The Sidewalk Ballet

Majora Carter on Talent Retention and Community Investment

Majora Carter is one of the most visionary voices in urban revitalization today. A real estate developer, strategist, and Peabody Award–winning broadcaster, she has redefined what it means for communities to shape their own futures. From her groundbreaking work in the South Bronx to her national platform as an advocate for environmental justice and economic empowerment, Majora has spent her career challenging the idea that low-status neighborhoods are destined to remain so.
She is the author of Reclaiming Your Community: You Don’t Have to Move Out of Your Neighborhood to Live in a Better One, a book that reframes neighborhood development as a pathway for residents to build prosperity where they already live.
On The Sidewalk Ballet, Majora brings her trademark insight and candor to questions of community, resilience, and ownership. Our conversation explores how places—and the people who steward them—can unlock dignity, opportunity, and power in the face of daunting challenges.
This episode is a compelling look at what it takes to not only reimagine our neighborhoods, but to reclaim them.
ALSO
Producer Abra Allan sits down with the team behind SF Black Wall Street, a grassroots organization working to preserve and strengthen San Francisco’s Black community through three powerful tenets — home ownership, business ownership, and Black spaces. Together they talk about the rebuilding of 1921, a “third place” for creativity, entrepreneurship, and dialogue that embodies both resilience and hope. The conversation explores what it means to reclaim place in a city where belonging itself can feel endangered—and how economic empowerment can become a foundation for cultural survival.
Guest Links
https://majoracartergroup.com/
https://SFBWSFoundation.org/
Episode Links
https://boogiedowngrind.com/
https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/
https://ebprec.org/
https://homeboyindustries.org/

Revisiting Third Places with Karen Christensen

As we kick off the sidewalk ballet - a project dedicated to understanding cities and strengthening community - There is really no better place to start than at the neighborhood cafe, or the corner pub.
Karen Christensen is an author, publisher, and community leader whose work spans culture, sustainability, and the power of networks. As the founder of Berkshire Publishing Group, she has long championed ideas and institutions that strengthen communities. Her forthcoming book, written in collaboration with Ray Oldenburg, revisits and reimagines the concept of the “third place” for today’s world.
On The Sidewalk Ballet, Karen shares her perspective on why third places matter now more than ever. Our conversation explored themes of loneliness and isolation, the distinction between third places and public spaces, and the importance of creating space for conversation, plus her work on the encyclopedia of community.
This episode will open the series with both depth and urgency, offering fresh insight from one of the voices carrying the legacy of The Great Good Place into a new century.