Decompiling Oppression #6
Sam McVeety
Given the challenges that people all over the world are facing right now, I thought it would be appropriate to spend this week on an overview of mutual aid, which Professor Dean Spade (Seattle University) defines as:
Mutual aid is work that directly addresses the conditions [that a] movement seeks to address, such as by providing housing, food, health care, or transportation in a way that draws attention to the politics creating need and vulnerability.
Previously, we talked about looking to the bottom as a strategy for creating inclusive programs and reforms. When people in power don't create inclusive programs, communities who are left out have often created their own systems of mutual aid as a means of building alternative power. Accordingly, mutual aid is an example of community control, and often operates in tension with integrationism because of the systemic flaws in structures that are being integrated (e.g. the medical system).
It's important to note that there's typically both a direct service (e.g. providing shelter, serving meals, etc.) and a political component (e.g. education, protest, visibility) to this type of activity. By joining these aims together, marginalized communities can combine short- and long-term goals within a single movement. In addition to the deep history of organizing around this topic, there's much more to say about how it relates to standard models of charity, but for today, we'll focus on historical and contemporary examples of mutual aid. You've probably heard of some of the events or organizations before, but I hope some of this provides a new perspective.
In the United States, the Black Panther Party engaged in a number of mutual aid efforts, including their free medical clinics and free breakfast programs. The medical clinics (some still operating today) sought to reimagine health care as a system that centered the needs of its patients and cast off a legacy of medical racism. These clinics emphasized mutual respect between doctor and patient, and the dissemination of practical medical knowledge throughout the community. Similarly, the breakfasts brought attention to concerns over food justice that are still very much active today, addressing the immediate needs of the community while building political power towards lasting change. (For a deeper discussion of these topics, Body and Soul is an excellent resource.)
At around the same time, the Puerto Rican independence movement was raising similar issues with established power structures. In a critique of the sanitation department in New York City, The Young Lords organized trash pickups and street cleaning as an act of mutual aid and protest. They then escalated their demands to the city (through street barricades) until they successfully bargained for a better partnership with the sanitation department. In the medical arena, the Lords are known for the seizure of a mobile unit for tuberculosis testing (at the time, a still widespread, but treatable disease) to demonstrate the community willingness and feasibility of TB testing at scale, if only the political will were there.
In Salvador Allende's Chile, factory workers created an extensive system of mutual aid to keep factories open during a CIA-instigated transportation strike that was part of the United States' (ultimately successful) ongoing campaign against Allende's government. Participants organized informal transportation and food distribution networks, captured in the excellent (but difficult to obtain) Battle of Chile. The fallout from foreign interference like this then returns to the United States through our immigration system, which is another arena for mutual aid (for one excellent example, see this two part "Sanctuary" podcast).
Today, despite the many ways that our society has advanced, the need for mutual aid still persists. Food Not Bombs is one group of organizations that dedicates itself to providing direct service around food access, while leveling a political critique of the richest nation's inability to feed all of its residents. The COVID-19 pandemic is no exception, as mutual aid groups form and mobilize to meet these needs of those most at risk from the destabilizing effects of the crisis. If your situation allows for it, this is a critical time to provide support to folks who have been hit hardest by this crisis -- particularly people without a home to "shelter in place", artists, and nonprofits.
Fundamentally, mutual aid is a deeply optimistic approach to helping each other. I hope you've found something in this week's discussion that has resonated with you. My invitations to you:
Personal: The Seattle mutual aid form asks "Do you agree to trust that each person making a request knows their own needs? Can you agree to make deliveries without judgement?". Is this something you'd be comfortable agreeing to? Why or why not?
Communal: Among friends and colleagues, find some time to discuss what's happening around you right now -- who is being taken care of, and who is being left behind. Discuss how we can both tactically and systematically work towards a world where no one is left behind.
Solidarity: Based on your abilities and means, is there mutual aid that you would be willing to engage in during the present moment? If you're unsure, what would help you say yes?
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