Planners Make Change

In Minneapolis-St. Paul we are bearing witness right now to the tragedy of a lost life, a crime, and the racism that permeates life here in our region, state, and country. Our systems of government – criminal justice and policing, housing, and education – are not just. Yet these systems are the policies and rules, opportunities, and barriers, we’ve constructed over time that continue to shape our lives and our communities. George Floyd died because of the racism our community has allowed to persist in these systems.

For a long time, people have been talking about the systemic racism that exists throughout our country. We hope for significant change, but we get incremental change. But I imagine that a moment like this can jolt us to action and shock us to refocus. As urban planners, we work with people to make communities better. We impact how government works. Listening to communities is at the heart of our work. The time is ours, right now to do better. How do we do this? We examine our work, and the biases, beliefs and habits that inform it. We find the courage to listen, to speak up, and to take transformative action. We focus on how our work contributes to government systems and practices that create a more just community. We choose to be the change we’ve been hoping for.

-Julia