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A FEW WORDS ON: Surviving and Sustaining Together

It is easy to become overwhelmed by the growing violence of ICE in Minneapolis, the dismantling of public health through the COVID pandemic, the climate collapse, and the continued allegiance among elites to maintain the status quo. We may feel individual responsibility or a need to make the optimal decisions to have impact. However, we must remember all these threats are deeply connected, working as intended, and foundational to this nation. Mutual aid is not a simple answer. Mutual aid is the question of how we will survive together. In the case of Minneapolis, the most visible answer has been community defense, but unseen are growing networks of child care, political education, bail funds, grocery deliveries, ride shares, street medicine, tenant unions, and more. It's the same in Los Angeles because our struggles are connected. 

If you're feeling like you want to help make your community even a tiny bit better, but are not sure where/how to start, or you have a difficult schedule, you're not alone. Below are some ideas to get you started. Most are things you can do on your own time, in your own space. Begin with what's familiar to you, where you have personal experience or expertise, or what impacts you the most—what others need is also what we need. Once you find your groove, maybe tap in another person or two, or join a group or organization (we have some suggestions there too). What we build to survive today is what will be life sustaining for tomorrow.

Written by matt, who is cared for by partner Anna and dog Maverick

Solo DIY Actions

Community Care

Care for your Direct Neighbors - Make friends with the people who live in your immediate area.

• Low lift: Bake a treat, or cook a meal for a neighbor
• Offer up your assistance or ask a neighbor for help with a task - mutual aid is MUTUAL!
• Level up: Knock on neighbor's doors, find out people's needs and find neighbors willing to help
• Go grocery shopping for your neighbor (letter template here)
• Organize community ride shares, take your neighbors' kids to school, take neighbors to medical appointments, be a buddy

Image from @mutualaidlanetwork

Care for your Unhoused Neighbors - Be prepared to show care for unhoused Angelenos.

• Low lift: Keep water and masks in your car to give out to unhoused neighbors
• Level up: Build hygiene kits for your car to give out to unhoused neighbors

Care for your Incarcerated Neighbors - Let people inside know they are remembered.

• Donate books with LA County Library's Books for Jails program
• Write birthday notes to queer incarcerated people with PowerBlossoms

Care for your Streets - Care for your neighbors and the land by putting litter where it belongs.

• Low Lift: Call 311 for bulk items you see
• Level Up: Pick up trash on your block

Care for Community Pets - Keep our animal relatives fed and healthy.

• Drop pet food at encampments

Image from @lacommunityfridges

Feed your Community - Share basic necessities with hungry neighbors.

• Low Lift: Assemble snack bags (applesauce, granola bars, crackers, dried fruit, etc.) for your car to give out to unhoused neighbors
• Level Up: Clean and fill a community fridge

Community Defense - Protect yourself and your neighbors from ICE raids and enforcement escalation.

Inform your Community

• Low Lift: Put up posters with critical information about ICE
• Print red cards to hand out to local shops and restaurants
• Level Up: Inform neighborhood business owners their rights as it pertains to ICE
• Build a zine to share information

Protect your Community

• Bring masks and respirators to libraries or distribute masks to disabled and COVID-conscious people through Mask Bloc LA.
• Spread the word about, or participate in, the National Lawyers Guild's Legal Observer Training
• Nullify a jury
• Donate to jail support funds

Image from @communityselfdefensecoalition

Group Projects - If you prefer a crowd or have a flexible schedule

• Attend a tenants union meeting
• Volunteer with a trap-neuter-release cat shelter
• Volunteer at a food distribution site like Produce in the Park
• Attend a Community Self Defense training
• Join self defense classes/learn how to safely use and carry "defense tools" ;)
• Join a reading group like MALAN's Poli-Ed Reading Group or start your own

And if for one reason or another, none of these work for you, here's one more idea: GIVE CASH. Literally and figuratively. Carry actual paper money to give as you see fit (and to tip drivers, delivery people, etc. to avoid corporate theft). And also, remember the people and groups already organizing in your community. They need money to buy supplies, fuel, food, postage, and more. Your cash donations can support your neighbors when you are not able to be directly involved yourself.

Where to donate? Browse some of the groups featured in previous Dispatch issues, or give through MALAN. As a mutual aid network, our primary goal is to use our reach and funds to support smaller, local mutual aid efforts across the city, that are doing direct, on-the-ground work. 

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