A Mile In Our Shoes: Stories About Transportation and Equity

A Mile In Our ShoesStories About Transportation and Equity

EquityNow Twin Cities

© 2012 by EquityNow Twin CitiesFirst Edition.

All rights reserved. Published 2012.Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4675-5474-9

EquityNow Twin CitiesMinneapolis, Minnesotaequitynowtc.org

Equality means everyonehas a pair of shoes.

Equity means everyonehas a pair of shoes that fit.

— Vernon Wall

Contents

Equity, Empathy and the Power of a Pair of Shoes 1Shanai Matteson and Colin Kloecker

What is Equity? 5Neeraj Mehta and Tracy Babler

Stories and Shoes 9

Organizing for Transit Equity: A View from the Streets 41Ebony Adedayo

Transportation Equity Principles 45

Project Credits 49

1

Equity, Empathy and the Power of a Pair of ShoesShanai Matteson and Colin Kloecker

What does equity mean to you? This is the question that kicked off the first convening of EquityNow Twin Cities, a group of advocates that would eventually travel together to the 2011 Equity Summit in Detroit. As several people from the group shared their own definitions, one simple explanation seemed to stick. Asad Aliweyd, the Executive Director of the New American Academy, relayed this phrase from author Vernon Wall:

Equality means everyone has a pair of shoes.Equity means everyone has a pair of shoes that fit.

This stuck with us throughout the week-long summit, where we had the opportunity to meet advocates, activists, thinkers and doers who were passionate about achieving equity in communities across the country. Even more valuable, the summit gave us the chance to get to know our fellow Minnesota delegates, many of whom were previously strangers. Upon return, some of us formed a small working group to brainstorm projects that would help bring the equity conversation to a broader audience, while also deepening the connections among an emerging EquityNow Twin Cities network.

Vernon Wall’s words came back to us when we were offered the opportunity to create a window display in the front of Robert’s Shoes, an independently-owned business that has anchored the busy corner of Chicago Avenue and Lake Street for decades. A small section of the store’s windows had been converted into an art exhibition space, appropriately called The Shoebox Gallery, and the curator had a two-month opening in his schedule.

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Our group jumped at the opportunity to create something tangible together, collaboratively and across disciplines. To start, we revisited our foundational question: What does equity mean to you? As we discussed varying definitions, we also shared personal stories about how race, power and privilege played out in our personal histories and everyday lives. It quickly became clear that while shared definitions are important, shared experiences and stories can sometimes expand our understanding even further. The idea that sharing stories invites empathy led us to a different question, one inspired also by our project’s location.

What’s it like to walk a mile in your shoes?

It’s a simple question, but one that we rarely ask, or answer, in a public context. Important issues like equity in employment, housing and transportation can quickly become a numbers game. And numbers are important, especially when they tell a critical story about persistent disparities in our region. But what do numbers tell us about the people we do or don’t encounter in our daily lives? And how can storytelling begin to connect important policy decisions and the impact they have on real people?

A Mile in Our Shoes grew out of these open-ended questions. Our approach was simple: we extended an invitation to the people who live and work near the corner of Lake and Chicago to contribute a pair of shoes to our project, and to tell us a story about what it’s like to walk in those shoes.

In just two weeks we received fourteen responses, each one surprising and moving. We received stories about daily challenges stemming from a lack of affordable housing near public transportation hubs. Stories of pride in overcoming those challenges. Stories recognizing that we all walk in the footsteps of those before us. And stories of privilege, of realizing that some of us actually benefit from the inequities that leave others behind. These stories, and the shoes that

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carried them, became our installation at The Shoebox Gallery.

We are thankful to those who shared so much with us. It’s not easy to reveal personal details about your life, knowing they will be displayed for all to see. But we hope that it was an empowering experience. For us, it was a chance to consider how these stories can change the collective experience of the community around us.

This book represents the original Shoebox Gallery installation in a new format. It connects the stories of individual people to the larger systemic issue of transportation inequity. We hope that anyone who encounters this book is reminded that behind every policy decision, there are individuals making their way in the world, one mile at time.

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What is Equity?Neeraj Mehta & Tracy Babler

Everyone wants to live in communities rich with opportunity.But too often in our country, where you live determines whether or not you have access to the resources you need to thrive, like quality schools, banks you can trust and access to healthy foods, good jobs, affordable housing and transportation.

Race and place continue to limit access to opportunity.We cannot effectively develop communities of opportunity without tackling structures and institutions that perpetuate racial, social and economic inequities in our cities and regions.

The only way to close these gaps is by using an equity framework.

But what is equity? It’s an elusive word for many, one that is frequently substituted for equality.

Equality and equity are two different things.Equality requires that each person be treated the same way.Equity requires that people be treated appropriately.

Equality is about making sure every child has a pair of shoes.Equity is about making sure every child has a pair of shoes that fit.

Equality would mean every person has the same access to food.Equity would mean that everyone has the food they need to be healthy—and that would be very different for a newborn baby, a diabetic and a marathon runner.

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Equality means sameness.Equity means just and fair inclusion in society.

So how will we know when our communities have achieved equity?When where we live doesn’t limit our access to opportunity. When advantage and disadvantage cannot be predicted by race. And when all communities are rich with opportunity.

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Stories and Shoes

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“LAST SUMMER,we were unemployed. I eventually found a job in the suburbs, but there weren’t any buses to take me there on weekends. I moved downtown to be closer to transportation, but the rent is more than I can afford. It seems like all of the cheaper apartments are in bus deserts, where it’s hard to get where you’re going.”— Catriona

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“I TEACH ENGLISHto adult refugees and recent immigrants. Walking to work gives me the opportunity to see my students out and about in the community. It’s great to chat with them and learn that they’ve gotten a job or that they have recently become citizens of this country. Walking to work reminds me that while I chose to walk, many of our students don’t have the privilege of choosing.”— Jasmine

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“MY SHOES ARE WARRIORS.They have to be ready to walk through the jungles of the street anytime. Sometimes I think my mile gets longer every day I walk out the door. It’d be easy to give up and just circle the street like everyone else, but I know that in order to get something out of life, you have to fight hard. You have to walk through the jungle, and face the lions, tigers and bears.”— Deborah

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“I’M FROM ATLANTA.Living there and going to school, transportation was really hard. I was always dependent on other people. Before I moved to Minneapolis last year, I did a lot of research because I didn’t want to own a car and have to drive in the Minnesota winters. Now that I’m here, I still have challenges, but I can get where I need to go. Transit here is probably not perfect, but coming from Atlanta, it seems perfect to me.”— Gigi

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“I’M A WHITE WOMAN,middle-aged, no children, with an advanced degree and a net salary of $3,000 a month. I own my car, free and clear. My employer also provides the option of a discounted pre-tax monthly bus pass. I am a person who experiences economic and white privilege when it comes to transportation.”— Ella

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“I HAVE TRAVELLEDLake Street in so many modes of transport it blows my mind sometimes. Bikes, cars, buses, you name it. My favorite method has always been walking. A girl’s gotta strut her stuff just enough on Lake Street to keep the freaks and vampires away. And if one of them does try to step up, well ... now you know what the heels are for!”— Andrea

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“LIVING IN THE TWIN CITIES,I find myself driving a lot. I feel too pressed in my daily work to take an hour to get someplace on the bus. Before I had a car, I walked, biked and bused everywhere. I know the challenges, but I miss the joys of how you experience time, people and the city outside of your car.”— Natasha

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“I BOUGHT THESE SANDALSjust before multiple sclerosis showed up in my life. I’ve never worn them, because now, I don’t walk right. I take the bus because my wages are modest and my co-pays are huge. Because of my health, I can’t take on a second job, so, to pay for my meds, I gave up my car. I buy a monthly all-you-can-ride bus pass and bus it. I’m cutting costs wherever I can.”— Cherri

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“THERE’S A VISIBILITYyou take on when you walk and bus everywhere. Sitting in a car keeps you sheltered, protected and anonymous, while walking on a sidewalk or riding a bus makes you part of the city scenery, someone recognizable, whether you want to be or not.”— Amy

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“I’VE SPENT HALF OF MYof my adult life not having a car, so these boots have a ton of miles on them. I’ve walked and biked in them through the winter. When I don’t have a car, I have to be more planful, and it makes me slow down. Those are both things that don’t come naturally to me. When I’ve got a car, I revert to my laziest self.”— Angela

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“I’M AN AMERICAN INDIANenrolled in the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. I walk and drive these streets everyday. I see my people traveling miles and miles in their shoes looking for a break in life. Fortunately, there are native agencies that help people to make their lives better. My shoes have traveled these streets, too. The challenges I face pale in comparison to those of the people I work with and my own Ojibwe people.”— Mary

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“BEFORE MY DAUGHTER, Robin, went to be with the ancestors, multiple sclerosis put her in a wheelchair. This is when I realized that walking is something to cherish.”— Dee

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“MY WIFE AND Ihave a young daughter and only one car. Whenever she needs the car, it means that I cannot get to where I need to go. Buying another car means that I have to work an extra job, which means that I would not get to spend as much time with my family. But what choice do I have? My family won’t even be able to access the new light rail transit line coming to our community because the stations are not within walking distance from our house. And so, I will keep working, crazily, hoping that it will pay off soon.”— Mohamed

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“THE PATH I WALKrequires me to often remove my shoes of race, maleness, and ego to simply walk barefoot, reminding myself that in all that I attempt, in all that I plan and in all that I hope ... there are no shoes. It is the path that makes all the difference.”— Andre

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A Mile In Our Shoes would not have been possible without everyone who contributed stories and shoes. We thank you.

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Organizing for Transit Equity: A View from the StreetsEbony Adedayo

For many people in the Twin Cities region, a lack of transportation choices often presents a barrier to accessing employment, housing, education and health care. In comparison to other regions of our size, the Twin Cities fails to provide an efficient, multifaceted transportation system that is accessible to all residents. Unfortunately, communities of color hurt the most from these inequities, as they are four times more likely to be transit dependent than whites.1 People with disabilities have their own set of challenges because physical barriers often prevent them from getting to the transit stops safely, and because there is not always adequate communication when a stop has been moved.2

A history of disinvestment within these constituencies intensifies this reality. In the 1950s, the construction of Interstate 94 ripped apart a primarily African American neighborhood in St. Paul, destroying many homes and businesses. More than 50 years later, another transportation project had the potential to repeat the same mistake when developers and policy-makers made plans to build a light rail transit line along the same corridor. Determined to make sure that the neighborhood benefitted from this transitway development, community members organized the Stops for Us coalition, which focused on securing stations along the eastern end of the rail line to serve low-income communities and communities of color. After years of advocating, the coalition won three missing stops in 2010, demonstrating that transit planning works best when the people who need it the most have an opportunity to be involved in its development.

Since then, other community groups along our region’s developing transitways have raised their voices. Advocating Change Together, an organization run by and for persons with developmental and other disabilities, is fighting to ensure that

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people with disabilities can access the Central Corridor light rail transit line when it is complete.

African Career, Education and Resource Inc., a nonprofit organization working to end the disparities facing people of African descent in Minnesota, is engaging leaders in Brooklyn Park and bringing them to essential decision making tables so they can voice their opinions about the development of the upcoming Bottineau Transitway.

The Harrison Neighborhood Association, based in North Minneapolis, has been working for years to ensure that the Bottineau Transitway benefits its racially and culturally diverse community. Together with partner groups like MICAH, ISAIAH, the Housing Preservation Project, and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, HNA has raised equity as a key issue in decision-making, organizing against a plan for a critical land parcel adjacent to the Southwest LRT to be used as a rail storage yard rather than a residential and commercial area that would bring new jobs and housing opportunities to the neighborhood’s Bassett Creek Valley.

The results these communities are achieving along our region’s transitways shows that we are making progress. However, there is still work to do to ensure that all of our region’s residents have equitable access to transit and its associated benefits. Perhaps even more importantly, we have to keep working to ensure residents have more opportunities to be key decision-makers on infrastructure and transit investments in their communities.

1 Greg LeRoy and Karla Walter. The Thin Cities: How Subsidized Job Piracy Deepens Inequality in the Twin Cities Metro Area (Good Jobs First, December 2006), 1.2 National Transportation Access Research Project: A Survey of Riders with Disabilities. (Transit Access Project, November 2012), 10.

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Transportation Equity Principles

Achieving greater equity in our transportation systems require all of us as advocates, planners, engineers, developers, public officials and community members to consider a broader set of principles that we should measure our work against. Beyond the basic equity question of “who benefits and how much?” we must work from a set of shared principles that will help us build and maintain a more equitable transportation system in our region.

Multimodal AccessibilityA transportation system that privileges automobile transportation over all others inherently leads to inequities in access for those who can’t afford to buy or can’t physically operate a motor vehicle.

Communities must invest in multiple modes of transportation that allow easy and safe travel for all users – walkers, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists.

Equity in AccessEquitable access allows all people to reach essential destinations (employment, education, healthy food, health care and places of worship) safely and affordably with or without a car.

To achieve equitable access, communities must invest in multimodal transportation infrastructure that connects people and communities most in need of access to opportunity.

Inclusive PlanningHistorically underrepresented communities, including communities of color and people with disabilities, must be included early and significantly in planning processes.

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Decision-makers must bring underrepresented communities into planning processes as key stakeholders, reach the broader community through existing networks, and use understandable, culturally relevant language.

Inclusion in HiringInvesting in new transportation infrastructure creates quality jobs for workers in our region.

The racial and ethnic makeup of the workforce employed in the construction and operation of transportation infrastructure should reflect the diversity of the region and communities where infrastructure is built.

Environmental JusticeTransportation infrastructure, new and old, impacts the environmental conditions of communities in our region.

Potential negative environmental impacts from transportation projects must be clearly identified and communicated, and must not disproportionately impact communities of color or low-income communities.

Equitable DevelopmentNew transit infrastructure attracts new economic development and builds wealth for residents.

Underrepresented communities must have the ability to develop a vision that allows them to help shape future development, stay in place and benefit economically from infrastructure investment.

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Project Credits

A Mile In Our Shoes is a project of EquityNow Twin Cities, a cross-disciplinary group of equity advocates who believe that by working together, a diverse group of passionate people can achieve equity for the Twin Cities region and beyond.

A Mile in Our Shoes Project TeamEbony Adedayo, Alliance for Metropolitan StabilityAsad Aliweyd, New American AcademyTracy Nordquist Babler, Alliance for Metropolitan StabilityElizabeth Campbell, Edgeview InitiativesAriah Fine, Cleveland Neighborhood AssociationColin Kloecker, Works ProgressShanai Matteson, Works ProgressJoan Pasiuk, Transit for Livable CommunitiesJack Ray, City of Saint Paul, MinnesotaClaudia Wasserman, Commonbond Communities

AcknowledgementsBook design and shoe portraits by Colin Kloecker.Installation photographs by Zoe Prinds-Flash.Special thanks to the Shoebox Gallery, Robert’s Shoes and Coffee House Press.

This book was created with support from the McKnight Foundation.

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EquityNow Twin Cities Steering CommitteeMaura Brown, Alliance for Metropolitan StabilityOwen Duckworth, Alliance for Metropolitan StabilityDeanna Foster, Dayton’s Bluff Community CouncilMalik Holt-Shabazz, Harrison Neighborhood AssociationRepa Mekha, Nexus Community PartnerNeeraj Mehta, Center for Urban and Regional AffairsChaka Mkali, Hope CommunityDanielle Mkali, Main Street ProjectNed Moore, Minnesota Center for Neighborhood OrganizingJoo-Hee Pomplun, Asian Economic Development AssociationDaniel Yang, Native American Community Development Institute

Learn more about EquityNow Twin Cities at equitynowtc.org.

A Mile In Our ShoesStories About Transportation and Equity

In the summer of 2012 EquityNow Twin Cities put out a call for stories and shoes from people who live or work near the intersection of Lake Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota. What was it like to walk, drive, bike or bus in their shoes? Excerpts from their stories were displayed alongside their shoes as part of a storefront window installation titled A Mile in Our Shoes. These shoes and stories illuminate the personal dimensions of transportation inequity in the Twin Cities region. This book documents A Mile in Our Shoes and provides additional resources and information for transportation equity advocates.

EquityNow Twin Cities is a diverse group of passionate people working together to achieve equity in the Twin Cities region.

equitynowtc.org

A Mile In Our Shoes: Stories About Transportation and Equity

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