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Today we have a high-energy conversation with Justin Garrett Moore, program director for the Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program and a renaissance man of urbanism. We talk with Moore about his childhood in Indianapolis, IN, his formative professional moments (at a high school internship and at the University of Florida), and the particular challenges he sees facing preservation today (including its fragmentation, over-emphasis on credentials, and the under-valuing of narrative). Plus, we dive deep into the Humanities in Place program, which funds nonprofits doing cultural preservation, urban development, placekeeping, and storytelling.

We talked to Justin about:

• His youth and the internship that changed his life [4:23-11:23]

• Going South and getting an education — in more ways than one [11:24-17:10]

• The challenges facing preservation and the power of narrative [17:11-43:48]

• Spotlighting organizations funded by Humanities in Place [43:49-51:21]

• Humanities in Place: What it does and doesn’t do [51:22-1:15:08]

• What’s close to his heart: Flanner House and Urban Patch [1:15:09-1:20:13]

Mentioned In this Episode: 

• Scalawag Magazine - A magazine focused on the South 

• Ekvn-Yefolecv - an intentional ecovillage community of Indigenous Maskoke persons who bought land in Alabama to build a place where they could preserve their culture through language. 

• New York LGBT Sites - broadening people’s knowledge of LGBT history beyond Stonewall and placing that history in its geographical context

• The American Indian Community House - a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization serving the needs of Native Americans residing in New York City.

• Flanner House - An African-American community service center in Indianapolis

• Urban Patch - An Indianapolis-based organization focused on inner cities. 

Credits: 

Your hosts are Deqah Hussein-Wetzel and Vanessa Quirk. This episode was edited by Deqah and Vanessa and mixed by Connor Lynch. Our music is by Adaam James Levin-Areddy. Thanks again to Justin Garrett Moore and Zuri Phelps. 

Urban Roots is a product of Urbanist Media, a non-profit dedicated to community preservation. You can make a tax-deductible donation to us via Venmo or Paypal. 

Follow us on IG at urbanrootsculture. Drop us an email urbanrootspodcast@gmail.com