Social Equity

This video and online training is part two of an ongoing series of conversations between five Black urbanists discussing their experience with anti-Black racism and other issues in the field of urbanism. Panelists bring to the forefront the direct ways mainstream urbanism plays a role in reproducing spatialized anti-Blackness. First, panelists critique the notion that urbanism is neutral by asserting that land use is inherently tied to colonization; in other words, the root of urbanist professions is displacement, and urbanists need to actively mitigate this. Next, the panelists discuss the importance of untold place-based narratives. Finally, they focus on meaningful community engagement and strategies they have applied in their own work; for example, urbanist work is not for those who cannot mediate conflict. 

Some of the key actions described in the video are:

• Developing an individual learning agenda
• Demonstrating humility and flexibility in urbanist work
• Respecting and honoring different forms of knowledge
• Making room for conflict in the community engagement process