Introduction to Africentric Sociourban Planning

This book offers the elements of a theory whose time has come. The "browning of America" is what most people fear and as a result, those who are the targets of that fear must be in a position to be in charge of their own defense and development. Existing urban planning paradigms, from "advocacy planning," "equity planning" and "neighborhood planning" to jive-time programs like urban renewal, Model Cities and Enterprise Zones don't cut it because the people in charge don't look like the people being planned for. In this book I challenge some leading urban planning scholars and add the variable of "race" to their visions and perceptions of reality. I address the history of urban planning, central city "predators" and a host of issues that helped foster and fan the segregation that we continue to see today. I also offer some urban models of black leadership and several of my own proposals, including the "Agenda for Autonomy" and "the New Birth Initiative." Issues of zoning, the land question and Eminent Domain will be tackled. Long-time neighborhood approaches, from the neighborhood maintenance approach and the social work approach to the political activist approach will be analyzed. The proposed Africentric Sociourban Paradigm will be defined and explained in terms of its relevance to the future of American society and its on-going demographic transition. Another point is that "urban planning" also goes by names like "city planning," "urban development," "and "town planning." But in each of these you will find a gross neglect of discussions of race. The "human settlements" that are of importance are white ones, and blacks do not come into the picture until after black migration to the north. In fact, the black presence in the north accelerated the work of the urban planners to make sure that low-income people and blacks were separated from the "normal white folks." This is the REAL American history. My concept of Africentric Sociourban planning is not something brand new or sui generis. It just far more humane and the motivations are rooted in the future, not pacification plans for the present. In urban planning we find various forms of planning that attempted to show a concern for and commitment to the black community such as advocacy planning, neighborhood planning and equity planning. In sum, the Africentric Sociourban Paradigm is an idea whose time has come and rests on a present-day as well as a futuristic tenet - leadership by people of color FOR people of color with the future of a "browning of America" being inevitable. White people can no longer teach what they don't know and lead what they don't know, as has been the traditional tendency and historical pattern.