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Ideas

Why joy is most valuable when it's in public

6/11/202654 min

When Jay Pitter was eight years old and out shopping with her mother, she began swaying to the music at the mall. Her mother scolded her for it — signalling that it was undignified for a Black person to act that way in public. That incident was the genesis for Black Public Joy: No Permit Or Permission Required. In her book, she addresses the self-policing Black people can internalise, and reveals how culture, urban planning, and memory shape the way people can access joy in parks, streets, transit, and neighbourhoods.

Guest in this episode:

Jay Pitter is an award-winning placemaker focused on creating joyful public spaces that foster belonging, prosperity, and cultural memory. She advances this work through cultural planning, policy frameworks, and storytelling. Pitter is also an adjunct urban planning professor and has engaged students at Cornell, Princeton, and MIT, advancing new theories of public joy that connect practice, policy, and pedagogy.

Clips

Protest As Democratic Failure
First Taste Of Shame
Joy Over Maslow’s Basics
Mother’s Never Ever List
The Hood Sermon Speech
Two Very Different Laughs

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Speaker 10:00

    All your favorite CBC podcasts are now available on YouTube. The best in award-winning true crime investigations, hilarious comedies, vibrant pop culture conversations, and even more audio series are all available on CBC Podcasts YouTube channel. You'll also find exclusive video-first episodes, YouTube Shorts, and behind-the-scenes content from our hosts and producers that you can't find anywhere else. So if YouTube is your go-to source for podcasts, just search CBC Podcasts and hit Subscribe, and you'll never miss the latest update.

  2. David Ridgen0:28

    [upbeat jingle] This is a CBC podcast.

  3. Jay Pitter· Guest0:32

    My name is Jay Pitter.

  4. Nahlah Ayed· Host0:35

    And mine is Nahlah Ayed. Welcome to Ideas. [upbeat music] Jay Pitter is an internationally renowned public space practitioner.

  5. Jay Pitter· Guest0:47

    And what that means is that I lead projects focused on the design and policy of public spaces.

  6. Nahlah Ayed· Host0:57

    Jay's personal background informs her professional focus on public spaces. She grew up in public housing in Scarborough, to the east of Toronto. It's also the genesis for her book, Black Public Joy.

  7. Jay Pitter· Guest1:14

    The catalyst for this work is a decades-old memory of me swaying to music in a 1970s-style shopping mall and being sharply reprimanded by my mother, who felt that

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