Fear of a Black Planner
Planning ◈ Power ◈ Purpose
Urban planning analysis and activism | Professional and academic perspectives on urban and regional inequality | A political voice for POC planners, advocates, and their communities.
- Is abstract planning thinking a form of privilege in a country with real problems?
When I was a kid, my mom picked what I thought was an unusual vocation for me. While most people were thinking about being doctors or astronauts (or, in my case, a full-time ninja – I wasn’t as concerned about my 401k back then), she thought my professional destiny lay in engineering. I had some aptitude for it, but probablyContinue reading “Is abstract planning thinking a form of privilege in a country with real problems?” - Privilege, Progressive POC, and Proper Political Planning
No, that isn’t too many P’s. It was one of the first tests of my revolutionary fervor in this new position. And I faltered. When given the choice between advocating to keep fighting or to take an offer that promised only limited gains now but had potential for significant reforms over time, I actually talked up the benefits of theContinue reading “Privilege, Progressive POC, and Proper Political Planning” - A Space for Something New
Welcome to Fear of a Black Planner. Many of the problems, challenges, and opportunities discussed here would be relevant, in some form, to any time in US history – we as a country haven’t made adequate progress, even since Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) began demanding a seat at the table. The specific circumstances under which I beganContinue reading “A Space for Something New”
Quotes of the Month
“…we have to be aware of the power and importance of organizing not just around identity, but the materiality of daily life, which still, in many respects, is racialized for people of color. You build from that, but you have a grander social vision that transcends it and recognizes the strengths and limitations that are drawn from the particularity of identity.”
Manning Marable
“In the colonial countries, on the contrary, the policeman and the soldier, by their immediate presence and their frequent and direct action maintain contact with the native and advise him by means of rifle butts and napalm not to budge. It is obvious here that the agents of government speak the language of pure force.”
Frantz Fanon
“Cause I’m Black and I’m proud, I’m ready and hyped, plus I’m amped.
Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.
Sample a look back you look and find nothing but rednecks for four hundred years if you check.
….What we got to say, power to the people, no delay.
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be.”
Public Enemy, Fear of a Black Planet
Fear of a Black Planner 