When Roads Divide

My Facebook memories reminded me today of a final project I created for one of my classes a couple years ago that focused on the formation of the federal highway system and its role in racial and economic segregation our cities.

At the time I was five months pregnant, so I thought it would be fun to create a children's book to introduce my daughter to the systemic realities of racism and poverty that have shaped our cities while telling a short (and overly-simplistic) story of a woman who stood up for the people in her neighborhood.

Anthony Foxx, the former US Secretary of Transportation, said, "The values of the 1950s are still embedded in our built environment and prejudices. The notions of who's in and who's out are still a part of the built environment, and we can do something about it." I am no expert on any of this, but it is a fascinating story and I learned so much from digging deeper into the history of our roads and highways.

And so, I have finally mustered up the courage to share this project with the world in hopes that you can learn something too!