Defying Gentrification

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

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. 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.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

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

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

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. Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

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. Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe

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 Get full access to Defying Gentrification, Crafting Liberation at theblackurbanist.substack.com/subscribe