People's Liberty project grantee, Who 'They' Is

Jasmine Humphries is spending six weeks working with 20 teenagers from all over the city on a creative placemaking project in Avondale. Her idea, Who ‘They’ Is, was funded through a $10,000 People’s Liberty grant.
 
Who ‘They’ Is focuses on “they” as a singular entity, as in: “They said this…” or “They did that…”
 
“The goal is to use different ways to humanize and demystify ‘they’ to empower citizens,” Humphries said.
 
The project officially launched on Oct. 1 at People’s Liberty, and will wrap up with the big reveal scheduled for Nov. 5. During the six-week project, the teens will be exploring the world of planning and design, and will use what they learn to create a park within Lincoln Park in Avondale.
 
“Lincoln Park is underutilized, and I want to help make things happen,” Humphries said. “Other things will happen because of this project.”  
 
Who ‘They’ Is won’t culminate in permanent or semi-permanent construction due to time constraints, but rather in a placemaking event like Parking Day, called Space to Pla(y)ce.
 
Students will learn about the park designing process, including planning, designing, empowering a community and meeting stakeholders. Although Humphries doesn’t have a formal planning background — she has a degree in economics and spent a year as an AmeriCorps vista working at LISC — she believes that everyone should be introduced to planning and design and the different career paths available.
 
The first week, students worked on teambuilding, and the park will grow from those connections and teamwork. The second week included a site visit in Avondale.
 
“First we have to build a social community among ourselves and identify leadership styles,” Humphries said. “Then we will start talking about building the physical community, which is in this case, a park.”
 
Long-term, Humphries wants to focus on diversifying the workforce, and to start to mold socially responsible and culturally aware professionals. She also wants to show the people of Cincinnati and its organizations that young people are capable of designing, and that their opinions and voices are important and valuable.
 
“Through this project, lots of people will see these kids’ designs and their feedback; they’re going to be blown away,” she said. “I want to tap into the human capital, and I feel that kids have a lot of potential. We as adults are asking questions and trying to answer them, but imagine if you gave that problem to a 12-year-old. They will come up with an entirely different solution.”
 
Twice per year, eight grantees are chosen per grant cycle to prototype solutions to civic challenges. Project grantees are supported with $10,000, a launch event and access to People’s Liberty’s workplace and mentorship. Stay tuned to Soapbox for profiles of this year's 15 other grantees.