Teen Vogue politics editor Lucy Diavolo joins us to discuss what will hopefully be the story of this crisis: neighbors organizing themselves into mutual aid networks to support each other against the virus and the capitalist system's attempts to profit from the disorder. We talk about the concept of mutual aid historically, how it's emerged in the last 15 years in the front lines of disaster relief, and some of the new ways its emerging in these early days of the pandemic. There's a lot to cover, but we talk about grocery funds and distribution, food pantries, rent strikes, squatting, childcare, self-care, and much more. Then we talk a bit about the philosophy of mutual aid: does it provide an image of a better world, or just help us survive through the collapse of civilization?
Find Lucy's work @SatansJacuzzi or on Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/contributor/lucy-diavolo
Her article we discuss: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/people-fighting-coronavirus-mutual-aid-efforts-help-each-other
Also see: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/ and their Mutual Aid Safety Guide
https://gothamist.com/news/neighbors-mobilize-help-each-other-during-coronavirus-pandemic
Article in Commune about Rent Strike and disaster relief: https://communemag.com/rent-and-its-discontents/
Vacant homes seized in LA: https://itsgoingdown.org/a-dozen-vacant-homes-reclaimed-by-unhoused-tenants-in-la-as-calls-for-rent-strike-grow-across-us/
IGD round-up of mutual aid initiatives: https://itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coronavirus/
LA Tenants Union demands: https://medium.com/@LATenantsUnion/declaraci%C3%B3n-sobre-el-covid-19-demands-in-response-to-the-covid-19-crisis-f7353925d298
Sex Worker Organizing Project mutual aid fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/z6w8v5
-Black and Pink penpal signup: https://www.blackandpink.org/penpal-sign-up
Anarchist Black Cross guide to letter writing: https://nycabc.wordpress.com/write-a-letter/
DSA grocery fund: bit.ly/covid19aid
Unity and Separation from Endnotes 4: https://endnotes.org.uk/issues/4/en/endnotes-preface
Closing song: Devendra Banhart and Beck - Life During Wartime