What Are the Challenges — And Joys — Of 'Being Black in Public'? (Jay Pitter)

Black North Americans face massive and disproportionate barriers to the safe and free enjoyment of public spaces — particularly on North American streets and roads. But despite mountains of research on racial disparities in jaywalking stops, police brutality, traffic violence, and so much more, we still don’t have a complete picture of what it’s really like to be Black in the public realm, especially as that identity intersects with everything else North Americans might be. 

Today, we sit down with placemaker and mobility justice icon Jay Pitter to talk about why she's launching the 'Being Black in Public' survey, which hopes to bring that conversation back to the center of the discourse — and inspire policymakers to adopt new strategies and approaches to "transform Black public space precarity into equitable and joyful public space through policy reform." And along the way, we also chat about her path to this work, how urbanism has (and hasn't) changed since the murder of George Floyd, why we need to talk more about "the cost of advocacy."