Episode 20: Town Hall neighborhood fellow Jordan Alam pays us a visit and raps with Ian about equity in art, our role as gentrifiers — all of us — to make civic arts more inclusive and representative. Jordan and Ian dive deep on the importance of “moments” and how being present in them calls on deep empathy, deep technical skill, and deep awareness. Then resident wiseacre Doug Abbott drops in and suggests a mind-blowing new idea for how to deal with the Current Resident(tm) of the White House.
About Jordan Alam
Jordan Alam is a writer, editor, doula, and social change educator based out of Seattle, Washington. A graduate of Barnard College in psychology and creative writing, she has gone on to pursue the dual careers of writing and direct services provision. By day, she coordinates the Birth Doula Services program at Open Arms Perinatal Services and runs her own doula practice. She is deeply passionate about empowering marginalized communities by promoting unheard voices and serving those who have limited access to resources.
Jordan is currently Town Hall Seattle’s neighborhood resident for Columbia City. Her short stories and articles have appeared in The Atlantic, CultureStrike Magazine, The Rumpus, and AAWW’s The Margins; she has spoken at events including the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Eyes on Bangladesh exhibition. She is also the founder of the Asian American social justice publication, Project As[I]Am, and keeps a personal blog at The Cowation. At present, she is at work on a draft of her debut novel.
About Doug Abbott
UpZones’ resident wiseman and wiseacre, Doug is founder and President of DouglasMDigital, they specialize in providing top agency-level strategy & execution for small and medium-sized businesses, especially focusing on direct-response campaigns.
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