In 2020, shortly after the murder of George Floyd, Portland native Randal Wyatt had an idea. As people asked him how they could be better allies to the Black community, he saw an opportunity to address a critical but often overlooked driver of gentrification: home maintenance. Taking Ownership PDX was born, providing free repairs and renovations for Black homeowners, particularly elderly residents at risk of displacement. Find Taking Ownership PDX at https://takingownershippdx.org/...
May 29, 2025•17 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In 2024, the Detroit People's Food Co-op opened its doors in Detroit's North End neighborhood. This full-service grocery store was birthed by the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network, or DBCFSN. It’s an organization that focuses on food justice, land access, and building Black self-determination. Today, we will hear from Gi'anna Shears and Dr. Shakara Tyler Saba, the co-executive directors of the DBCFSN, about their vision for a more equitable food system, why language matters in dis...
Apr 01, 2025•25 min•Season 3Ep. 1
In 1942, the Taborian Hospital opened in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. At a time when most hospitals segregated Black from White patients or turned Black patients away, the Taborian Hospital provided equal treatment and care for all. There is no question that desegregation and the Civil Rights Movement improved access to healthcare for Black Americans. But today, rural hospitals increasingly face closure, and healthcare disparities continue to negatively impact Black Americans. It’s worth investigat...
Nov 12, 2024•22 min•Season 2Ep. 10
For nearly her entire life, Amy Stelly has lived in the Treme district of New Orleans. Her house is near the Claiborne Expressway, a piece of Interstate-10 that was built through the neighborhood in 1969. The Claiborne Expressway is one of many American highways to divide and deprive Black communities. Not only has this infrastructure damaged these neighborhoods economically and culturally, but it’s also dangerous. These highways pollute the environment with high levels of noise and harmful part...
Jul 26, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 9
In 2017, Atlanta’s city planning department designated four large green spaces as quote “lungs,” that were vital for cooling the city. They announced plans to turn one of these lungs, the South River Forest, into an urban park. But four years later, there was a change in plans. The mayor approved a police and firefighter training facility to be built in that park. It’s called “The Atlanta Public Safety Training Center,” but to some, it has come to be known as “Cop City.” There has been a concert...
May 30, 2024•18 min•Season 2Ep. 8
When low income neighborhoods receive new parks and green spaces, it can be a huge win for long-term residents. But greening initiatives can invite what we call “green gentrification.” If the rent is cheap and the neighborhood is suddenly more attractive, walkable and bikeable, then it’s very likely that wealthier people will start moving in. These are often White people entering predominantly communities of color, where due to their arrival, they begin changing the social and cultural makeup of...
Apr 11, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Automated Traffic Enforcement, or ATE, refers to a variety of tools that are used to enforce traffic laws through technology. You usually see them as red light cameras, and speed cameras. But there are also license plate readers, bus lane enforcement cameras, and many more examples. ATE is spreading across the country very fast. There are situations where ATE can reduce speeding, and theoretically it reduces contact between police officers and Black and Brown drivers for traffic stops. But, some...
Feb 28, 2024•16 min•Season 2Ep. 6
A local bus or train ride usually costs between one and three dollars. But many Americans living in public transportation-dense cities choose to evade paying for transit tickets when possible. They get on the bus through the back door and avoid the driver. And in bigger cities, it’s common practice to hop the turnstile on the subway. Fare evasion can cost transit agencies across the country tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars. It affects their ability to provide consistent bus and train s...
Nov 30, 2023•30 min•Season 2Ep. 5
The 15-minute city, or neighborhood, was conceived by Carlos Moreno, a professor and influencer in Paris. It’s an area where residents can access everything they need in their life - food, work, school, community gathering places - within 15 minutes of their home. The 15-minute city reduces reliance on cars, improves the quality of life for residents, and makes cities more sustainable and environmentally friendly. In a recent lecture with urban planning students at Rutgers, the State University ...
Oct 31, 2023•13 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In Central Wisconsin, undocumented immigrants from Latin America make up the majority of the workforce in the dairy industry. Although these undocumented folks are allowed to own and register vehicles, they can’t get driver’s licenses without legal residency. As a result, police in rural Wisconsin often racially profile drivers of color, knowing that they may not have a license to be on the road. We spoke to Melissa Sanchez, a reporter for ProPublica who inspired this episode with her article, “...
Sep 29, 2023•31 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Many Black students live in over-policed, under-funded communities. School should be a safe space for them, a refuge from surveillance and a place to explore. But almost 70% of public high schools and middle schools have police officers on site, and Black students have contact with police more often than White students. When there’s police inside the school, and police outside the school, law enforcement is a constant presence in these students' lives. Today, we're talking to Corey Mitchell, a s...
Aug 30, 2023•28 min•Season 2Ep. 2
In a majority Black and Latino neighborhood of Hammond, Indiana, children are clambering over and under stopped train cars to get to school. These trains are halted by rail traffic at pedestrian intersections, and there are not a lot of enforceable laws to keep them moving. Blocked crossings can pose an inconvenience, or a deadly obstacle, to Americans of all kinds. But in the United States, we usually find that the people living around train tracks are Black and Brown folks who are living in a ...
Jul 28, 2023•23 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Thank you all for listening to Season 1 of the podcast. We're happy to announce that Arrested Mobility is returning for Season 2 this July. We’ll be covering more major themes in equity, but also diving into current events and injustices – topics like railroads disrupting Black communities, the presence of police officers in schools, food insecurity and food deserts, and much more. This podcast is totally self-funded. So please check out our new Patreon for the podcast - that’s the best way to c...
Jun 29, 2023•3 min
To quote the famous Black author, Audre Lorde, none of us live single-issue, nor single-identity lives. When you consider how people with compounding identities may experience overlapping structures, and systems of oppression - we call that intersectionality. And when it comes to arrested mobility, an intersectional approach can reveal more about the challenges that different Black people face when they enter and move through public space. Today, we're going to focus mostly on how Black women, f...
Feb 28, 2023•33 min
In 2014, Lance Rodriguez was riding a bike around Queens, New York, when he was stopped by police. Whether you know it or not, a very different legal precedent has been established for when police stop bike riders, versus when they stop drivers in motor vehicles. Stopping and searching cyclists is just one way that Black and Brown Americans have had their mobility arrested. Today, we’re breaking down the arguments for why cyclists should have the same protection from police stops as people in ca...
Jan 31, 2023•24 min
An extensive system of levees runs along the Mississippi River, from Missouri through to the Delta region of Louisiana. Some of these floodbanks have been converted into walking and biking trails, which are supposed to be open to the public. But in some rural Louisiana communities, converted levee paths are not always equitably accessible. These communities are more than 50% Black, but researchers have found that Black and White residents report different experiences when it comes to feeling saf...
Nov 30, 2022•22 min
On May 15th, 2022, the Black community of St. Louis, Missouri gathered downtown to celebrate the Annie Malone May Day Parade. Annie Malone was one of the first Black women to become a millionaire in the United States. The day after the parade, Public Safety Director Dan Isom held a press conference. He said that groups of young people downtown had caused traffic and safety disruptions with electric scooters. The city decided to impose a 7pm curfew on electric scooters in the downtown area. Then,...
Oct 31, 2022•28 min
Land-use regulations such as zoning are connected to every topic we cover on this show. When you zoom out and look at the big picture, many forms of racial inequity in America link back to how communities are planned and developed. It’s why some neighborhoods have fewer transportation options than others, and why certain parts of town have empty lots in place of parks, schools and affordable housing. Through zoning, deed restrictions and redlining, ‘desirable’ neighborhoods have historically bee...
Sep 29, 2022•32 min
We have a problem in America. That problem is pedestrians getting hit and killed by cars. It’s an issue that government officials and transportation professionals alike spend a good deal of time and money trying to solve. And while this affects every community in the country, it disproportionately affects Black and brown communities. It’s just one way that Black Americans have had their mobility arrested. Why is it that Black and brown folks are the ones most likely to be struck and killed? And ...
Aug 31, 2022•31 min
For many Americans, taking public transit can be a difficult daily trial. Depending on where people live, and where they’re going, buses or trains may only come once every thirty minutes to an hour. Or, in some cases, they may not come at all. Riders might have to transfer one, two, maybe three times, and even walk or roll long distances between each stop. Many bus stops lack important amenities, like benches, shelters, and lights, so that commuters can wait comfortably for their next ride. And ...
Jul 27, 2022•35 min
Until February of 2022, Seattle was the largest city in the country where it was illegal for anyone - kids, adults or senior citizens - to ride a bike without a helmet. There’s no question that helmets save lives. But some people just aren’t going to wear them, whether or not it’s illegal. Helmet laws are similar to sidewalk riding laws. They’re intended to keep people safe, but they also give police officers an excuse to stop cyclists. So how and why did Seattle decide to repeal their helmet la...
May 31, 2022•32 min
Today, we’re breaking down the tension on the sidewalk between micro mobility devices, vulnerable pedestrians, and people with disabilities. Micro mobility devices include bicycles, e-bikes, electric scooters, electric skateboards, shared bicycles, and electric pedal assisted bicycles. Although micro mobility continues to be a work in progress, micro mobility vehicles can serve an important role in transportation equity. Many transportation experts want to increase adoption of micro mobility inf...
Apr 29, 2022•33 min
Many states and cities in the US have laws that make it illegal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk. But, are these laws keeping people safe? Or are they another way that Black Americans and other people of color have had their mobility arrested? Today, we investigate how law enforcement uses cycling infractions to perpetuate systemic racism in under-resourced and underserved communities. We’ll talk to Patric McCoy, who was stopped by Chicago police. We also welcome Oboi Reed and Dr. Jesus Bara...
Mar 30, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 2
When you walk around a city, there are many rules you follow - or maybe, you don't follow them. You might not think about them too much. Rules like, walk on the sidewalk. Wait for the walk signal when crossing an intersection. Don't cross in the middle of the block. When you break those rules in the U.S., we call it jaywalking, and it’s illegal. But most people who jaywalk don’t think about it as a crime. In fact, most Americans admit to having jaywalked. Yet the data shows that police enforce j...
Feb 23, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1
On this podcast, we’ll take you to the streets of Philly, the sidewalks of Seattle, and the neighborhoods of Kansas City. In each place, we’ll ask: Why are Black Americans disproportionately victims of race-based hate crimes? And, why are they victims of overly aggressive police enforcement and brutality while walking, running, riding bicycles, taking public transit, Or while driving? Was this by design? And what can we do to change the outcomes when Black people or other people of color step ou...
Feb 08, 2022•2 min
