Join Deqah (host) as she sits down with guest, k. kennedy Whiters– a preservationist, registered architect, business owner, educator, writer, and founder of interdisciplinary firms wrkSHäp kiloWATT,  studio kW Architecture + Preservation for an IRL chat about architecture, preservation, reparative action, and the power of language in shaping historical narratives. In addition to managing wrkSHäp kiloWATT and Studio kW, kennedy has founded historic preservation initiatives Beyond Integrity in (X), (un)Redact the Facts, and Black in Historic Preservation. 

In this convo, Deqah and kennedy talk about their shared experience in a Columbia University studio co-taught by Whiters and Dr. Erica Avrami (and TA-ed by Deqah) about New York’s Tenderloin district and dive into kennedy’s “The Pledge to (un)Redact the Facts,” a framework that helps students and practitioners confront the ways grammar, narrative structure, and omission can obscure Black harm when writing about history. 

This is a conversation about more than buildings. It is about repair, truth-telling and care. 

Credits: 

Hosted and produced by Deqah Hussein-Wetzel. Edited and mixed by Skyler Ficklin.

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