Can architects be activists? How does the built environment and its designers shape who we are and who we want to be? How can cities be redesigned to ensure that essential services can be accessed within 15-minutes without a car?

In this week’s episode, Conner Cayson and Mr. Well-Travelled talk to activist architect Andrew Grant Houston (he/him), known on social media as Ace the Architect, about housing policy and his work as Head of Design at House Cosmopolitan in Seattle.

And as always, we shout out some individuals and organizations doing great work in the community:

-Mary Lyles - No More Under

-Kelechi Iroegbu - #TexasSizedChristmas

-The Common Acre

-Beyond the Built Environment

-15 Seconds of Stardom

-Pike Place Market Foundation

Links referenced in the show:

Ace the Architect on Instagram

https://instagram.com/theurbanace?igshid=13y74ieltcpph

Ace the Architect on Twitter

https://twitter.com/theurbanace?lang=en

Seattle could become the next 15-minute city

https://crosscut.com/focus/2020/11/seattle-could-become-next-15-minute-city

The Color of Law

https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated-ebook/dp/B01M8IWJT2

No More Under on Instagram

https://instagram.com/nomoreunder?igshid=1051jm53fbrfj

No More Under website

https://www.nomoreunder.org/

Kelechi Iroegbu on Instagram

https://instagram.com/yaboyykel?igshid=10k1z4usyk44x

#TexasSizedChristmas on Instagram

https://instagram.com/uhforthestudents?igshid=1jfba8quwwb9o

The Common Acre website

https://www.commonacre.org/

Beyond the Built Environment

https://www.beyondthebuilt.com/

15 Seconds of Stardom

https://15secondsofstardom.com/

Pike Place Market Foundation

https://pikeplacemarketfoundation.org/

This week's episode welcomes our second ever guest to the show, David "Pryme" Monroe, better known by his stage name "deejaypryme." Conner and Mr. Well-Travelled know Pryme from a series of pop-up events in Seattle where they first met, and have been friends for a few years now. Deejaypryme is well known around the Seattle music community for his appearances around the nightclub scene. This week's episode is a friendly discussion between the three touching on the changes to Pryme's communities in 2020. His communities include  the music and DJ industry, his connections online through Instagram, and the new people he has met after becoming a father earlier this year. They end the show with shout outs and recommendations for organizations participating in Giving Tuesday. 

Here are the links referenced in the show:

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nut Cracker - https://www.netflix.com/title/80217229

His House - https://www.netflix.com/title/81231197

Giving Tuesday:

Debbie Allen Dance Academy - https://www.debbieallendanceacademy.com/donate

Center for Anti-Racist Research - https://www.bu.edu/antiracism-center/

Chief Seattle Club - https://chiefseattleclub.org/

Seattle Parks Foundation - https://www.seattleparksfoundation.org/

This episode’s conversation is a “Letter to Future Voters” from Mr. Well-Travelled and Conner Cayson.

In this “letter,” we reflect on how it felt to live through Election Day and Election Week 2020, as well as on how the country reacted to the results with protests and celebrations.

We examine the slow ballot counting process and feelings of anxiousness as we watched results trickle in from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Georgia and Arizona.

Next, we dive deeper into Georgia and how the state was able to flip from Red to Blue. We honor the Black women organizers (Nse Ufot, Helen Butler, Deborah Scott, and Tamieka Atkins) who worked alongside Stacey Abrams to register voters and increase turnout in the state.

In the second half of the show, we discuss the demographic breakdown of election results and explore what the White Racial Identity vote says about America in 2020 and beyond.

______________________

Here are the links from today’s conversation:

Stacey Abrams and Other Georgia Organizers Are Part of a Long—But Often Overlooked—Tradition of Black Women Working for the Vote

https://www.google.com/amp/s/time.com/5909556/stacey-abrams-history-black-women-voting/%3famp=true

Stacey Didn’t Do It Alone

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHTAW9ZFWSW/?igshid=13fm7h0opqmt5

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHQKaYehlMT/?igshid=1d8u7c0drzqt7

November 4, 2020 Instagram post by @dopequeenpheebs

https://www.instagram.com/p/CHMBcFwB5gP/?igshid=ra6jf746s8km

1A - How Whiteness Affected the Election

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1a/id1188724250?i=10004978

The 2020 Presidential Election is a few days away and we have already seen record turnout around the county. In this week's show, Conner and Mr Well Travelled talk about what they are seeing around the election, voting, and the differences between Seattle and Houston. The second half of the show dives into an app by Mr Well Travelled called Next Up that provides waiting times in Harris County on Election Day. 

Welcome to Episode 04 of Community is a Verb a show that talks about tools for social action - social media, systems, processes, and strategies - and what we’re doing to create the world we want to see.

 Today's show with Mr. Well-Travelled and Conner Cayson focuses on moving beyond the Black Square. The Black Square was a social media trend in June 2020 that had confusing intentions and mixed messages during the start of the George Floyd Protests. Now that we are 4 months away from that viral day, we are talking about the event and if and how people have moved forward and taken action in their own lives. This topic was inspired by this Instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGAT-S3jBhv/

We also reflect on the murder of Jonathan Price and the recent murder charge and firing of the officer responsible for his death.

Source article from discussion: https://www.bet.com/news/national/2020/10/05/jonathan-price-texas-police-facebook-post.html

They also talk about how Yelp recently added a "Business Accused of Racist Behavior"Alert

source article: https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/10/09/922271718/yelp-will-label-businesses-accused-of-racist-behavior

Welcome to episode 03 of Community is a Verb with Mr. Well-Travelled and Conner Cayson. We are excited to invite our first guest host to the show. Vanessa Janay is cohost of The Undefined Good Girls Podcast - Along with her sister and cohost Kiara, the show is about shattering the label of “good girl” and empowering women to discover their authentic and undefined lives! 

In this week's show, the three of us discuss Lifelong Community Fighters including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, John Lewis and James Jackson. We also start the show with our community check-ins, and reflecting on the recent grand jury decisions regarding the Breonna Taylor case. 

Links to this week discussion below:

UNDEFINED GOOD GIRLS PODCAST on Instagram

Vanessa Janay on Instagram

Podcast Art Work design by @cocoaamli

Ballot Defenders

Kallie Music

article: "These Cities Replaced Cops With Social Workers, Medics, and People Without Guns"

article: Social Disorganization Theory

article: James Jackson

Dining Out for Life Fundraising TShirts 

You can follow along with Mr. Well-Travelled and Conner Cayson on Instagram.

Let's talk about voter suppression! In this week's show, Mr. Well Travelled and Conner dive into voter suppression and talk about some of the actions and process to make sure your vote counts. Here are some other topics and notes they cover:  

- The guys give a shout out to Kiara & Vanessa  "Undefined Good Girl Podcast" 

- Personal Check-ins 

- Reaction to this week's fires across the West Coast 

- Some information and facts about voter suppression 

- Impacts and History of Voter Suppression 

- Do You Have a Voting Plan? 

- Polling Station wait times with Mr Well Travelled's new app NEXT UP

- Anticipation for "All In: The Fight for Democracy"

Welcome to our podcast, COMMUNITY IS A VERB, with Mr. Well Travelled and Conner Cayson.  Community is a Verb (CiaV) is the podcast for allies, advocates, and activists - hosted by Mr. Well-Travelled and Conner Cayson. In every episode, we talk about tools for social action - social media, systems, processes, and strategies - and what we’re doing to create the world we want to see.You can find the video version of the show on our Youtube channel. 

The world is changing, hopefully for the better, and our communities will be the cornerstones of change. The goal of the show is to create a new form of social transformation by talking about real issues in our communities, and taking it a step further. That next step is about ACTION, and that is why the show is called COMMUNITY IS A VERB. 

Welcome to the first episode of COMMUNITY IS A VERB. Mr. Well Travelled and Conner Cayson are two friends who originally met each other through Instagram in Seattle, Washington. They met at a local event and became friends from there. Their discussions have always covered a wide range of topics, and although they don't always agree, they believe their conversations are examples of how people, who are different, and come from different places, can come together to work on improving the world and make change. 

In this week's episode, they lay a foundation for the principles of their show. It's important to talk about social justice on social media, but how are we taking the next steps toward action. What are the systems, processes and strategies being created to further the message? Are there ideas from other industries that we can reproduce to improve our communities? 

Conner and Mr Well Travelled talk about this past week's protest across sports, speaking out against racial injustice. They reflect on a historical week that includes the Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech and the March on Washington. They also reflect on the life of Chadwick Boseman.