Oh the Places I Went! (mainly MPR)

This blog post (do we still blog?) is more of an acknowledgment that while doing rad bike equity stuff I have fully left this website out of the loop.

My bad.

Hello, from a vegan taco.

And for those of you who are not academics, I’ll let you in on something. Academics typically use the summer as you may New Year’s. A time to reset, recalibrate, and reflect. Hence the oddly-time mid-year post about what I’ve been up to.

In the past year I have given talks about my book (hello Baltimore and Milwaukee!) and presented at a few academic conferences (hello NCA and AAG!).

I am available to give talks, so email me if you’d like me to visit your school, workplace, and/or community.

All that said, I am most proud of the work I did in late 2016 with Anneka Kmiecik as we completed an in-depth analysis of citations given to bicyclists in Minneapolis.

This report was supported by Our Streets Minneapolis (formally known as the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition).

me and anthony at mpr

Anthony Taylor and I waiting outside the MPR studios, Oct. 25, 2016.

While many of my public talks were challenging, invigorating, and fun I believe that “peak Melody” was when MPR invited me to the studio talk about the citations report with my friend Anthony Taylor.

I got a chance to tell a large audience about the report and Anthony and I fielded some great questions from the listeners.

This year has been very humbling and…wait I am already way too humble for my own good. It has been very lovely to see so much positive attention given to my book (Bike Lanes are White Lanes. Get it now!).

If you are interested in keeping up with this conversation, make sure to join the Bike Equity Network via Google Groups. We are keeping the bike equity conversation alive one email at a time.

Until then,

Helmets.

Interview with Da Rich Kidzz

This summer, I brag-posted about meeting Da Rich Kidzz (FKA Y.N.RichKids). I was able to chat with G-6, Lady J, and Ben-10. Here is the transcript of our conversation. (Also I lack all ability to interview people under the age of 18, as illustrated here)

100_3085

Melody: Who came up with the idea for “My Bike”?:

G-6: We all came up with the idea at the Beats and Rhymes program at the YMCA

Melody: Do you all ride bikes?

Group: Yes

Melody: everyday?

G-6: Yes.

Ben-on-10: Not every day.

Lady J: I do!

Melody: Do you ride to school or your friend’s house?

Lady J: I just ride back and forth at home.

Melody: You all live in North [Minneapolis] right?

Group: Yes

Melody: Ok, so do people your age think biking is cool?

G-6: I don’t know how other people feel about riding bikes but I know the friends I hang out with like to ride bikes.

Melody: So no one makes fun of you?

Continue reading