Urban Roots Deqah & Vanessa

HAPPY PRESERVATION MONTH! To celebrate, we wanted to share with you a new podcast that we think you’ll love: Preservation for the People brought to you by The Black Art Conservators (BAC) and produced by Urbanist Media! In their first episode, Kayla Henry-Griffin and Nylah Byrd talk to Dr. Kwesi Daniels (Head of the Architecture Department at Tuskegee University) about conservation and preservation, the difference between the two, and what the future of the field might look like.
When BAC reached out to us at Urbanist Media, asking if we could help produce their new podcast concept called Preservation for the People, we said yes, of course, because the project is SO mission-aligned. Huge thanks to our friend Rita Cofield of the Los Angeles African American Historic Places initiative with the Getty for introducing us to BAC!
Preservation for the People is a new podcast from BAC, a collective of Black preservation professionals supporting each other, building community, and seeking change in the predominately white field of cultural heritage preservation. In Preservation for the People, hosts Kayla and Nylah, talk to other Black people in the preservation field about successes, struggles, and hopes for the future.
Don’t forget that Season Three of Urban Roots is coming in June! We’ve got four new documentary-style episodes coming your way. We will feature two-part series on the abolitionist history of the Ohio River and the history of Decatur, Alabama. 
The Ohio River to Freedom series will be coupled with Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts, 90-second histories of people and places significant to Black history in Greater Cincinnati. Thanks to support from the Ohio Arts Council and Cincinnati Public Radio, these episodes (and shorts) will air on WVXU 91.7 and WGUC 90.9 in June. Full episodes will be available on Cincinnati Public Radio on Juneteenth! 
The Decatur series is produced for the City of Decatur and funded via a National Park Service Underrepresented Communities Grant. The first episode will focus on the history of First Missionary Baptist Church (designed by the infamous Wallace A. Rayfield who was also the architect of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham) while the second will uncover the history of a little-known female architect named Carolyn Corner Smith.

EXCITING NEWS…Season 3 is coming soon! If you’re not subscribed to our podcast or our newsletter, please do so now! You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. That way, you’ll know immediately when a new episode drops. 

Today we have a high-energy conversation with Justin Garrett Moore, program director for the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program and a renaissance man of urbanism. We talk with Moore about his childhood in Indianapolis, IN, his formative professional moments (at a high school internship and at the University of Florida), and the particular challenges he sees facing preservation today (including its fragmentation, over-emphasis on credentials, and the under-valuing of narrative). Plus, we dive deep into the Humanities in Place program, which funds nonprofits doing cultural preservation, urban development, placekeeping, and storytelling.

We talked to Justin about:


His youth and the internship that changed his life [4:23-11:23]


Going South and getting an education — in more ways than one [11:24-17:10]


The challenges facing preservation and the power of narrative [17:11-43:48]


Spotlighting organizations funded by Humanities in Place [43:49-51:21]


Humanities in Place: What it does and doesn’t do [51:22-1:15:08]


What’s close to his heart: Flanner House and Urban Patch [1:15:09-1:20:13]



Mentioned In this Episode: 


Scalawag Magazine - A magazine focused on the South 


Ekvn-Yefolecv - an intentional ecovillage community of Indigenous Maskoke persons who bought land in Alabama to build a place where they could preserve their culture through language. 


New York LGBT Sites - broadening people’s knowledge of LGBT history beyond Stonewall and placing that history in its geographical context


The American Indian Community House - a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization serving the needs of Native Americans residing in New York City.


Flanner House - An African-American community service center in Indianapolis


Urban Patch - An Indianapolis-based organization focused on inner cities. 



Credits: 

Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Deqah and Vanessa and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Thanks again to Justin Garrett Moore and Zuri Phelps. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Housekeeping first! Please give to our GoFundMe Campaign – we need your help to earn $5,000 by December 31: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

We’re also up for an Anthem Community Voice Award! Vote for us (Sign in and click “Celebrate”) by December 21! 

Now our amazing guest: Zahra Ebrahim, the co-founder of Monumental, a social purpose business working to advance equitable city-building and urban development. Earlier this year she also helped start FutureBuilds, a BIPOC Real Estate Development Incubator. She’s currently an Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, a Next City Vanguard Civic Leader, and one of the Urban Land Institute’s WLI Champions. 

Mentioned In this Episode: 


A refresher on who we are [0:00-2:16]


Please donate to our GoFundMe! [2:17-5:51]


Please vote for us for the Anthem Awards! [5:52-7:10]


Introducing Zahra Ebrahim [7:11-8:26]


Zahra’s background and journey into this work [8:27-25:17]


Community engagement and moving at the speed of trust [25:18-31:34]


Deep and human, not broad and cold [31:35-44:35]


Do your homework and listen [44:36-53:39]


What do we preserve and why? [53:40-1:03:20]


Why diversifying real estate matters [1:03:21-1:10:29]


Credits [1:10:30-1:11:50]



Credits: 

Thank you to Zahra Ebrahim and Elaine Gant. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via GoFundMe https://www.gofundme.com/f/urbanistmedia

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Or drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com

Today, pod squad, you’re in for a treat: Rukaiyah Adams is one of our favorite, most inspiring people on the planet. Rukaiyah had a long, successful career in investment banking before she moved back home to Portland, Oregon and joined the board of the Albina Vision Trust, an organization dedicated to restoring the historic Black neighborhood of Albina, where Rukaiyah grew up. Today, she’s the Chief Executive Officer of the 1803 Fund, and she’s raising hundreds of millions of dollars that she will invest not only in Albina but in community-based organizations in education, place, and culture and belonging across Portland, Oregon. 



Credits: 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 



Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture.

Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com



Thank you to Rukaiyah Adams. This episode was edited and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. 

To celebrate Juneteenth, Urbanist Media's Urban Roots podcast has partnered with Cincinnati Public Radio (WVXU)⁠ to bring you Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts: weekly, 90-second tributes to people and places important to Cincinnati’s African American history. 

Today, for our last short, we feature Marian Spencer, the civil rights activist and Cincinnati pioneer who got her start in 1952. Back then, Ms. Marian Spencer was a mother of two kids who were begging her to let them go to Coney Island. 

Ms. Spencer had a hunch they wouldn’t be welcome. She called and the girl on the line said: “I’m sorry, We don’t admit Negroes.” adding “But I don’t make the rules.” Ms. Spencer replied: “I know honey, but I’m going to find out who does.” Ms. Spencer did — and she changed the rules.

Tune in to 91.7 WVXU on Thursdays at 5:49 and 7:50 a.m. during Morning Edition and again at 4:50 p.m. during All Things Considered. Additionally, episodes will air on sister station 90.9 WGUC each Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. 

If you missed the broadcasts, don’t worry – you can find each short on the Urban Roots podcast feed, our Instagram, and YouTube pages. 

Credits

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Jenell Walton and all the folks at Cincinnati Public Radio for the opportunity.

To celebrate Juneteenth, Urbanist Media's Urban Roots podcast has partnered with Cincinnati Public Radio (WVXU)⁠ to bring you Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts: weekly, 90-second tributes to people and places important to Cincinnati’s African American history. 

Today, we’re highlighting Union Baptist Cemetery, one of Cincinnati’s oldest African American cemeteries. It’s the final resting place of many of Cincinnati’s important Black residents, including  the woman who integrated Cincinnati’s street cars, Sarah Fossett (along with her husband and his entire family), Jennie Porter, the first Black woman to become a principal in Cincinnati, and baseball legend Newt Allen Jr., one of the best second baseman the game has ever seen.

Find each short on the Urban Roots podcast feed or tune in to 91.7 WVXU on Thursdays at 5:49 and 7:50 a.m. during Morning Edition and again at 4:50 p.m. during All Things Considered. Additionally, episodes will air on sister station 90.9 WGUC each Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

Credits

Juneteenth Cincinnati Shorts is brought to you by Vanessa Quirk, Deqah Hussein-Wetzel, and Connor Lynch. Special thanks to Union Baptist Historian Chris Hanlin. 

Sources 

Union Baptist Cemetery website

Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Lesson Plan – Union Baptist Cemetery and Cincinnati’s African American History (Grades 6-12)