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Summer Reading

From the Washington Post to Refinery29, there's a Summer Reading list for just about every intellectual persuasion. Novels or non-fiction, biographies or fantasy, we read to broaden our perceptions of the world and reimagine what's possible. Here at the Alliance, we've been thinking a lot about how we can help the movement expand its vision and consider biking and walking in the context of wider social issues.

As Dr. Adonia Lugo wrote in this report, we all fall victim to groupthink. In our professional and personal lives, we are often in closest contact with folks who validate our perceptions and share our experience of the world. But, to build a truly inclusive movement, Lugo writes, "we need to make an intentional commitment to move past groupthink... Changing bicycle advocacy will mean taking a broader set of needs into account. Groupthink is an impediment to new voices reaching leadership levels in bicycle advocacy."

A few weeks ago, we introduced Equity Intersection to the Roundup. This week and moving forward we're incorporating perspectives from beyond the bike/ped movement because we believe our work can be informed by the leadership and learning of other social movements. We believe our work can benefit from a richer array of voices that don't necessarily confirm what we believe but challenge us to think differently. So this week, given the July 4th holiday, we're taking a break from bike/ped and sharing some of what we, members of the Alliance staff, have been reading. Starting next week, when we return to our regularly scheduled Roundup, we'll include What We're Reading and Follow Friday on a regular basis.

We invite you to share what you're reading and who you're following, too. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any recommendations!

What we’ve been reading

During a time of transition in the active transportation movement, what are different ways we can structure leadership and distribute power in our organizations? The Building Movement Project shares some alternative models for non-profit organizations.

Yep, we’re guilty. Are you? Vu Le, the humorous and incisive writer of the Nonprofit with Balls blog, shared “9 annoying non-profit trends that need to die.”

In the wake of the gay marriage ruling, Miriam Zoila Pérez wrote a deeply insightful piece on Colorlines that unpacks who is served by the victory and how it could impact the liberation of other members of the queer community. “A movement is defined by a shared goal, a common experience and often a shared marginalization. This step forward widens the already large splinter in the LGBT movement, a splinter that mimics the broader ones we see in society at large. Will our shared differences, our non-normative sexualities and sometimes genders, be enough to keep us together through the race and class divides that separate us?”

And over at the Washington Blade, Jennicet Gutiérrez, an undocumented trans Latina leader who gained notoriety from speaking out at a White House briefing, shared the importance of voice in her reflection: “I interrupted Obama because we need to be heard.”

Juan Reynoso, a Greenlining Health Equity Fellows at The California Endowment, examined through the lens of an old swap meet site in his hometown of Escondido, Calif.,  “how local governments have deprioritized working class spaces and places in favor of more corporate forms of development” — and how to take the power back.

The Urban Land Institute released a new report that presents a detailed picture of how inequality affects entire neighborhoods, showing stark income disparities across communities within regions. According to Governing, mobility is a key aspect of closing those gaps: “Part of the solution requires better access to good jobs in distressed communities and improving public transportation.”

From the realm of education, Andre Perry at the Hechinger Report, examined the impulse of outsiders to save distressed communities or institutions, and how that can undermine sustainable resiliency and creates a “bias against the idea that black excellence should set the narrative." “Change requires new people, ideas and frameworks. We are all in this together. However, sustainability demands local capacity building. New Orleans has improved because locals (and many happen to be black) made changes.”

Mobility isn't just an urban issue! The journal Nature published six provocative questions to guide the future of transportation research, including the recommendation that “studies need to be more inclusive, politically neutral and regionally equitable.”

And this piece at The Root invited us to consider the parallels between bias in our media and the bias in planning processes and decision-making with regards to transportation.

Follow Friday

Emily Badger of the Washington Post @emilymbadger has been leading thoughtful discussions on a wealth of thought-provoking urban issues including “How our cars, our neighborhoods, and our schools are pulling us apart” and “The deeper problems we miss when we attack gentrification”

A new series from the Perception Institute @perceptioninst and mic.com @micnews — “Shifting Perceptions: Being Black in America”  — is examining the disconnect betwen the lived experiences of black Americans and how they are viewed, with an emphasis on disrupting negative attitudes people hold toward African-American men.

If you’re not yet a follower of The Equity Factor column at Next City, you’re missing out on great reporting from writers like Alexis Stephens @pm_jawn and Jenn Stanley @jennstanley_.

Happy 4th of July, all!