By Javier Arbona On November 15, 2011, Michael Bloomberg’s urban planning commissioner, Amanda Burden, co-chaired the Zoning the City conference. It was the morning after police evicted the Occupy Wall Street encampment. The mayor was scheduled to open the day, but spent most of his morning dealing with the media and legal issues brought on by the violent … [Read more...] about ZONE, AND ZONE OUT
“NEGRO REMOVAL” REVISITED: URBAN PLANNING AND THE NEW JIM CROW IN KANSAS CITY
By Jacob Wagner Academic men [sic] are inclined to ascribe an importance to knowledge all out of proportion to its actual role in human conduct. This is particularly true when they talk of race relations. Men [sic] do not wait until the latest findings of science are in before they begin to feel, think, or act on matters that concern race; and even when new scientific … [Read more...] about “NEGRO REMOVAL” REVISITED: URBAN PLANNING AND THE NEW JIM CROW IN KANSAS CITY
THE DRUG WAR, PRISONS, AND POLICE KILLINGS OF BLACK MEN
By William Goldsmith Early on New Year's Day 2009, a transit officer shot and killed Oscar Grant at BART's Fruitvale Station in Oakland, California. Oakland suffered 45 police shootings from 2004 through 2008. Thirty-seven victims were black and none was white, according to the NAACP. In February 2012, a neighborhood watch coordinator shot and killed Travon Martin in a … [Read more...] about THE DRUG WAR, PRISONS, AND POLICE KILLINGS OF BLACK MEN
BLACK LIVES DON’T MATTER IN APA’S COLORBLIND PLANNING: APA REJECTED LEGISLATIVE POLICY GUIDE
By Jeffrey Lowe The American Planning Association (APA) views itself as a membership organization that offers opportunity for education and advocacy on behalf of the planning movement. However, the APA is more a trade organization concerned about standardizing the profession rather than challenging its members and the public through education and advocacy on the ability of … [Read more...] about BLACK LIVES DON’T MATTER IN APA’S COLORBLIND PLANNING: APA REJECTED LEGISLATIVE POLICY GUIDE
IS “JUSTICE ARCHITECTURE” JUST? FROM THE FERGUSON POLICE STATION TO THE “JUSTICE CENTER” TO HUMAN RIGHTS
By Raphael Sperry The police station project wasn’t discussed at the AIA Academy of Architecture for Justice conference that occurred, coincidentally, in October 2014 at the downtown St. Louis Hilton hotel, but the Buzz Westfall Justice Center where prosecutor Robert McCulloch’s grand jury met to exonerate Wilson was featured in a building tour. The combined courthouse, … [Read more...] about IS “JUSTICE ARCHITECTURE” JUST? FROM THE FERGUSON POLICE STATION TO THE “JUSTICE CENTER” TO HUMAN RIGHTS