Dear Friends.

We are not posting any articles this week. Some designers are working hard to help people prepare for returning to the workplace. Some architects are working hard to create architecture that advances social justice and equity. Thankfully ADPSR continues to advocate against designing prisons. Some of my architect pals are marching in the streets and some are recording the protests and the police response from their homes. And many are wondering what this all means for their practices.

The good news is that the phrase “systemic racism” is now being spoken outside progressive circles and in boardrooms. Some white folks have come to understand that racism has not gone away because it is baked into the economic and political history of the United States.

These last few weeks have been some of the most tumultuous I can remember. At the same time we have barely left the apartment. We hear and see the news in different ways. Television brought the pointless tragedy of Vietnam into my living group while I was growing up. And now a miniature video camera brings the murder of George Floyd onto my laptop. We hear the police launching flash bangs and tear gas across the lake. We can see it live on Twitter. Both my husband and I are in our sixties. We are concerned about the risk of COVID spreading in crowds and our aging systems responding to tear gas and unpredictable behavior on the part of the police and right wing agitators.

Despite the many societal and personal tragedies of the last year part of me remains hopeful. Hopeful because the curtain has been pulled back on the criminal occupying the White House, on the twisted nature of US capitalism and racism. Democratic Socialism is no longer a fringe idea but a real possibility. My chosen path, discussing architecture and design, can contribute to this healing. But first we must rid ourselves of the cancer that is the current Republican party and its leadership.

Hopefully, we can return to our regularly scheduled programming next week!