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Setting up mutual-aid societies

lpetrich

lpetrich

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When I saw this, I wondered what this could possibly be about:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Did you know you can organize your building, block or neighborhood for #COVID to help others & keep people safe?
It’s called Mutual Aid.
Join me + legendary organizer Mariame Kaba TOMORROW as we walk through the steps of supporting others safely. RSVP: https://t.co/3IOWKkvaox" / Twitter

Mariame Kaba's home page: Being MK – My Personal Website
"I’m an organizer, educator and curator. My work focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial complex, transformative justice and supporting youth leadership development."

Hanover Fisk on Twitter: "@AOC Every single thing I've ever heard AOC say makes me feel like she genuinely cares about people.
I have never heard Trump say a SINGLE THING that made me believe that about him." / Twitter

It was a conference call, done that way as a form of social distancing.
 
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Our #MutualAid training is kicking off NOW and we’ll be using the hashtag #WeGotOurBlock to live tweet!
There IS a call cap and we are RSVP’d to be overbooked, so hop on ASAP to get on the call.
If you can’t make it, we’ll be sending you a recording along with our resource kit. https://t.co/05x4HNdARV" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "#WeGotOurBlock ⬇️ https://t.co/hAswoOyiUt" / Twitter
noting
Kalaya'an Mendoza | ᜃᜎᜌᜀᜈ on Twitter: "I’m on the Building Mutual Aid Networks call organized by Congressional Representative .@AOC & Organizer Mariame Kaba .@prisonculture and am beyond thankful we have their leadership & expertise in this moment." / Twitter
I’m on the Building Mutual Aid Networks call organized by Congressional Representative .@AOC & Organizer Mariame Kaba .@prisonculture and am beyond thankful we have their leadership & expertise in this moment.

“Mutual Aid is a way we can build networks in our backyard or our community to give aid and receive it if we need it. We can choose to share instead of hoard. We can choose to help instead of hurt.” - Congresswoman .@AOC

"Mutual Aid is cooperation for the sake of the common good." - @prisonculture

"What we really need right now is for people to get active. With people that can and with the resources they have." - @prisonculture

"An empowered community can meet their own needs. Mutual Aid is premised on solidarity and not charity. " - @prisonculture

"Understanding the historical context is important to show that we have been here before and that we have radically imagined what is possible before." - .@aoc #WeGotOurBlock

"We can build a new world. Even if it’s in our neighborhood. Even if it’s on our block." - Congresswoman .@AOC #WeGotOurBlock

Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective and Mia Mingus @miamingus getting acknowledged for their work around Pod Mapping on this call by @prisonculture is amazing. #WeGotOurBlock

“In this case you have a very specific goal and that goal is to create a support network with people in your community in this pandemic.”
@prisonculture #PodMap #WeGotOurBlock

On communication with your Pod: “Make sure your language is accessible. Translate it into other languages. Have multiple ways people can connect and communicate.” - @prisonculture #WeGotOurBlock

“Our problem is not scarcity. It is greed.” - Congresswoman .@AOC #WeGotOurBlock

“This moment is where even through our actions, material or not we can truly prove to ourselves power belongs in our own hands.” -Congresswoman .@aoc

Put up door sign that say “This house is a Mutual Aid hub. I can help with X,Y,Z” #WeGotOurBlock

“It’s all about showing up with what you have to give. Everyone has something to offer. Everyone has to be fulfilled.” - Congresswoman .@AOC #WeGotOurBlock

“If there is a shelter in place you will still be able to go to a grocery store or a pharmacy.” - Congresswoman .@AOC #WeGotOurBlock

“It is the structures around us that has forced us apart and created scarcity. Mutual Aid taps into all of our instincts. 10 year olds and 13 year olds are putting up signs offering to pick up groceries.” -Congresswoman .@AOC #WeGotOurBlock #MutualAid

“Mutual Aid is about the bonds, relationships and power you are building in your backyard.” - Congresswoman .@AOC #MutualAid #WeGotOurBlock

"Focus on building relationships at first. Then focus how you can support each other. That can be grocery pick ups, financial support/fundraising, childcare, etc." @prisonculture #WeGotOurBlock
Click to expand...
Nice in theory. :(
 
Zaheer Ali on Twitter: "On this @AOC call, brilliant historical framing by Mariame Kaba of mutual aid as a means by which grassroots organize to provide urgently needed services AND challenge structural inequities #wegotourblock" / Twitter

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Here’s an illustrated summary of our #WeGotOurBlock mutual aid training made by supporter Becca!
If you’d like to listen to the audio of the call & get our resource kit, you can still RSVP & it’ll be emailed to you.
MAJOR thank you to @prisonculture for the incredible overview. https://t.co/FZEh1kgnge" / Twitter
Linking to an image file showing what looks like hand drawings.

What mutual aid is:
"We must cooperate to survive!" - P. Kropotkin

Solidarity! not charity
Aid & activism & education

How to build a mutual-aid network
  1. Build a pod map (Who can help me?)
  2. Connect with those folks (Can you help? Sign me up!)
  3. Find a buddy to work with
  4. Identify your support zone (my building? my co-workers?)
  5. Start small (5 - 20 people)
  6. Establish comms channels (multiple!) (cellphone? Facebook, Twitter, e-mail)
  7. Get the cono stared! (needs, goals, what else?)
  8. HELP! (grocery & med pickup, cleaning)

Stay cautious!
  1. Grocery shop at non-peak hours
  2. Practice social distancing
  3. Avoid public transit
  4. Clean services often
 
Here are some more snippets:
Monica Trinidad on Twitter: "Tuning in now! Looking forward to hearing wisdom from two brilliant women: @aoc and @prisonculture 💕 #MutualAid during #COVID19 https://t.co/BTJtGWujPt" / Twitter
Tuning in now! Looking forward to hearing wisdom from two brilliant women: @aoc and @prisonculture 💕 #MutualAid during #COVID19

“What we need is for people to do what they can, where they are and with the resources that they have.”
-@prisonculture on how critical it is to create material relief locally, which strengthens us to take on those in power on state levels. #WeGotOurBlock

“Solidarity not charity.” @prisonculture lifts up work of @deanspade on mutual aid, resources here:
http://deanspade.net/2020/03/05/new-article-on-mutual-aid/ #WeGotOurBlock

.@prisonculture recommends “podmapping” for ourselves in this moment.
Who are the people that you would turn to for support?
Then, talk to them. They have to agree. References this resource by Rebel Sidney Black ➡️
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-QfMn1DE6ymhKZMpXN1LQvD6Sy_HSnnCK6gTO7ZLFrE/mobilebasic #WeGotOurBlock

“We are ALL we got. We need to operate in that mindset AND we need to push power to reckon with us. Those are our resources they are hoarding.”
@prisonculture
And she’s not talking about individuals in the stores. She’s talking about the structures & systems. #WeGotOurBlock

“Mutual aid is instinctual. People are born to be in community. This is who we are suppose to be. And it is the structures around us that have forced us apart, and into scarcity.” @AOC #wegotourblock

A conference call that was both comforting and informative. Thank you @AOC and @prisonculture! We’re all we got. #WeGotOurBlock

Mutual aid examples in history given by @prisonculture:
- the Black Panther Party & their medical clinics, free breakfast programs, etc (1960’s-80s’s)
- Food Not Bombs (1980’s-present)
- Occupy Sandy (2012)
“We have been here before. We can do this.” @AOC
#WeGotOurBlock
Click to expand...
New Article on Mutual Aid – Dean Spade
Pod Mapping for Mutual Aid
 
 
I also confess some skepticism about the project. It is difficult for us to keep detailed track of more than about 100 to 250 people, with the upper limit usually cited as 150 -  Dunbar's number

So it's a big challenge to build a large-scale society that:
  • Has advanced technology
  • Is humane
  • Is sustainable

I like Alan Page Fiske's theory of social relations: Fiske – Social Relations Theory « Politics is Moral Psychology
  • Communal sharing
  • Authority ranking
  • Equality matching
  • Market pricing
Mutual aid seems a lot like CS, and CS does not scale very well. What one finds in a larger scale is AR, EM, and MP, complete with disparaging CS as impractical or worse. So one must find a way of having CS or some approximation of it in a large-scale society.

Open-source software approximates CS, but it's because of its special features, like distributing copies while its creators can keep the originals.
 
AOC's campaign site links to Mutual Aid 101: Toolkit
This toolkit includes step by step instructions for how you can build your own mutual aid network while staying safe from the spread of COVID-19. ...

Mutual aid is “cooperation for the sake of the common good.” It’s getting people to come together to meet each other’s needs, recognizing that as humans, our survival is dependent on one another. If you’re interested in learning more about the long history, politics and practice of mutual aid, we encourage you to read the links we’re including at the end of this toolkit.
Click to expand...
Then goes into a lot of detail.
  1. Find a buddy or two (if you can) to build your neighborhood network/pod.
  2. Identify your zone.
  3. Invite your neighbors.
  4. Build your pod.
  5. Have an intro conversation with each other.
  6. Support each other.
 
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