Jay Pitter
Public Joy is as Urgent as Justice - Episode 5
Urban planner, author, and placemaker Jay Pitter, MES joins The Sidewalk Ballet to talk about her forthcoming book Black Public Joy: No Permit or Permission Required. Through her award-winning practice, Jay has shaped national city-building conversations and led equity-based projects across North America.
Her work begins with one radical premise: that public joy is not a luxury, but a human right. Jay challenges us to reimagine how cities are built, governed, and experienced. Together, we’ll explore how Black joy operates as both resistance and restoration; how the spaces we design can either stifle or sustain belonging; and what it takes to create a civic culture rooted in care, connection, memory and shared delight.