June Thomas, a member of the Baha’i community here in Washtenaw County, was recently featured in an article published on the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning website.
From the article:
A Baha’i since age 21, Thomas’s faith is integral to her academic work. “My work in my faith community is as important as my work in my profession because of my faith’s race unity agenda. Through that vehicle, I work in an interracial environment with people who are constantly promoting the idea of overcoming racial prejudice.”
By connecting spirituality and planning, Thomas says planners can transcend the profession’s limitations: “I’ve never expected that urban planning could solve deeply entrenched social problems that are embedded within bigger forces because urban planning is tied to bureaucracies that are dependent on what policies do or do not exist.”
Learn more about June Thomas’s history, career, and her desire to create paths for other Black and Latino scholars in the field of urban planning in the Taubman College article:
Portico Spring 2021: Distinguished Alumni Award Winner June Manning Thomas, Ph.D. ’77, on Crossing “Terra Incognita” to Create a Path for Others
