In this episode, I reconnect with Charles Brown of Rutgers University for a dive deep into the inequities inherent in our transportation networks and how we can collectively make a difference in our communities.

Systemic racism permeates through so many facets of our daily lives that we often are blinded to its very presence as well as its historical relevance in how our cities have been shaped. The transportation network is fraught with challenges of inequities at its very foundation. Our guest in this episode, Charles Brown, serves as a senior researcher with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) and adjunct professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, both at Rutgers University. He also serves as a 2020 Fellow within the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication in Partnership with The OpEd Project. And he has dedicated his career to speaking up for the voiceless.

We cover a lot of ground in this discussion including the realities of our current times, the simple joys of riding a bike, and what we can all do to make a difference in our communities.

Additional Links:

Book: Color of Law

Walking While Black

Walking Towards Justice

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Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Searching for Hope by Neil Cross, Emotional Epic Trailer by Valentina Gribanova, Ballad Hip Hop Prime by Simon Jomphe Lepine, and Live Free Tropical Beat by CJ Harris via Storyblocks.com

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

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Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2020

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.