the couple who intervened was heading from Silver Spring, they were heading from Dupont Circle, one of our legacy gayborhoods, to Silver Spring, Maryland)Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store.Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedIn.You can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.

In this episode, Kristen takes us to school and breaks down who gets to defy gentrification. Spoiler alert, It is those who have been colonized, which generally are indigenous populations of color.Also, on the Street Corner, the hot topic is both the Kansas City and Washington DC stadium/arena deals and how they are different.Read the Kansas City Defender article on the stadium vote.Read the KCUR article and see the poster.Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store.Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedIn.You can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpatternJoin the Defying Gentrification Fellowship powered by Podia.

On this inaugural episode of the Defying Gentrification podcast, your host Kristen Jeffers (she/they), takes you to school in our homeroom to learn exactly what is gentrification, and why should it be defied and eradicated.But first, on our street corner, the hot topic is how not to leave Baltimoreans of color behind in the wake of the Francis Scott Key Bridge tragedy, as well as honor their competence in leadership during disaster situations.Read our street corner hot topic article from Capital B.Read the Curbed article referenced in our homeroom section.Purchase from Kristen's Bookshop.org store.Never miss an episode, subscribe to our Substack or on LinkedIn.You can also find Kristen @blackurbanist or @kristpattern.Join the Defying Gentrification Fellowship powered by Podia

Kristen Jeffers, a Black Queer Feminist Disabled person from North Carolina living in the Baltimore-DC metro region ("the DMV") loves cities. But, she's tired of the rent being too high, transit being nonexistent and Black lives not mattering at all in most cities, even though we created many of the arts and cultural institutions in them. Learn more about how she will be using this podcast to discuss hot topics and resources to help defy AND eradicate gentrification.