The BlackSpace Manifesto

BlackSpace NYC is a collective of over two dozen active professionals with experience in urban planning, architecture, real estate development, urban design, and the arts. BlackSpace was formed in Brooklyn, NY as a brunch group after Harvard Graduate School of Design’s 2015 Black in Design Conference (BiD). As Black urbanists and residents of Black enclaves throughout the City, the one thing we returned to over and over in our monthly discussions was that often, we were the only black or brown faces at the table about policy decisions that affected predominantly Black and marginalized communities. Since meeting in 2015, the collective has been working to nurture and support Black people in fields of influence that shape our social and spatial environments while also working to support heritage conservation in Black and marginalized communities. As professionals trained in architecture, urban planning, and design, our work has also involved unlearning traditional modes of urbanism that exclude marginalized voices and creating new modes of work that center equity in our work. To that end, BlackSpace has created a working manifesto to help guide our work as urbanists working in and with communities.

Image header from @blackspaceorg Instagram.