July 2026

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Collectively Breaking Free from 250 Years of Oppressive Structures

Try as one may, it’s been difficult to avoid the “America 250” hubbub. From algae pools to UFC cages, busted ass papier mache decorations to sparsely attended concerts—the commemoration this country has, admittedly, been fitting.

What better way to celebrate 250 years of power structures that have broken the backs of many to serve and enrich a small few? Going out with a whimper (plus a large dose of green goo), rather than a bang seems about right.

It’s clear that if the United States has any hope of eking out another decade (let alone another couple centuries) radical change is necessary.

So in honor of 250 years of exploitation, discrimination, inequality, inequity, monopolies, colonization, white supremacy, artificial scarcity, corruption, governmental failures, repression, oppression, criminalization, state-sanctioned violence and capitalism, we asked some of our friends in Mutual Aid Land about how they’re working to destroy these embedded structures and help bring forth a better, more just and equitable future.

Here’s what they said … ⬇️

All Power Free Clinic

"One of All Power Free Clinic’s primary goals is abolishing and disrupting the harmful logics of the Medical Industrial Complex, which we understand not only as our current for-profit “healthcare” system but also as a deeper power structure essential for the reproduction of anti-Blackness, carcerality, eugenics, cisheteropatriarchal control, and the dispossession of collective lineages of healing practices through settler colonial extraction and criminalization. We believe that reimagining and collectivizing care is a way to resist." Learn more about All Power Free Clinic

Radical Clothes Swap

"We are Radical Clothes Swap, a mutual-aid, WOC run non-profit that hosts donation based clothing swaps in Los Angeles, California.We’re changing our relationship to clothing through community clothing swaps and normalizing radical sustainability by providing free clothes to all. We bring awareness to our communities on the negative effects of fast fashion and overconsumption while providing resources to change our relationship with capitalism and clothing. We provide a unique “free shopping experience” for the community. Whether you need new clothes or want to refresh your wardrobe, we provide an inclusive place to do so." Learn more about Radical Clothes Swap

LA Community Fridges

"Free access to food on its own should not be a revolutionary idea, but in our world, it often is. Our mission does not support, rely upon, or endorse the systems which work against the free food model or our neighbors. Our mission is to strengthen communities & redistribute existing resources by providing the framework for neighborhoods to host fridges – ensuring people-supported, ongoing, and equal access to food." Learn more about LA Community Fridges

SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition

"Much of Los Angeles’s housing crisis stems from a fragmented, often competitive, nearly-impossible-to-navigate bureaucracy which disproportionately affects vulnerable neighbors. By treating community activation as core infrastructure rather than a charitable afterthought, SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition's volunteer-powered network of outreach and drop-in programs build an unshakeable, human-centered system that directly connects unhoused neighbors with vital care, resource pathways, and promotes every Angeleno's inherent right to dignity." Learn more about SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition

Gracie's Giving Hands

"Gracie’s Giving Hands challenges systemic barriers that often prevent justice-impacted individuals from accessing stable housing, recovery support, and opportunities for success. Through transitional housing, peer support, and community partnerships, we help individuals rebuild their lives while promoting dignity, equity, and long-term stability." Learn more about Gracie's Giving Hands

The Valley of Change

"The Valley of Change pushes back against oppressive systems by showing up every single day since May 31, 2020 through peaceful protest, standing visibly with our community to demand accountability and affirm that Black lives matter in the face of police brutality and systemic harm.  Alongside that, we practice care in real time through mutual aid by providing food, clothing, hygiene kits, and essential support—while also building long-term stability through wellness programming and a financial literacy and career pathways program that helps people access certifications, build resumes, and secure critical documents for housing and employment." Learn more about The Valley of Change

Power Blossoms

"The prison-industrial complex, with its roots in chattel slavery pre-dating the United States, works relentlessly to rip apart communities and target those already most marginalized in our society. By building connections over prison walls through penpaling, Power Blossoms resists attempts to isolate LGBTQ+ people from one another. Any movement that seeks to destroy oppressive power structures must center prisoner resistance, most especially including the movement for trans and queer liberation." Learn more about Power Blossoms

The Social Impact Center

"The Social Impact Center is a queer-led and formerly incarcerated-led nonprofit organization that challenges oppressive systems rooted in criminalization, over-policing, mass incarceration, and the War on Drugs. By providing legal support, wellness programming, and systems navigation services, we help formerly incarcerated, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and system-impacted communities build power, access opportunities, heal from systemic harm, and create lasting community-led change across Los Angeles County." Learn more about The Social Impact Center

Aetna Street Solidarity

"Aetna Street Solidarity is a mutual aid organization actively building power with poor and unhoused people to change the material conditions created by settler colonialism and capitalism. Our members reclaim space by living on the street and holding regular community events where resources are redistributed in public without permission. We resist the routine displacement of sweeps, and rebuild in the aftermath of the state-sanctioned violence that intends to make poor people disappear." Learn more about Aetna Street Solidarity

Mutual Aid LA Network

"Exploitative powers of every stripe seek to divide and isolate us, because they know it's impossible for us to fight back as individuals. Mutual Aid LA Network challenges those isolating structures, connecting people to each other, and to the resources we share as a community." Learn more about Mutual Aid LA Network

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Saturday, July 11 🧼 Hygiene Hello! The structures of personal property make keeping clean and healthy extra difficult when you don't have your own bathroom. Join MALAN and friends to pack hygiene kits providing personal care and dignity to our neighbors. Hygiene Hello is a quarterly project sourcing hygiene items, building kits, and distributing them directly to unhoused Angelenos and to groups across LA doing mutual aid and outreach. Click here to RSVP for Hygiene Hello!

BONUS 🏆 We source new, unopened hygiene items all year round. If you have any items to donate, bring them to the event on July 11!

Intro written by Lauren who organizes who's part of the Dispatch team.