Acts of Resistance: Mutual Aid

We have printables! Download them, and turn them into flyers or stickers, then put them up all over town! We hope to provide more in the near future.

Our previous post on Acts of Resistance briefly mentioned charity, and now we’re going to really dig into it. Or, more specifically, mutual aid and how to make the most of it.

What is Mutual Aid?

Mutual aid is about communities organizing to support one another. This support can include sharing your resources and skills, and working together toward a common goal. This ensures that reliance on failing systems is redirected. It’s not charity so much as cooperation and reciprocity.

Shutting out your oppressors – denying them mutual aid – while lifting up the marginalized groups who need it is another act of resistance. This can mean so many things, including:

• Volunteering for organizations that support and assist immigrants, especially if you’re multi-lingual
• Creating a network of like-minded people to share resources (inexpensive eggs, anyone?)
• Assisting a woman with traveling to another state to obtain reproductive care
• Getting involved in groups that support LGBTQIA+ folks and people of color
• Knitting, crocheting or sewing hats, scarves and masks for protesters
• Learning first aid including CPR and Stop the Bleed courses
• Starting or joining a Food Not Bombs group

Should You Render Mutual Aid to Everyone?

Nope. 

There is a hypothesis that those who self-identify as MAGA are medically incapable of empathy. Therefore, even if your MAGA or Trump flag-waving neighbor may find themselves in a mess due to this administration, keep in mind it is a mess of their own making, and they are not deserving of your time, energy, or resources.

Harsh? Perhaps, but remember that a MAGA sees others that way: they believe that because someone is non-white, non-hetero, non-Christian, not biologically male, or not working a job they consider respectable, then that person doesn’t deserve anything.

Well, guess what? MAGAs don’t deserve anything, either. They have never given to others and will never return your empathy. If they are suffering – if they’ve lost Federal jobs, the family farm, or any other government-provided resources on which they depend – tell them that perhaps they should give up take-out coffee and avocado toast, and figure out how to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, and leave them with that.

We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.

― Robert Jones Jr.

So, choose wisely. Only look for the people who not only need, but also appreciate your help. Keep it on the down low and only give to those you trust, those who are not complicit with your oppressors, and those who respect and value you.