We Cannot Plan From Our Desks
Edward Soja and me on graduation day 17 years ago today. Grad school was tough. I felt the weight of the neighborhood on my shoulders. I nearly dropped out 5 times, but Ed inspired me to stay and keep at it. My work with Soja would help me create Embedded Planning years later. The moral of the story: Find mentors who inspire you.
Congratulations to my fellow UCLA Bruin planners graduating today 👏🏽 You’re the next generation of planning. We’re in good hands.
Draw on our past to inform (y)our future. See the work of Edward W. Soja, Jackie Leavitt, Leo Estrada, VC Powe, Marty Wachs, John Friedmann and many others who rest in power.
Keep the flame lit.
In solidarity,
JPB @c1typlann3r
Thank you to AARP Livable Communities Workshop organizers and my fellow panelists for this week’s conversation on engaging older adults.
On September 13th, we lost Ms. Mary Rose Cortese, one of our community elders in South Central LA’s Florence-Firestone community. Mary has joined her brother Joe Titus in the next chapter. I know they’re up there still advocating for Florence-Firestone.
Mary and Joe welcomed me into the community on Day 1 in 2009. They were honorary abuelitos to me and many others. Hug your elders. Ask them to tell you stories. Document their lives. Cherish them every day.
At the end of this #AARP session, I dedicated my presentation to Mary Rose Cortese 🙏🏽💛
Obituary for Edward Soja (1940-2015), by Mike the PoeT Sonksen
My epitaph for Professor Edward W. Soja has been published at UrbDeZine:
http://losangeles.urbdezine.com/2015/12/17/epitaph-for-edward-w-soja/
I will miss Ed dearly. His legacy lives on in us.
This has been a difficult autumn for the UCLA Luskin family.
Professor Jackie Leavitt passed away on November 27, 2015. I am lucky to have been one of her students. A tireless advocate for urbanized communities of color, Jackie is deeply missed but forever loved and respected.
UCLA Urban Planning will hold a gathering in celebration of Jackie’s life and work on Monday, March 7, 2016 at UCLA.
I declined a scholarship at another university to study urban planning under Edward W. Soja at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
Ed will be greatly missed.
His legacy lives on in us.
In Memoriam: Edward Soja (1940-2015), Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning
A celebration of Ed’s life and work will be held Monday, January 25, 2016, from 4:00PM-6:00PM at the UCLA Faculty Center, Sequoia Room.
@c1typlann3r.blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.