Lunch and Learn returns with special guest Bi'Anncha Andrews \; in conversation with the Prince George's County Office of Human Rights and the Prince George's County Memorial Library Sys tem.
\nBi'Anncha Andrews is a doctoral candidate in the Urban and Re gional Planning and Design (URPD) program at the University of Maryland\, College Park. In addition to her academic work\, Bi&rsquo\;Anncha is a lic ensed social worker and received her master's degree in social work from T he Catholic University of America. Bi'Anncha also holds a bachelor's degre e in Criminal Justice and a bachelor's degree in Psychology\, which she ob tained from Trinity Washington University.
\nBlending these people-f ocused skill sets with her research interests\, Bi&rsquo\;Anncha developed a framework she identifies as &ldquo\;Dispossession by Design\,&rdquo\; w hich she also commonly refers to as &ldquo\;The Oppressors Playbook.&rdquo \; The "Dispossession by Design" framework serves as a critical lens for a nalyzing and comprehending the intentional and systematic processes of&nbs p\;community development and design that target\, marginalize\, and disenf ranchise BIPOC- and immigrant-based communities. It highlights the complic ity of multiple actors such as property owners\, real estate agents\, law enforcement\, and government entities and institutions\; which either cons pire or willfully ignore the escalating neglect of homes and public infras tructure in urban areas historically and/or predominantly occupied by vuln erable populations. By shedding light on the deliberate policies and pract ices that foster violence\, neglect\, and decay in these neighborhoods\, t he framework powerfully exposes the underlying racial\, economic\, class a nd gender-based motivations fueling such dispossession\, revealing an urge nt call for accountability and transformative action.
\nUtilizing th e framework\, Bi'Anncha's dissertation research investigates the impacts o f gentrification-induced public housing demolition on low-income\, Black w omen\, while centering the intersecting roles that race\, class\, and gend er have played in shaping the neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage a nd limited access to effective social services and social support networks \, that these women are forced to reside in. More specifically\, her work pays particular attention to the disruptions it causes for Black Women who are displaced from public housing projects. Her dissertation investigates how Black Women navigate their transition out of gentrifying neighborhood s\, and how they begin to rebuild the social service and neighborhood-base d support networks they were dispossessed of\, once they arrive in their n ew environments. \;
\nIt is Bi&rsquo\;Anncha&rsquo\;s hope that
both her dissertation and the "Dispossession by Design" framework can be u
tilized for grassroots organizing\, policy advocacy\, community empowermen
t\, academic research\, urban planning\, and social justice initiatives\,
enabling stakeholders to challenge inequities\, promote informed decision-
making\, and foster reparative and restorative justice in marginalized com
munities. By highlighting the systemic and harmful nature of dispossession
\, it facilitates a comprehensive understanding of how design and policy i
mpact social hierarchies and community stability\, and paves the way for n
ew opportunities to effectively collaborate on policies\, practices\, and
restoration that improves urban redevelopment outcomes\, social service di
stribution and support network access to account for the losses that vulne
rable populations often suffer as a result of exclusionary development.
\;
Bi'Anncha has taught Advanced Planning Courses at the Univ
ersity of Maryland including Community Development which she served as the
lead instructor\; and the Advanced Community Planning Studio course which
she served as the Teaching Assistant with Dr. Clara Irazabal. Her researc
h interests and specializations are in Residential and Commercial Gentrifi
cation\, Anti-Displacement\, Dispossession Public Housing Demolition\, Res
idential Segregation\, Concentrated Poverty\, \;Black Feminist Theory
\, Access to Social Services and Social Support Networks\, Restorative and
Reparative Planning Practices.