Two panels discuss their vision for ‘Reimagining Black Futures’

In celebration of Black History Month, the School of Architecture and Planning hosted a pair of panel discussions titled “Reimagining Black Futures.”

The series convened two groups of changemakers: individuals working toward revitalization of Buffalo’s East Side and a group of successful Black architects and urban planners speaking on their experience in the field.

Part I opened with a powerful look at the origins of Black History Month by Henry-Louis Taylor Jr., professor at the architecture school, founding director of the UB Center for Urban Studies and associate director of the UB Community Equity Research Institute. Taylor urged attendees to be aware of the systemic and structural forces keeping Black neighborhoods from flourishing. “Reimagining Black futures calls on us to envision a world where all Black people live in healthy, thriving and joyful community while reaffirming our commitment to transforming that vision into a reality,” he said.

Albert Chao, adjunct instructor in the Department of Architecture, then spoke about his work with the Coles House Project, a new nonprofit housed in the former home and studio of influential Black architect Robert Traynham Coles. The project’s goal is “to form a neighborhood design center that advocates for and models a just built environment in the Hamlin Park District, Buffalo’s East Side, and beyond.”  

Jin Young Song, associate professor in the Department of Architecture, in partnership with Douglass Alligood, designed “Seeing Us,” the concept selected for the 5/14 Memorial commemorating the victims of the racially motivated Tops mass shooting on May 14, 2022. Song shared the design, which will serve as a space for remembrance and healing, as well as gathering and collective action to inspire future progress. 

Christina P. Orsi, president of the John R. Oishei Foundation, explained how the foundation has examined adjusting its mission and funding priorities to heighten its impact. This informed a new commitment, Orsi said, to work with communities to change systems and build financial prosperity for a racially just, vibrant Buffalo-Niagara region — starting with Buffalo’s East Side. The foundation’s new vision for WNY is “a thriving prosperous community for all where diversity is our strength,” she said.

Taylor returned to discuss the East Side Transformation Project, which has worked to understand why investment in underserved communities doesn’t yield results. They concluded that there’s a fundamental flaw in approaches nationwide, with “mechanisms such as high rents, exclusionary zoning, discriminatory lending practices, restrictive housing development and limited transportation options … turning communities into sites of wealth extraction and dispossession,” Taylor said. The project is offering a solution grounded in change that comes from within, he said — solidarity, inclusivity, communal ownership of land, property and housing, and skills training so residents can rebuild their own communities.

Part II featured an open, candid and engrossing conversation among the panel members that intentionally shifted away from the usual discourse centered on “overcoming challenges on your rise to success” to instead focus on the systems of oppression that continue to affect panelists’ ability to utilize their skills to achieve transformative community change.

The panel included Crystal Middleton, director of planning and zoning for the Buffalo Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning; Dale White, managing director of acquisitions for BDP Impact Real Estate; Rishawn Sonubi, partner at Young + Wright Architectural; and Arthur Hall, president of Hallmark Planning & Development.

Taylor, who served as moderator, posed a question to panelists to open the session: “What challenges have you faced in attempting to initiate projects aimed at transforming the Black community?” Panelists agreed that being aware and conscious of the root cause of a community’s issues is imperative. Citing past experience, Hall observed that before communicating any design concepts, “the first thing we had to do was be very skilled urban planning psychologists.” 

A host of other challenges were offered, including preconceived notions hindering the ability to secure financing through traditional channels, silos that keep community partners from working together, a subsidized financing structure that’s not built to address community needs and initial success leading to gentrification. 

Taylor returned the panel to the subject of building trust. The key to that, panelists said, is authentic and intentional community engagement. Before crafting solutions, panel members noted, designers and planners need to understand the trauma that exists in those communities, their challenges, residents’ vision for their neighborhood, and what education is needed to clear up misinformation, put the project into context, and ease any skepticism about intentions.

Panelists agreed on the importance of not taking things personally, staying true to your values and forging ahead with your work, with family, faith and colleagues there for support. “If you’re there for the right reasons,” White said, “and you’re willing to stay there, put in the work, continue to communicate with people, let them know what you’re trying to do, and be fully transparent — if it’s the right thing, it’ll be accepted.”