Life Through a Queer Lens
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Life Through a Queer Lens
EP68: Solidarity Not Charity; Why Mutual Aid Is Essential for Our Collective Future
Mutual aid represents the foundation of human civilization, beginning with our ancestors' willingness to care for each other and continuing through indigenous practices that have existed for centuries before the concept was formally named.
• Origins of mutual aid as a philosophical concept from Peter Kropotkin, countering social Darwinism with the idea that cooperation, not competition, is key to survival
• Distinction between charity (which reinforces us/them dynamics) and mutual aid (based on solidarity and "we're all in this together")
• Historical examples including Indigenous communities, the Black Panther Party's Breakfast for Children program, and Food Not Bombs
• Corporate charity reinforces the same power structures causing harm, while mutual aid challenges these systems
• The first sign of human civilization was a healed femur bone, showing communal care existed before agriculture
• Resource recommendations including Dean Spade's "Mutual Aid" book and websites like Big Door Brigade and Indigenous Mutual Aid
• Historical fact: Recently freed African Americans created mutual aid communities in the 1700s, many later destroyed and turned into places like Central Park
Check out these resources, visit your local library, and start implementing mutual aid in your own communities. The tools are on your table—now it's time to run with them.
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people had to be willing to carry you, people had to be willing to help you. That is the first sign of civilized humanity is our willingness to look outside of the individual and help someone else just for the sake of doing it, just because compassion, compassion, communal compassion I will do for you, you will do for me. It was a communal give and take that first allowed us to structure ourselves as human beings. As of when I'm recording this, it is Wednesday, april 9th, and last I heard David Portnoy, the CEO of Barstool Sports and professional grifter, is down $20 million because of Trump's tariffs. So today's a good day. Let's take a minute. Let's take a minute. Let's celebrate that.
Speaker 1:I don't know about y'all, but I've been investing in the special treat market since the day I was born and that shit's booming right now. Stock market might be down, but the special treat market it's never gonna go down. We have fun here because we don't know what else to do. Am I right, guys? Oh, my goodness, has anyone else been experiencing allergy season this year? Because, my goodness, it feels like it's come early with a vengeance. It was snowing yesterday and now I'm experiencing pollen allergies. What the fuck? I would like a refund. All right. So today we're going to talk about mutual aid. It's going to be a jumping off point for you to then go and research more about mutual aid and learn more about how to implement it within your own life and within your own communities. Okay, so today's episode is going to be what is mutual aid, what it isn't type of stuff we're just going to go through, like the basics, some of the history of mutual aid, some real world examples throughout history of mutual aid organizations we can still learn from, some of which are still active to this day. I would recommend looking into those. And then, lastly, we're going to go through some books, websites and other resources for you guys to take and run with to implement in your communities and in your lives. So let's begin.
Speaker 1:Humans across the globe, throughout human history, have been participating in mutual aid long before it had a name and a definition. Aid writes on the subject, quote Indigenous peoples have long established practices of caring for each other, for our survival, particularly in times of crisis. Mutual aid is nothing new to Indigenous communities. So Indigenous cultures have been practicing mutual aid since their inception, long before it had a word, a definition, a philosophical standpoint. It has been something that has been in practice for centuries, when there was no need to have a name for it because it was just the way things were done in certain cultures, specifically indigenous cultures.
Speaker 1:However, mutual aid as a term, as a philosophical standpoint, was first coined by Russian anarchist philosopher Peter Kropotkin in a collection of anthropological essays countering the prevailing theories of social Darwinism published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So these essays ask who truly are the fittest when it comes to survival of the fittest, and they put forth the argument that the fittest in both human and animal kingdoms are those who mutually support one another, their communities and species as a unit. It's basically a counter-argument to the idea of survival of the fittest being about one specific member of a species and rather about the fittest actually being those that work mutually for the survival of the species as a whole. I don't know personally. To me at least, that makes sense. We are a social species. We do not do well in isolation. We are not meant to be nearly as individual as American and capitalist culture has demanded we become. We just aren't. We are meant to exist in intergenerational units. We are meant to exist in communities where a village truly can help raise a child. Capitalism demands individualism of us and, being such a social species, I like to say that one of the reasons why society feels so it right now is just because we are basically collectively going through zoo psychosis. We were not meant to live in such an individualistic, structured culture in the way that we are living now, where it's me, me, me, me, me, and because of that, we are basically experiencing mass, species-wide zoo psychosis but refuse to acknowledge it as such, because we refuse to acknowledge ourselves as animals, even though spoiler alert we are part of the animal kingdom.
Speaker 1:Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid, building Solidarity Through this Crisis and the Next, defines mutual aid as survival work done by everyday people in extraordinary circumstances where government response or policies are inadequate or causing direct harm. Dean Spade's awesome. Some of his things are to come later in the episode as recommendations and stuff like that. So stay tuned. While mutual aid may look like charity work, and much of what they do kind of lines up, at the very least from a very outside lens of oh, these two groups are tackling similar issues. You know what I mean Like they're both going about the same problem, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Mutual aid organizers see this work as solidarity not charity. That's the big line that you'll hear amongst mutual aid organizers is solidarity not charity. Many organizers believe charity encourages an us versus them mentality, while solidarity reflects the real world conditions of we're all in this together and the only way through is together. That's genuinely the big difference between mutual aid and charity. Charity promotes the us versus them mentality, whereas mutual aid promotes solidarity, which is the idea of we are all in the shit show together. We all have to find a way out of it together. Charity has become an industry with corporate interests and privatization, which started around the Reagan administration and has only gotten worse from there. Because of this, charity is influenced by the corporate elite and political interests. So at the end of the day, even if they're both looking at the same problem, they are not going to look at it the same way by any means, because charity is going to always work in the name of private interest. This is once again from the Indigenous Mutual Aid Network Quote charity models of organizing and relief support historically have treated our communities as victims and only furthered dependency and stripped our autonomy from us, and that's something I I mean.
Speaker 1:If you look at any charity organization for indigenous groups. They can't even be bothered to use the right language most of the time. Most of the time they're run by Christian organizations. They're basically still just like modern missionaries. You know what I mean. Because many charities feed into the same systemic harms they're trying to solve the symptoms and resulting harm of. They end up feeding the white savior concept. That's another problem. Like, charities are the white savior complex on steroids. It's the whole idea of. Because these charities again are privatized. They have private interests and political interests. Have private interests and political interests. They end up working under the same power structures that they are trying to solve the harm from. So they're never actually going to look toward the power structures causing that harm, because that's who owns them.
Speaker 1:Here are some real-world historical examples to learn from. This is in no way shape or form an exhaustive list. As I have stated in previous episodes with other things like this, making an exhaustive list would take hours. As I said at the beginning, this is a toe in the water of mutual aid. You know what I'm saying, guys. I am giving y'all the soup, the bread and soup before your appetizer. Here's your soup and your bread, your appetizers on the way. This is barely going to scratch the surface. I mean the first example of human civilization, and this is also something we have discussed before on this podcast.
Speaker 1:The first example of human civilization, according to archaeologists, was the discovery of human remains with a healed femur bone. Because in order to heal a femur bone and not have that broken bone be the cause of death eventually via starvation, via infection, is through the help of community. People have to be willing to care for you if you break a femur, people have to be willing to. This is before mobility, aids, in a lot of ways existed. People had to be willing to carry you. People had to be willing to help you in order for that bone to heal before your death. That is the first sign of civilized humanity is our willingness to look outside of the individual and help someone else just for the sake of doing it, just because compassion that's what made us civilized was communal. Compassion was communal. I will do for you, because if I need, you will do for me. It was a communal give and take that first allowed us to structure ourselves as human beings, which then led to the agricultural, which then led, like that led to everything else. But it had to start with the healed femur bone. It had to start with this willingness and ability to care for one another in a communal setting and, of course, it started with let me hear it now indigenous communities. That healed beamer bone. That first example was from an indigenous community, so it comes full circle. Any indigenous cultures again, again, any indigenous cultures and histories will have examples of community mutual aid as a way of life and in times of crisis, like if you want to learn about how to implement mutual aid, learn from indigenous people, learn, read their books, watch them, listen to them, learn from the indigenous community. These are real world historical examples. And again, any indigenous community Yep, just point blank.
Speaker 1:The Freemasons and the Rotary Club were wildly diverse and had many members. Many of these locations offered healthcare, medical lodges and labor union support, and this is a key point of American history. It's actually pretty cool. My partner and I went on a trip to New York City and we went to the Jim Henson exhibit, which was incredible. But while we were walking around the city, at one point, right around our hotel, I happened to notice one of the buildings that is for rent. The upstairs is for rent and the downstairs was, I think, a cleaner's, was a dry cleaner's. It was a Freemasons temple, it was a masonry temple. I was like holy, holy shit, it had the whole plaque on the. It was really cool. I took a picture of it. If y'all are interested in seeing that, let me know and I can post it. I'll post it to our stories, but yeah, the Freemasons and the Rotary Clubs were very prominent throughout American history and were mutual aid organizations 100% Churches.
Speaker 1:I understand being against organized religion. However, churches have a long and thriving history of mutual aid for their communities across denominations, to the point where being on the internet, scrolling on on the internet, seeing videos of people looking for help with housing, with food, with finances and contacting churches and just being turned away which why the fuck are you still paying a tithe to a church? Stop it, stop it. They're not actually using it to help the community fucking clearly stop. But in the comments, after these people have been posting videos being like I've been turned away from X amount of churches. I don't know what the fuck to do. Almost every comment is go to a mosque, go to a mosque. It doesn't matter if you're Muslim or not. Go to a mosque. You will, you, they will, they will do what they can to help. So if y'all are in a situation where you are in desperate need of assistance, go to a mosque.
Speaker 1:Black Panther Party, specifically their program Breakfast for Children, and other survival programs that the party used to directly address hunger, class oppression and racism, while increasing all communities' political consciousnesses. I can't recommend enough that you guys take some time to look into the Black Panther Party, their work and their impact on social justice movements to this day, as written in a memo about their Breakfast for Children program by the FBI director at the time, j Edgar Hoover, the Breakfast for Children program represents the best and most influential activity going on for the Black Panther Party and as such is potentially the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the Black Panther Party and destroy what it stands for Feeding kids, feeding kids, feeding kids, feeding kids. They would raid these breakfasts Again. I cannot recommend enough genuinely looking into this history. Police would come and raid these free breakfast programs for children and just throw food on the ground and laugh at people. Protect and serve. Who Protect and serve who? I just want to know. I just want to know. Tell me, because I know damn well it ain't me. I know damn well it ain't me. I know damn well it ain't them. Them being black americans. I feel like that is very clear. But just in case it's not, them being black americans and me being just like visibly queer and having been harassed by cops before.
Speaker 1:Food not bombs is the last organization on our list. Founded in conjunction with the ongoing anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s, it's now a global network that continues to provide free food to any who come to their distribution centers Food not bombs frequently faced harassment and arrest by law enforcement, especially in the US, with 28 volunteers being arrested in Orlando back in 2011 for illegally distributing food, and this has only gotten worse since and will most likely only get worse in the coming months years. Even so, if you are capable, donate, donate, volunteer, check them out. Just a little fun fact for y'all the peace symbol. The peace symbol was actually created by the anti-nuclear movement. That symbol is, yes, for just peace in general, but is very specifically about nuclear disarmament. Fun fact Resources here we go guys Researching the Black Panther Party and indigenous communities those two things, obviously.
Speaker 1:I don't really have anything specific right now, just because the amount of information there's swaths is swaths. I just genuinely recommend historycom and start there. Go get a little like toe in the water and then just go down the rabbit hole. Go down the rabbit hole, trust me, you won't regret it. Go down the rabbit hole and look into indigenous communities, ways of mutual aid and research, the Black Panther Party, and thank me later. Resources First, let's start with a book.
Speaker 1:We're going to start with a book Mutual Aid Building Solidarity During this Crisis, and the Next by Dean Spade. Dean Spade is a lawyer author, a professor of law at Seattle University School of Law and a trans rights activist. If you're looking to start a mutual aid collective in your community, this is the how-to you need to do it. That's what I've been seeing all over the place. I plan on getting my hands on this book as soon as I can. I've been seeing everywhere that if you want to implement mutual aid into your life, that book is a great part of your toolkit to help you do it. The Big Door Brigade, which is located at bigdoorbrigadecom. This website was created by the author of the mutual aid book, dean Spade, and provides usable resources right at your fingertips. That's again bigdoorbrigadecom.
Speaker 1:Another book Community Organizing, by David S Walls. This book, written by a longtime activist, delves into and analyzes the history of community organizing in America. And then from here we've got I think the rest of these are websites. Yes, the rest of these are websites. Yes, the rest of these are websites. So, with these, if you are unable to leave your home, if you are unable to access a library card, but you are able to access a phone or a laptop with internet or data connection, these are all resources that you'd be able to use, including Big Door Brigade.
Speaker 1:So first up, we have the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief, located at mutualaidedisasterrelieforg. It's an extensive mutual aid network filled with reports, guides and resources. And then we have Indigenous Mutual Aid, located at indigenousmutualaidorg, filled with outreach tools, fundraising information and the latest news for organizers and the communities they serve, and cultural information. Indigenous Action, located at indigenousactionorg. It is again filled with information about mutual aid, ways to get involved and so much more. Indigenous Action is actually very cool. I was scrolling on the website a little bit. They have like a podcast that seemed like it was full of a lot of really interesting information, a bunch of stuff. Just, I recommend checking them out. The website is very streamlined, like right on the top, a plus. Go check it out Again. That would be indigenousactionorg.
Speaker 1:Next, we have the Anarchist Library, located at theanarchistlibraryorg. This website hosts many books about history, mutual aid, community organizing and again, so much more right at your fingertips. And the last but certainly not least, we have the Queer Liberation Library, located at queerliberationlibraryorg. Similarly to the resource above, the library has queer nonfiction books about the history of LGBTQ, plus organizing in times of crisis, and it also has plenty of fiction books. It has YA novels. It has just about every type of book that you could look for from any genre with queer theming I heavily recommend. For Queer Liberation Library, I know that you need to sign up for a library card and you can check out, I believe, five things at a time, but signing up for a card is completely free and you only need an email address.
Speaker 1:For the Anarchist Library, I am not 100% sure, but I would imagine it is a pretty similar situation. That's it. We made it. Oh, I hit my worm. We made it. Everyone take a deep breath. You did it. You have now stuck your toe into what is mutual aid. I'm so proud of you. Now I really hope that all of you will take the tools that I placed on your table your salad, your breadsticks and your soup and you will run with these. You will do your research into the Black Panther Party. Go down those rabbit holes about the Black Panther Party and Indigenous communities. Pick up some of these books at your local library. If they don't have them at your local library, ask about ordering them. That is something that your library is very capable of. Some of these books might even be available on either the anarchistlibraryorg or queerliberationlibraryorg. So take a look, you never know Right.
Speaker 1:Lastly, we're going to do our interesting facts, so let's jump into that. Hopefully, today's interesting fact will inspire you all to look more into the history of mutual aid, wherever you live. This fact comes from American history. So, yeah, if you're not from America, look into the mutual aid of your own country. I promise you it's there. This comes from specifically American history because I am, you know, one of them.
Speaker 1:In the 1700s. Recently freed African Americans were denied access to banks and other social safety nets for decades, and so they pooled their money to buy land, homes and farms, care for their children, their sick and their communities as a whole. Many towns like these had deeply tragic ends brought on by surrounding racists and racist institutions. That would turn many of these towns into parks and lakes such as Central Park and Lake Lanier. So just a little bit of the history of mutual aid in our own country, because that's also a huge aspect of mutual aid in our own country. Because that's also a huge aspect of mutual aid in our own country is the way that recently freed Black Americans came together and pooled their resources to build thriving communities that were so thriving that obviously you know racists couldn't let that stand. So many of these towns would end up becoming Central Park, lake Lanier. There are many others like that all throughout the country and I recommend looking into some of those and understanding our history because it's important so that we do not risk repeating it. Outro Music.