Philadelphia County, or the City of Philadelphia, doesn’t really even exist for the majority of the newly coined ‘BIPOC’ families living within the post-industrial bounds of the former colony of New Sweden. Even the Lenapehoking place name, before the arrival of the mighty (and by mighty we mean very wealthy) Swedish Empire in the early … Continue reading Implicit Bias & the long Dutch Colonial Shadow
This past weekend we had the opportunity to invite local birth workers into the rose garden at the historic Wyck House, Farm and Garden for a tea talk on environmental factors impacting pregnancy and birth in Philadelphia County. Over the past few years we have seen a number of articles and media pushes for improved … Continue reading Birthing Fearlessly.
As the son of a social worker and a jazz music producer, I spent a great deal of time thinking about how my neighbors became household names in Hip Hop (Biggie Smalls, Lil Kim, Jay-Z and the like) through storytelling. Very early on it became clear that listeners were paying for access to stories from … Continue reading The Germantown School
Dissociative disorders (DD) are conditions that involve disruptions or breakdowns of memory, awareness, identity, or perception. People with dissociative disorders use dissociation as a defense mechanism, pathologically and involuntarily. The individual experiences these dissociations to protect themselves. Some dissociative disorders are triggered by psychological trauma, but depersonalization-derealization disorder may be preceded only by stress, psychoactive … Continue reading Overcoming Structural Dissociative Disorder Through Biophilic Design
In the original European colonies of America, civil laws (and their contemporary iterations as US federal and state laws) were used as tools for European fathers to protect their wives, daughters, and other properties they were given, oftentimes by decree from the Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, French, or British crown (or the Pope). Prevailing narratives describing … Continue reading The European “Tobacco Brides:” America’s Other 1619 Project
As the son of a social worker, and the nephew of a preacher, my cousins and I often share stories about the dissociative manner with which we were parented at times. My first cousin would have to remind his father, on occasion, that there was no need to operate in his capacity as a congregation … Continue reading The Alhambra Decree & the Root of European-American Displacement Fears
Residents, merchants and community leaders in America’s low-density neighborhoods and municipalities, once treated as areas with low economic strength by European scholars and the settler state, are working to court ‘urban Indian’ families with interest in relocating their art and urban farming movements to communities that have endured ‘poor,’ and often time sub-standard, economic conditions … Continue reading The Soil is the Cure!
In our work we have found a wealth of knowledge in ‘lost’ texts, maps, artwork and manuscripts, as the works and stories of scholars are passed up for ‘more appealing’ historical characters and their work. One of our favorite philosophers fall into this lost category; Professor William Fontaine and his text Reflections on Segregation, Desegregation, … Continue reading Dr. Fontaine’s Rules
In urbanized areas the world over, public spaces are the new classrooms and self directed learning is the new school rule. In the wake of recent mass media events we are reminded of our core work in the preservation of cultural landscapes-in-action by the strengthening of relationships between ‘history’ and the people that call those … Continue reading The New School: Education in the Public
This article out of the Journal of Urban Design speaks to the heart of ‘why we do what we do’ as urban designers. The abstract (below) provides some solid footing but this full paper is worth the read. Follow the link in the first line for access to the full .pdf paper. Abstract This paper … Continue reading Indigenous Placemaking and the Built Environment
