"Urban-isms" by Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor

Blog Post #2

August 11, 2021

by Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor

“words mean things' is more than an iconic phrase from “the read” podcast hosted by crissle and kid fury, it’s fundamental, rudimentary yet often under-acknowledged significant contributing factor for the condition and perception of the urban context. 

even the word “urban” has been used to describe clothing, genres of music,  language, and geographic location in addition to the less tangible  “feel” of certain places, concepts, peoples and ideas. this word, it’s connotations and uses are beyond

loaded, particularly in the u.s. context, it’s history and the words association with black culture especially, it’s debatably one of the most loaded works in the english language, and undeniably so in the spatial justice lexicon. 

the goal here isn’t to full unpack this word, its derivation and/or its proliferation, but rather to root us in an understanding that the geospatial manifestation of the urban space are engendered within the language we use construct, deconstruct, diagnose, repair, renew, and imagine or reimagine urban space. 

therefore, for those of us engaged in spatial justice work, if we understand and acknowledge that language isn't immaterial --  that the marxist concept of historical materialism also applies to the words used to manifest and describe our society and our cities, and the work of contributing to a new narrative for those at the margins, involves the very language used to tell its story and rewrite its future.