Every part of our logo tells a story.
The Adinkra symbols are a visual language rooted in West African heritage. The lines and pathways represent movement, direction, and new futures.
They represent what Black planning truly is—a journey toward beauty, equity, and belonging in our spaces.
Join us on this journey to design spaces and shape legacies at blackplanningproject.com
#BlackPlanningProject #DesignWithPurpose #CulturalRoots #UrbanFutures #UrbanPlanning #BlackCommunities #BeautifulBlackWorlds #BlackPlanners#AdinkraSymbols #EmergingPlanners
We are excited to announce that BPP has been awarded the Black Ideas Grant (B.I.G) by @fdnblkcomm for the “Strengthening Black Community-Led Planning to Confront Systemic Racism” project.
This project seeks to build the capacity of Black community organizations and nonprofits to lead Black-centred, community-driven planning initiatives that confront anti-Black racism and advance Black place-making.
Learn more about the project through the Link in Bio!
Stay tuned for more exciting updates!
#BlackIdeasGrant #FundedbyFFBC
🤝THANK YOU FOR JOINING US
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Building Beautiful Black Worlds — your presence, ideas, and energy made this gathering truly meaningful.
From powerful conversations on community-led Black planning, Black leadership in affordable housing, and art, culture, and memory, to the connections formed across geographies and disciplines, this symposium was a reminder of what’s possible when Black communities lead.
We are deeply grateful to our speakers, moderators, community partners, and participants for sharing their knowledge, lived experiences, and visions for more just and self-determined futures. This gathering is not an endpoint — it’s part of an ongoing commitment to learning, collaboration, and action.
Thank you for building with us. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
The Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
@SSHRC_CRSH
Thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations to make the Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium possible!
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds #BlackPlanning #CommunityLedPlanning
#BlackUrbanism #SpatialJustice #CollectiveCare #BlackFutures #PlanningWithCommunity
COUNTING DOWN TO BUILDING BEAUTIFUL BLACK WORLDS
As we get closer to Building Beautiful Black Worlds, we’re bringing together conversations across the keynote address and three powerful themes that centre Black knowledge, leadership, and imagination in planning.
✨Safeguarding the future we want to see: Black World-making in a Changing World Order.
🌍 Community-Led Black Planning
Building thriving Black communities through grassroots leadership, land stewardship, and planning practices rooted in lived experience.
🏘️ Black Leadership in Affordable Housing
Advancing equitable housing delivery through Black-led organizations building affordability, belonging, and long-term community power.
🎨 Art, Culture & Memory
Honouring Black cultural preservation and expression through design, storytelling, and creative placekeeping that sustains memory and joy.
Together, these conversations reflect what it means to build beautiful Black worlds — where communities lead, homes are secure, and culture is protected and celebrated.
We look forward to gathering, learning, and building alongside you. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: /bepic
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
#BlackPlanning
#CommunityLedPlanning
#BlackAffordableHousing
#ArtCultureAndMemory
#BlackUrbanism
#SpatialJustice
#PlanningWithCommunity
#BlackFutures
The Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
@SSHRC_CRSH
Thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations to make the Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium possible!
🎤 We’re excited to announce our keynote speaker for the Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium on February 21, 2026!
Join us as Dr. Beverley Mullings, Professor at the University of Toronto, takes the stage with their keynote address:
“Safeguarding the future we want to see: Black World-making in a Changing World Order”
Get ready for powerful insights, fresh perspectives, and ideas you’ll be thinking about long after the event.
@SSHRC_CRSH
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
#ArtCultureAndMemory
#BlackCulturalPreservation
#BlackAesthetics
#CreativePlacekeeping
#BlackUrbanism
#SpatialJustice
#CulturalBelonging
#CommunityLedDesign
The Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations to make the Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium possible!
As we prepare for Building Beautiful Black Worlds symposium in 2 weeks, we’re excited to come together with Black planners, scholars, community leaders, artists, and partners from across Canada.
A special thank you to our sponsors for their generous donations towards the symposium! Bousfields Inc., Ontario Professional Planners Institute, Powell Planning and Associates, Urban Strategies Inc., ERA Architects Inc., Davies Howe LLP
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
#ArtCultureAndMemory
#BlackCulturalPreservation
#BlackAesthetics
#CreativePlacekeeping
🎨 SYMPOSIUM THEME 3: ART, CULTURE & MEMORY
Black Cultural Preservation & Expression
Black cultural expression has always been central to how communities affirm identity, build belonging, and resist erasure. Across Canada, Black artists, designers, and community builders are reimagining urban spaces that honour memory, celebrate creativity, and reflect Black life — from cultural centres and community anchors to public art and shared spaces. This session explores the power of Black aesthetics as both cultural preservation and spatial justice. Panelists will reflect on how architecture, storytelling, and art shape places that feel rooted, restorative, and expressive of Black worldviews.
Together, we’ll examine:
✨ How art, culture, and design come together in Black placekeeping
✨ The role of memory and storytelling in shaping space
✨ Aspirational visions for Black cultural hubs
✨ The practical pathways — policy, partnerships, and funding — needed to bring them to life
This is an invitation to imagine what it means to build beautiful Black worlds — where preservation meets creation, and every space tells a story of endurance, joy, and belonging. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-beautiful-black-worlds-tickets-1977627873205
#ArtCultureAndMemory
#BlackCulturalPreservation
#BlackAesthetics
#CreativePlacekeeping
#BlackUrbanism
#SpatialJustice
#CulturalBelonging
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
🏘️ 🤝 MEET OUR THEME 2 SPEAKERS
Black Leadership in Affordable Housing
We’re proud to welcome an incredible group of Black housing leaders, developers, and community builders who are advancing affordable housing rooted in equity, cultural belonging, and community power.
🎤 Moderator
Mwarigha M.S.
Vice President, Housing Growth, Development & Asset Sustainability @woodgreendotorg
🗣️ Panellists
• Djaka Blais — Executive Director, @hogans.alley
• Curtis Whiley — Founder & President, @uhpcommunitylandtrust
• Veronica Marsman — Managing Director, @akomanovascotia
Together, they’ll explore:
✨ Building organizational capacity and resilience
✨ Visioning Black-led housing grounded in community values
✨ Meaningful community engagement and co-creation
✨ Designing housing that reflects Black aesthetics and lived realities
✨ Forging partnerships and navigating complex financing systems
This session highlights what’s possible when Black leadership drives housing delivery — from land access to design, financing, and long-term stewardship. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-beautiful-black-worlds-tickets-1977627873205
@sshrc_crsh@torontomet
#BlackAffordableHousing
#BlackHousingLeadership
#HousingJustice #CommunityLedDevelopment
#BlackPlanning #SpatialJustice
#CommunityLandTrust
#DesignForBelonging
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
🏘️ SYMPOSIUM THEME 2: BLACK LEADERSHIP IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Delivering Housing, Building Belonging
Across Canada, Black communities continue to face systemic barriers to safe, affordable, and secure housing — shaped by long histories of displacement, land-based injustice, and exclusion from housing opportunities. This session spotlights Black-led nonprofits and community organizations advancing affordable housing models rooted in affordability, sustainability, and cultural belonging. Often working with limited resources, these organizations are building housing through vision, creativity, and collective care.
Panellists will share how they are:
✨ Strengthening internal capacity
✨ Navigating complex development and financing systems
✨ Securing land and forging meaningful partnerships
✨ Centring Black aesthetics, community values, and resident voices
This conversation is about more than housing delivery — it’s about flourishing in place, building power, and creating homes where Black communities can thrive. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-beautiful-black-worlds-tickets-1977627873205
#BlackAffordableHousing
#BlackHousingLeadership
#HousingJustice #CommunityLedDevelopment
#BlackPlanning #SpatialJustice
#CommunityLandTrust
#DesignForBelonging
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
🤝 MEET OUR THEME 1 SPEAKERS
Community-Led Black Planning
Building Thriving Black Communities
We’re excited to welcome an incredible group of Black community leaders and planners who are actively reshaping planning practice and protecting Black neighbourhoods across Canada.
🎤 Moderator
Keisha St. Louis-McBurnie
Board Director, Little Jamaica Community Land Trust
🗣️ Speakers
• Carolann Wright — Director, Capacity Building & Strategic Initiatives Road to Economic Prosperity (REP)
• Amina Yassin — VP, Community & Placemaking Learning Enrichment Foundation
• Symone Walters — Community Leader & Activist Growing in Place
• Anyika Mark — Community Land Trust Coordinator Little Jamaica Community Land Trust
Together, they’ll explore:
✨ Reclaiming community agency in planning
✨ Equity tools, partnerships & policy advocacy
✨ Community land stewardship & anti-displacement
✨ Sustaining impact & building Black futures
This is a conversation rooted in lived experience, collective ownership, and spatial justice. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds
#BlackPlanning #CommunityLedPlanning
#BlackUrbanism #SpatialJustice
#CommunityLandTrust #AntiDisplacement
#PlanningWithCommunity #BlackFutures
#CanadianPlanning #CityBuilding
🌍 SYMPOSIUM THEME 1: COMMUNITY-LED BLACK PLANNING
Building Thriving Black Communities
Urban and land-use planning in Canada has long been shaped by anti-Black racism and settler colonialism, resulting in displacement, dispossession, and ongoing inequities for Black communities. At the same time, Black communities across the country are leading their own planning futures.
This session centres community-led Black planning as a pathway toward equity, self-determination, and spatial justice. Community partners will share how they are advancing grassroots planning, policy advocacy, and community land stewardship to reshape planning practice and centre Black voices and lived experience. This is about protecting place, building collective power, and creating thriving, sustainable Black communities. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/building-beautiful-black-worlds-tickets-1977627873205
#CommunityLedPlanning #BlackPlanning
#BuildingThrivingBlackCommunities #SpatialJustice
#BlackUrbanism #LandJustice
#PlanningWithCommunity #EquitablePlanning
#BlackFutures #CanadianPlanning
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds"
🤝 JOIN US AT BUILDING BEAUTIFUL BLACK WORLDS
Registration is now open for Building Beautiful Black Worlds, a one-day national symposium bringing together Black planners, scholars, community leaders, artists, and partners from across Canada. This gathering centres community-led Black planning, Black leadership in affordable housing, and art, culture, and memory as essential to shaping equitable, self-determined futures.
Whether you work in planning, housing, community development, design, culture, or policy — or are simply committed to learning alongside Black communities — this space is for you. We invite you to join us for a day of conversation, reflection, and collective building. Let’s build, learn, and imagine beautiful Black worlds — together. For more project insights and information, visit BPP's site: / .
🗓️ Building Beautiful Black Worlds
🔗 Register now — link in bio / link below: https://ow.ly/zCN050XKXxw
#BuildingBeautifulBlackWorlds #BlackPlanning #BlackUrbanism
#CommunityLedPlanning #PlanningWithCommunity #EquitablePlanning
#BlackFutures #CanadianPlanning #CityBuilding
