#mutual aid dean spade

[the-unforgotten]

while it was not a part of my original reading list it did get added and boosted to the top of the queue as its timely

book 6 of the year is Dean Spade's Mutual Aid

currently about 40% through the book

how I found it

id heard of it before but a wonderful essayist I found via tiktok by the name of ismatu gwendolyn brought it to the forefront of my attention

heres their substack specifically about the book https://ismatu.substack.com/p/mutual-aid-is-mutual-recap-readings

but the whole substack is wonderful insightful and thought provoking

how I'm reading it

online ebook https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean-spade-mutual-aid

and audio via a text to speech extension :)

thoughts

very informative has lots of examples of movements that I definitely have to look more into

like the young lords party or the oakland power projects

it bring up a lot of good points to consider in realtion to mutual aid as well as reactions to various crisis such as the way justice systems might over police people seeking aid as a way to catch suspected criminals

the writing is very easily digestible the text even provides charts to better explain and compare ideas and methods. I particularly like the chart on tendencies that harm groups. it addresses problems but also includes goals to be aiming for.

like I'm ecstatic that this book is solutions orinated.

its really invigorating and makes me want to read more theory because I feel this is giving me such a good base.

anywho back to reading i go :D

[thoughtfulfangirling]

A cautionary note on fame: Social media has encouraged our individualism and has enhanced our desire to brand ourselves as radical or having the right politics. It is in the interest of corporations like Facebook and Twitter that we spend as much time as possible creating free content for them and that we feel compelled to get approval on their platforms. All of this can motivate us to want to be perceived to be doing things rather than actually doing them. Much mutual aid work is very ordinary, sometimes boring, and often difficult.

— Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

[haveyoureadthispoll]

Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world. Around the globe, people are faced with a spiralling succession of crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, racist policing, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to—or actively engineer—each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support the vulnerable. Survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid. This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It provides a grassroots theory of mutual aid, describes how mutual aid is a crucial part of powerful movements for social justice, and offers concrete tools for organizing, such as how to work in groups, how to foster a collective decision-making process, how to prevent and address conflict, and how to deal with burnout. Writing for those new to activism as well as those who have been in social movements for a long time, Dean Spade draws on years of organizing to offer a radical vision of community mobilization, social transformation, compassionate activism, and solidarity.

[gothicmagpie]

”The false separation of politics and injustice from ordinary life—and the idea that activism is a kind of lifestyle accessory—is demobilizing to our movements, hides the root causes of injustice, and keeps us passive and complicit. Robust social movements offer an opposing view. We argue that all the aspects of our lives—where and how we live and work, eat, entertain ourselves, get around, and get by are sites of injustice and potential resistance.”

From Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

[friarfag]

"Social media has encouraged our individualism and has enhanced the desire to 'brand' ourselves as radical or as having the 'right' politics. It is in the interest of corporations like Facebook and Twitter that we spend as much time as possible creating free content for them, and that we feel compelled to get approval on their platforms. All of this can motivate us to want to be perceived to be doing things, rather than actually doing them. Much mutual aid work is very ordinary, sometimes boring, and often difficult. To return to an earlier example, everyone wants a selfie with Angela Davis to post, but many people do not want to take the time to visit prisoners, go to court with people, wait in long lines at welfare offices, write letters to people in solitary confinement, deliver groceries to an elderly neighbor, or spend many hours in meetings about how to coordinate care for people in need. When we get our sense of self from fame, status, or approval from a bunch of strangers, we're in trouble. It is hard to stick to our principles and treat others well when we are seeking praise and attention. If we are to redefine leadership away from individualism, competition, and social climbing we have to become people who care about themselves as part of the greater whole. It means moving from materialist self-love, which is often very self-critical ('I will be okay and deserve love when I look right, when others approve of me, when I am famous') and toward a deep belief that everyone, including ourselves, deserves dignity, belonging, and safety just because we are alive. It means cultivating a desire to be beautifully, exquisitely ordinary just like everyone else. It means practicing to be nobody special. Rather than a fantasy of being rich and famous, which capitalism tells us is the goal of our lives, we cultivate a fantasy of everyone having what they need and being able to creatively express the beauty of their lives. This is a lifelong unlearning practice because we have all been shaped by systems that make us insecure, approval-seeking, individualist, and sometimes shallow. Yet we also all have the deeply human desire to connect with others, to be of service in ways that reduce suffering, and to be seen and loved by those who truly know us and whom we love. Mutual aid groups are a place where we can notice these learned instincts and drives in ourselves and unlearn them--that is, make choices to act out of mutuality and care on purpose."

Dean Spade, Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (And the Next) (2020)

[gatheringbones]

Hello, I'm trying to track down a book that I'm fairly sure you posted some excerpts from a while back but my memory of it is vague enough that I'm having trouble. It was talking about how grassroots liberatory movements get digested and transmuted into professionalised charity/social work/service provision models particularly in the context of domestic violence organising — possibly there was also something about community-based healthcare (community acupuncture, maybe?). Does this ring a bell? Thanks in advance :)

the acupuncture one is definitely from Lisa Baird’s piece from not a liability: on trauma-informed care and community acupuncture, from the remedy: queer and trans voices on health and healthcare, 2016 I think the other one is Priya Kandaswamy’s piece from Innocent Victims And Brave New Laws: State Protection and the Battered Women's Movement, from Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity, Edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, 2006, here’s two quotes I pulled from it.

Also mutual aid by dean spade

[anarchywoofwoof]

Left social movements have two big jobs right now. First, we need to organize to help people survive the devastating conditions unfolding every day. Second, we need to mobilize hundreds of millions of people for resistance so we can tackle the underlying causes of these crises. In this pivotal moment, movements can strengthen, mobilizing new people to fight back against cops, immigration enforcement, welfare authorities, landlords, budget cuts, polluters, the defense industry, prison profiteers, and right-wing groups. The way to tackle these two big tasks—meeting people’s needs and mobilizing them for resistance—is to create mutual aid projects and get lots of people to participate in them. Social movements that have built power and won major change have all included mutual aid, yet it is often a part of movement work that is less visible and less valued. In this moment, our ability to build mutual aid will determine whether we win the world we long for or dive further into crisis.

Dean Spade, Mutual Aid, "Crisis Conditions Require Bold Tactics"

[leonardcohenofficial]

reform and abolition checklist created by dean spade, activist, writer, teacher and author of normal life: administrative violence, critical trans politics and mutual aid: building solidarity during this crisis (and the next)

[boatcats]

I am going to try to post about more books on here.

I want to start Dean Spade's Mutual Aid and ideally try to write about it.

[kermit-p-hob-brainrot]

Hey guys since ao3 is down friendly reminder to grab a local library card. Lots of libraries have this thing called Libby where you can borrow and read books, audiobooks, comics, and magazines FROM YOUR PHONE!!

If you live in a county around dc you can probably get a dc library card as well and often times you can get a library card from the area around your college!!! You can often times sign up online and then get the physical card in person when you have time!!

I personally have been reading so much more. I’m halfway through American Gods and just read mutual aid by Dean Spade

You often get more perks too like a subscription to Kanopy (streaming service with a bunch of documentaries and obscure movies and tv) or language learning services or free classes to learn different computer programs.

TLDR; get a library card lots of cool perks

[thoughtfulfangirling]

A cultural narrative about social justice entrepreneurship has also emerged in recent decades suggesting that people should not fight for justice but rather invent and patent new ways of managing poor people and social problems. One example of this kind of entrepreneurship that has received media fanfare is Samaritan and other smartphone apps that coordinate digital donations to homeless people in ways that ensure restrictions on how they can use the cash. These apps are more focused on the experience of the giver than on the person in need of aid, and are designed to make the giver more comfortable...

— Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade

[ihavepresidentialaids]

fuck this. yaknow what?

start building anti-infrastructure. build systems to rely on that are not part of the current systems. build mutual aid networks in your communities (mutual aid by dean spade!) to alleviate struggles you care about. learn about survival, medical, technical skills, and share them with your community. learn about medicinal, edible, and utilitarian plants in your area. start a seed bank of native species and heirloom seeds. start a permaculture garden/guild to start increasing your personal soil fertility and to feed your community. start saving all the electronic information you could want (internet archive is ok, the high desert institute is also working on an electronic archive, and there’s many more or u can start ur own). make sure to protect your archive from EMP. consider how you want to navigate outside of the game and work towards that.

fuck this.

[penguinhug]

thanks for the tag, @le-trash-prince!

Current Time: 8:25 pm

Current Activity: procrastinating work lol

Currently Thinking About: this? i don't know dfkghjk i'm sorry

Currently Reading: recently started mutual aid by dean spade. i haven't read any fiction in a while though, i gotta fix that

Currently Watching: currently, only our flag means death. i'm trying to slow down after all the bls i watched, this is not normally who i am sdkjfhks

Currently Listening to: honey! by tabber and dean. i've been listening to a lot of dean lately, i gotta prepare myself for his return lol

Current Favorite Character: BOSTON, MY BABYYYY. i don't know if i would call him my most favorite ever yet, but he's def the one i'm currently obsessed with

Current WIP: why would you ask this (head in hands). there's so many but only one i'm honestly hoping to finish (which is how you know i will never get it done) which is the exorcist!aang au i think i've talked about a couple of times

god, i wish i had a bostonnick wip tho rip

tagging @ruruss @milk-caramel @marley-manson and whoever wants to do it

[drdemonprince]

Have you read Mutual Aid by Dean Spade or The Solutions are Already Here by Peter Gelderloos? The descriptions of the books seem to be in the vibe of what you talk about, and I'm thinking of reading them but wondering if you know anything about either of them/have an opinion if so

Dean Spade is kin and cited in my next book!! Highly recommend. The other I have not read.

[flango87]

Want to take action but don’t know where to start? Read or listen to Mutual Aid by Dean Spade. You can find it online. This book is written in such a clear and concise way, so if you struggle with academic text and theory that’s ok! This book is very accessible, and also has so many relevant examples. I’ve made multiple posts before talking about how mutual aid and community care is the answer. Revolution isn’t a single distinct event with a before and after, it’s a life long process, and it starts within our local communities. It starts with organizing mutual aid and caring for our neighbours, and that starts with understanding mutual aid. Read the book!!!!

[sunset-synthetica]

hey so about the post of coming back to old "progressive" youtube channels, do you know of any good sources to become more knowledgeable and such on politics? apologies if this is weird

I'd definitely recommend you to read books. Video essays and such can be informative and entertaining, but you should look into literature as well.

There's the Anarchist library that collects books, focusing mainly on anarchism but branching out into other political ideologies, as well as critiques of capitalism and fascism. Please don't ignore literature- you can find audiobooks on Youtube if you'd like, but getting all of your information from a guy on YouTube is not reliable.

You probably know names like Karl Marx, maybe even Petr Kropotkin or David Graeber, so besides that, you might want to check out:

The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir

The Muslims Are Coming! by Arun Kundnani

The Accumulation of Capital by Rosa Luxemburg

Mutual Aid by Dean Spade

Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Ain’t I a Woman by bell hooks

That being said:

Shaun- particularly the videos on Nagasaki & Hiroshima and the Bell Curve, which count 4 hours in total. The rest of his content are mostly takedowns of specific videos or people, i.e. PragerU, providing insight into how people misquote their sources and pick and choose information to share to support their points.

Jessie Gender- focusing on issues pertaining to gender and transphobia, from a transfem perspective, with some Star Trek thrown into the mix. She's done a series talking in depth into the What Is a Woman? movie by Matt Walsh that I would definitely recommend.

Tirrrb- focused on racism, Black identity. His editing style is also very fun, but that's besides the point. He's a relatively small creator too, especially given the effort he puts into his videos.

Mia Mulder- again, gender and transphobia discussed from the point of someone who's transfem, with some history lessons thrown into the mix. She also focuses on conspiracy theories and alternate history stuff.

Three Arrows- one of my favourite creators, his videos talk about fascism and bigotry, often touching on WW2. He often compares historical events to modern day politics.

F.D. Signifier- focuses on issues within/around the Black community, racism, toxic masculinity and sexuality, often all in relation to each other.

Kat Blaque- her content is a bit more on the reaction video/entertainment side, if you're looking for that. She also focuses on transphobia and sexuality, as well as anything going on at the moment.

Khadija Mbowe- sexuality, gender roles and LGBTQ topics, history of feminism, all in a very laid back format.