If the news lately has you feeling a bit overwhelmed or helpless, you’re definitely not alone. That feeling is by design. Ruling elite around the world want you to feel overwhelmed, apathetic, and afraid, because then you’re more likely to accept authoritarian strategies (or at least give up trying to stop it). The solution to it all? A mix of mutual aid, organizing, and campaigning that can eventually build enough power from the ground up to achieve societal change. Sounds pretty ambitious… and abstract. How does one even go about practically doing that?
The bright side is that we’ve been here many times before and there is a long history to draw wisdom from. This resource by Bill Moyer shares a great infographic that broadly describes the 8 phases social movements go through. This process is driven forward by thousands of organizers, activists, and concerned people who are on the streets (and on the web) demanding change supported by vast networks of community care to fill in the gaps left by government. These networks lay the foundation for movement-building, and it’s why mutual aid is often offered as a major part of the solution. We live in a system that is designed to keep us in survival mode, because if we’re too busy working then we aren’t organizing. Mutual aid is what allows more of us to allocate our time and energy toward building community power instead of capitalist power, because it considers our needs as whole humans. It's no wonder it has been an integral part of social movements around the world and throughout history, such as the Black Panther Party during the US Civil Rights Movement, Puerto Ricans fighting against colonialism, Sudanese citizens surviving war, Chinese immigrants resisting discrimination, Mexican communities facing deportation, and much more. The core principles of mutual aid, collectivism and reciprocity, have deep roots in Indigenous culture as well.
Participating in mutual aid is oftentimes the easiest entry point for many of us, as it helps us build many of the personal and interpersonal skills needed for greater organizing in the future.
So with all that in mind, how do you actually get started and grow? We offer a 4-part framework based on common themes we've noticed in our research of this topic, though the specifics will vary depending on your situation. None of these ideas are ours, but draw from the long experience of organizers around the world who have been working for decades.
