#solidarity#survival
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imagetree.bsky.social
In a chilling escalation of state repression, the Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement. The targets are no longer just individual voices of dissent; they are the very infrastructure of Palestinian survival.
January 2, 2026 at 10:26 PM
itchy-cpi.bsky.social
The Exonerated Five emerged from one of New York’s most notorious miscarriages of justice. Once defined by false confessions and racialized fear, the men’s stories now stand as a testament to survival, solidarity and systemic change.
January 2, 2026 at 6:51 PM
socres.org
In Chile, Club Palestino is more than just football—it’s a symbol of survival. To explore how Club Palestino acts as a lifeline for the world’s largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East, using the pitch to preserve identity, foster solidarity, and navigate cultural survival…

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January 2, 2026 at 2:15 PM
mai-bee.bsky.social
💙✊💙 This is a huge amount of resources for numerous & varied ways to fight & defend against trump’s regime 💙✊💙

#SCOTUS #Epstein #maga #putin #nazis #trump #Resist #military #ukraine #congress #meidastouch #usa #fdt #musk #immigrants #ice

Brought to you by @drharmony.net

linktr.ee/revolution2025
IF YOU ARE ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY OR NATIONAL GUARD AND ARE BEING ORDERED TO VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS IMMEDIATELY CALL THE GI RIGHTS HOTLINE 877-447-4487 Revolution2025.INFO GIRightsHotline.org ResistanceKitty.com Resistance Survival Guide #106 PROTECTING INNOCENTS, TARGETING FASCISTS The sharpest claw we've got is knowing when to strike and when to stand down. Punching Nazis? Pest control. Targeting students, workers, or bystanders? That's not resistance-that's betrayal. STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS 1. Draw the line: Violence against fascists in direct confrontation = resistance. Violence that risks bystanders = sabotage of our own cause. 2. Plan actions with safety in mind: Before a protest or action, designate safety marshals, medics, and de-escalators. Protect vulnerable groups first. 3. Use nonviolent disruption: Sit-ins, blockades, strikes, boycotts, and noise demos shut down fascists without hurting innocents. 4. De-escalate provocateurs: Right-wing plants want chaos. Don't give it to them. isolate them, record them, and keep the crowd focused. 5. Support victims of violence: When innocents are harmed, show up with aid, solidarity, and protection. 6. Control the narrative: Use social media, livestreams, and press outreach to hignlight the difference between disciplined resistance and fascist aggression. 7. Sharpen the claws: Train regularly in nonviolent direct action. Scratch smart, not sloppy. Boycotts. I've worked corporate retail for twenty years. It's literally my job to know how and why consumers spend. ONE DAY WON'T MEAN SHIT. Stop buying EVERYTHING except essentials. Until further notice. If you're serious about making companies pay attention, long term action is the only way. 1/4 524 Y arosenfield2016 15h Delete all of your retail apps. Unsubscribe from all emails. Go to the actual site and leave site reviews telling them exactly what you're doing and why. Every company tracks NPS scores, consumer sentiment, to direct future plans. Email customer service. Daily. 2/ Q7 Q arosenfield2016 15h Fill your carts and abandon them. But don't fill with crazy high ticket ones. Fill with what you would normally purchase. High ticket items they'll ignore as flukes/bots. People whose shopping data they already have, who fill and abandon, they'll pay more attention to. 3/ arosenfield2016 15h Not everyone can boycott places like Walmart, I know, I grew up in a super rural area. Research brands they carry that are the lesser of all evils if nothing else and buy those. The big brands will lose market share. They HATE to lose market share. They'll scramble to figure out why and where it's going. 4/ • arosenfield2016 15h Seeing the impact will take time. Its earnings call season for most retailers who ended their fiscal years on 1/31. We won't see their Q1 2025 results until May. HOLD THE LINE. RESISTENCE SURVIVAL GUIDE #137 How to Film Injustice Without Getting Caged ResistanceKitty.com The Tool Your camera is a weapon -but only if you know how to use it. This guide teaches how to safely record ICE raids, police brutality. or other government abuses while protecting yourself and the people you filming. Good footage can change history, bad footage can out lives in danger. Why It Matters Video evidence has freed wrongfully detained people, exposed perjuty, and proven unconstitutional actions by ICE, police, and private contractors. But shaky, geotagged, or carolessly posted videos can reveal safehouse locations or get witnesses targeted. Learning how to film smart keeps your footage powerful and your community safe. Step-by-Step Instructions Before Filming After Filming • Charge your phone and carry a • Save the raw tile to encrypted power bank storage immediately. • Tum off geotagging and facial • Do not upload raw footage online. recognition. Send it securely to trusted • Install secure tools like Signal or journalists, lawyers, or imnigrant- the ACLU's Mobile justice app. rights organizations. • Write down your legal nctine number • Strip metadata before sharing and memorizie: "I'm recording in public." publicly. • Always film from a public space • If publishing, blur faces of uniess you have explicit consent civillans and victims. to enter. • Keep a written chain of custody: who recorded, when, who received it Kitty's Rallying Advice Your phone is your shield. Your footage is your roar. Film injustice, but do it smart - encrypted, verified, and safe. ICE fears two things, accountability and cameras that know their rights.
January 2, 2026 at 1:32 PM
hoydenspark.bsky.social
Solidarity action ASAP plz!

Ash needs to get utility bills met before shutoff! Food an added bonus!

0/177 - anything helps! 💜

>Share if you can't spare
>Reply, repost, & QP to increase visibility
>Send what you safely can to #KeepFolksAlive

#HelpFolksLive2026 #MABoost #HelpSky #BIPOCMA
Graphic alerts to unmet survival needs: text overlaid on a pattern of purple gems against a pink background, says 'Trans couple recovering from homelessness needs assistance keeping utilities on. Anything helps!' You can support via CA: $StrangeNovaa or PP: nataliebrat85@gmail.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:40 PM
mediaactive.bsky.social
OPINION “Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement. The targets are no longer just individual voices of dissent; they are the very infrastructure of Palestinian survival.” #Italy #Israel #Gaza #fascism www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/31/o...
Operation Domino: Italy’s War on Palestinian Charity and the Criminalization of Survival
In a chilling escalation of state repression, the Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement.
www.counterpunch.org
January 2, 2026 at 2:47 AM
elysdir.bsky.social
Multiple faith leaders onstage for a prayer led by Imam Khalid Latif, starting here: www.youtube.com/live/iazY_UD...

A couple of quotes from that:

“We thank you for New York City, for a place that has taught the world how difference can become strength, how survival can become solidarity, …
January 1, 2026 at 9:27 PM
harmscommitted.com
"Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement."

"The targets are no longer just individual voices of dissent; they are the very infrastructure of Palestinian survival."
#Italy #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Protest #Policing #Courts #Genocide
Operation Domino: Italy's War on Palestinian Charity and the Criminalization of Survival
In a chilling escalation of state repression, the Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement.
www.counterpunch.org
January 1, 2026 at 4:10 PM
equitableforall.com
...Mutual aid is grounded in reciprocity and solidarity rather than charity, and builds shared understandings of the systemic failures that make community care for survival necessary. Mutual aid is a form of...

2/
December 31, 2025 at 6:01 PM
ai4palestine.bsky.social
In Gaza, life is a daily struggle for survival. Bombs fall, food is scarce, and the world looks away. We are resilient, but we need solidarity now. #FreePalestine #EndTheSiege
December 31, 2025 at 4:52 PM
gorekhaa.bsky.social
"In a chilling escalation of state repression, the Italian government has launched a full-scale judicial assault on the Palestinian solidarity movement. The targets are no longer just individual voices of dissent; they are the very infrastructure of Palestinian survival. This [2/2]
December 31, 2025 at 7:58 AM
ajsdecepida.bsky.social
other donors (including European donors), reinforcing that this is not a one-country shift but a broader funding contraction.4 Assessment: High confidence that the system is moving to a formalised triage model and that donor contraction is the driver.4,6,7 Claim 6: “Adapt or Die” — Efficiency Reform, Or Leverage to Politicise Humanitarian Coordination? There are two partially compatible readings: Reform/efficiency reading: Donor pressure to reduce duplication, consolidate mechanisms, and improve accountability is not inherently illegitimate; OCHA and many agencies routinely endorse efficiency aims.1,4 Leverage/politicisation reading: The rhetoric (“adapt, shrink, or die”) combined with exclusions and thematic bans indicates an intent to use funding as leverage to align humanitarian prioritisation with national political preferences, pushing against independence and impartiality.1,2,5 A major confounder: even sincere efficiency reforms can look coercive when delivered during a funding collapse, because agencies have reduced bargaining power and fewer alternatives. That can convert “reform” into “compliance,” regardless of intent.4,6 Assessment: High confidence that both dynamics are present; the practical outcome will depend on the specificity of the conditions, the transparency of the priority list, and whether other donors coordinate to preserve need-based allocations where US restrictions bite hardest. Downstream Risk Indicators: Service Closures and Child Mortality BBC reports concrete early impacts: clinic closures for mothers and babies in Afghanistan and ration reductions for displaced people in Sudan, alongside a warning that child mortality is “set to rise this year.”1 Separately, Reuters reported modelling (cited in a Gates-linked context) suggesting child deaths could rise in the near term and that persistent aid cuts could produce large cumulative mortality impacts over time.8 While modelling results should not be treated as precise forecasts, they reinforce the directional risk: abrupt funding contractions and program shutdowns plausibly reverse prior gains in child survival.8 Assessment: Moderate confidence on near-term “child mortality will rise” as a directional claim (sensitive to assumptions and attribution); high confidence that sudden program closures plausibly worsen mortality outcomes, especially in high-burden contexts. Governance and Credibility: Jeremy Lewin's Role and the USAID Shutdown Story BBC reports that Lewin “reportedly masterminded” the shutdown of USAID and the firing of thousands of staff.1 Independent reporting supports the broader picture that Lewin played a central role in USAID’s dismantling, including documentation of shutdown/closeout cost estimates and staffing consequences.9,10 This context matters because it frames “adapt or die” not as a one-off line, but as consistent with an administrative programme of contraction and restructuring of US foreign assistance. Assessment: Moderate-to-high confidence on Lewin’s centrality to the USAID shutdown narrative, based on multiple outlets; exact responsibility and scope varies by account, but the through-line is consistent.1,9,10 Interim Assessment The $2bn pledge appears real and operationally meaningful, but it is best understood as conditional re-entry into a funding space the US has simultaneously been shrinking.1,3,4 The most consequential tension is principled: country exclusions and categorical bans (notably climate) push humanitarian coordination toward a donor-defined political taxonomy, challenging independence and impartiality as understood by UN humanitarian doctrine.1,2,5 Even if framed as efficiency reform, the combination of funding contraction and coercive rhetoric increases the probability that “reform” becomes “alignment.”4,6 The near-term human cost risk is not speculative: clinic closures, ration cuts, and credible modelling about mortality reversals are consistent with a system being forced into triage.1,8 Citations: 1 Imogen Foulkes, “US pledges $2bn for humanitarian aid, but tells UN ‘adapt or die’”, BBC News, 29-Dec-2025, — https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdj8jr37y98o 2 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “OCHA on Message: Humanitarian Principles”, OCHA, 01-Jul-2022, — https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/world/ocha-message-humanitarian-principles-enar 3 Reuters staff, “US pledges $2 billion in humanitarian support to UN, State Department says”, Reuters, 29-Dec-2025, — https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-pledges-2-billion-humanitarian-support-un-state-department-says-2025-12-29/ 4 Associated Press staff, “US pledges $2 billion for UN humanitarian aid as Trump warns agencies must ‘adapt or die’”, AP News, 29-Dec-2025, — https://apnews.com/article/f32b1238acfdf6f44f61e991f8a5b8bc 5 UNHCR, “Humanitarian principles”, UNHCR Emergency Handbook, 14-Mar-2025, — https://emergency.unhcr.org/protection/protection-principles/humanitarian-principles 6 Reuters staff, “UN cuts its aid appeal for 2026 despite soaring need”, Reuters, 08-Dec-2025, — https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/un-cuts-its-aid-appeal-2026-despite-soaring-need-2025-12-08/ 7 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, “’Life by life’ — UN launches US$33 billion aid appeal with urgent call for global solidarity”, OCHA, 07-Dec-2025, — https://www.unocha.org/news/life-life-un-launches-us33-billion-aid-appeal-urgent-call-global-solidarity 8 Reuters staff, “Child deaths will rise this year as aid cuts reverse progress, says Gates”, Reuters, 04-Dec-2025, — https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/child-deaths-will-rise-this-year-aid-cuts-reverse-progress-says-gates-2025-12-04/ 9 Nick Wadhams, “USAID Shutdown Costs Top $6 Billion, Internal Estimate Shows”, Bloomberg Government, 26-Jun-2025, — https://news.bgov.com/bloomberg-government-news/usaid-shutdown-costs-top-6-billion-internal-estimate-shows 10 Elissa Miolene, “USAID’s ‘final mission’ email slashes agency’s staff, one last time”, Devex, 28-Mar-2025, — https://www.devex.com/news/usaid-s-final-mission-email-slashes-agency-s-staff-one-last-time-109752
December 31, 2025 at 2:40 AM
chaffee.bsky.social
Hi. o/

This is Bae Dalbu, my version of Courier Six, art by meronbbang.
She's a good Karma, free-thinking woman of mainly Korean descendant. With E10 and many survival perks, she's very durable.
Dalbu believes in solidarity and caring for the weak, but not authority.

bsky.app/profile/chaf...
chaffee.bsky.social 채피 (덕질&사담) @chaffee.bsky.social · 11d
모하비 황무지로 무대가 확장된 폴아웃 드라마 시리즈 시즌 2의 방영을 기념하여
폴아웃: 뉴 베가스의 플레이어 캐릭터 6번 배달부를 자캐화한 배달부(Bae Dalbu)의 론빵(crepe.cm/@meronbbang) 님 커미션입니다.
December 30, 2025 at 2:58 PM
tempestori.bsky.social
Power is Built, Not Given

Keep organizing. Keep sharing. Keep resisting. Your community grows stronger every time you act.

Linktr.ee/generalstrike
peoplespowerplaybook.my.canva.site

#MutualAid
#Solidarity
❤️‍🔥✊️❤️‍🔥
What Is Mutual Aid? Mutual Aid means we take care of us. It’s the collective practice of meeting each other’s needs through solidarity, not charity. Mutual aid resists the capitalist lie of individualism, it reminds us that our survival is tied together. By organizing resources, labor, and skills directly between the people, we weaken our dependence on exploitative systems and strengthen our readiness for a General Strike. Linktr.ee/generalstrikeus
December 29, 2025 at 11:53 PM
tempestori.bsky.social
The People’s Power Playbook is a living guide created by
General Strike U.S. (G.S.U.S.) to help communities organize
mutual aid, survival programs, and collective power outside of capitalist control.

peoplespowerplaybook.my.canva.site

#MutualAid
#Liberation
❤️‍🔥✊️❤️‍🔥
Feeding the Fight is a program that brings nourishment, care, and solidarity directly to the people. It is rooted in collective responsibility and revolutionary love, not charity. Purpose: To ensure no comrade or neighbor goes hungry while building community power, political unity, and resistance readiness. Feeding The Fight turns survival into collective strength and grows our movement from the ground up. Linktr.ee/generalstrikeus
December 29, 2025 at 11:27 PM
tempestori.bsky.social
These “How To” guides are tools, but the real power comes from people
coming together, supporting one another, and refusing to rely on systems that don’t serve us.

Linktr.ee/generalstrike
peoplespowerplaybook.my.canva.site

#CommunityCare
#Liberation
❤️‍🔥✊️❤️‍🔥
Community Shared Meals is a grassroots survival program that brings people together to cook, eat, and build solidarity across struggles. It transforms the simple act of sharing food into an act of resistance and community care. Purpose: To break isolation, strengthen neighborhood bonds, and create space for political conversation and collective joy. Community Shared Meals remind us that every plate served is a step toward liberation, feeding not just bodies, but the spirit of the movement itself. How To Start: Linktr.ee/generalstrikeus
December 29, 2025 at 11:13 PM
tempestori.bsky.social
The People’s Power Playbook is a living guide created by
General Strike U.S. (G.S.U.S.) to help communities organize
mutual aid, survival programs, and collective power outside of capitalist control.

peoplespowerplaybook.my.canva.site

#Community
#Solidarity
❤️‍🔥✊️❤️‍🔥
What Is the People’s Power Playbook? The People’s Power Playbook is a living guide created by General Strike U.S. (G.S.U.S.) to help communities organize mutual aid, survival programs, and collective power outside of capitalist control. Its purpose is to: Equip chapters and communities with tools to meet our own needs. Strengthen our networks of care and resistance. Build dual power, systems by and for the people that make the old order obsolete. Power is Built, Not Given Every action you take, from starting a community garden to organizing a free health clinic, is building the foundation of collective power. These “How To” guides are tools, but the real power comes from people coming together, supporting one another, and refusing to rely on systems that don’t serve us. Keep organizing. Keep sharing. Keep resisting. Your community grows stronger every time you act. Linktr.ee/generalstrikeus
December 29, 2025 at 11:05 PM
oopsallmutualaid.bsky.social
"To make the learning series as accessible as possible, we’re excited to debut 'Mutual Aid 101: Solidarity, Survival, and Resistance,' an introductory toolkit for mutual aid organizing—from starting a group to sustaining it for the long haul."

www.shareable.net/introducing-...
Introducing Shareable's new toolkit: "Mutual Aid 101: Solidarity, Survival, and Resistance"
"Mutual Aid 101: Solidarity, Survival, and Resistance" is an introductory toolkit for mutual aid organizing.
www.shareable.net
December 29, 2025 at 3:52 PM
mai-bee.bsky.social
💙✊💙 This is a huge amount of resources for numerous & varied ways to fight & defend against trump’s regime 💙✊💙

#SCOTUS #Epstein #maga #putin #nazis #trump #Resist #military #ukraine #congress #meidastouch #usa #fdt #musk #immigrants #ice

Brought to you by @drharmony.net

linktr.ee/revolution2025
IF YOU ARE ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY OR NATIONAL GUARD AND ARE BEING ORDERED TO VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS IMMEDIATELY CALL THE GI RIGHTS HOTLINE 877-447-4487 Revolution2025.INFO GIRightsHotline.org RESISTENCE SURVIVAL GUIDE #137 How to Film Injustice Without Getting Caged ResistanceKitty.com The Tool Your camera is a weapon -but only if you know how to use it. This guide teaches how to safely record ICE raids, police brutality. or other government abuses while protecting yourself and the people you filming. Good footage can change history, bad footage can out lives in danger. Why It Matters Video evidence has freed wrongfully detained people, exposed perjuty, and proven unconstitutional actions by ICE, police, and private contractors. But shaky, geotagged, or carolessly posted videos can reveal safehouse locations or get witnesses targeted. Learning how to film smart keeps your footage powerful and your community safe. Step-by-Step Instructions Before Filming After Filming • Charge your phone and carry a • Save the raw tile to encrypted power bank storage immediately. • Tum off geotagging and facial • Do not upload raw footage online. recognition. Send it securely to trusted • Install secure tools like Signal or journalists, lawyers, or imnigrant- the ACLU's Mobile justice app. rights organizations. • Write down your legal nctine number • Strip metadata before sharing and memorizie: "I'm recording in public." publicly. • Always film from a public space • If publishing, blur faces of uniess you have explicit consent civillans and victims. to enter. • Keep a written chain of custody: who recorded, when, who received it Kitty's Rallying Advice Your phone is your shield. Your footage is your roar. Film injustice, but do it smart - encrypted, verified, and safe. ICE fears two things, accountability and cameras that know their rights. Boycotts. I've worked corporate retail for twenty years. It's literally my job to know how and why consumers spend. ONE DAY WON'T MEAN SHIT. Stop buying EVERYTHING except essentials. Until further notice. If you're serious about making companies pay attention, long term action is the only way. 1/4 524 Y arosenfield2016 15h Delete all of your retail apps. Unsubscribe from all emails. Go to the actual site and leave site reviews telling them exactly what you're doing and why. Every company tracks NPS scores, consumer sentiment, to direct future plans. Email customer service. Daily. 2/ Q7 Q arosenfield2016 15h Fill your carts and abandon them. But don't fill with crazy high ticket ones. Fill with what you would normally purchase. High ticket items they'll ignore as flukes/bots. People whose shopping data they already have, who fill and abandon, they'll pay more attention to. 3/ arosenfield2016 15h Not everyone can boycott places like Walmart, I know, I grew up in a super rural area. Research brands they carry that are the lesser of all evils if nothing else and buy those. The big brands will lose market share. They HATE to lose market share. They'll scramble to figure out why and where it's going. 4/ • arosenfield2016 15h Seeing the impact will take time. Its earnings call season for most retailers who ended their fiscal years on 1/31. We won't see their Q1 2025 results until May. HOLD THE LINE. ResistanceKitty.com Resistance Survival Guide #106 PROTECTING INNOCENTS, TARGETING FASCISTS The sharpest claw we've got is knowing when to strike and when to stand down. Punching Nazis? Pest control. Targeting students, workers, or bystanders? That's not resistance-that's betrayal. STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS 1. Draw the line: Violence against fascists in direct confrontation = resistance. Violence that risks bystanders = sabotage of our own cause. 2. Plan actions with safety in mind: Before a protest or action, designate safety marshals, medics, and de-escalators. Protect vulnerable groups first. 3. Use nonviolent disruption: Sit-ins, blockades, strikes, boycotts, and noise demos shut down fascists without hurting innocents. 4. De-escalate provocateurs: Right-wing plants want chaos. Don't give it to them. isolate them, record them, and keep the crowd focused. 5. Support victims of violence: When innocents are harmed, show up with aid, solidarity, and protection. 6. Control the narrative: Use social media, livestreams, and press outreach to hignlight the difference between disciplined resistance and fascist aggression. 7. Sharpen the claws: Train regularly in nonviolent direct action. Scratch smart, not sloppy.
December 29, 2025 at 1:30 AM
futuredude.bsky.social
By design, transnational capital has no alternative but to fight for survival until its bitter end. Workers of the world must organize immediately to stop this destructive trajectory. Solidarity isn’t optional, it’s survival.
December 28, 2025 at 6:59 PM
jarrettbanks.bsky.social
Christmas on the Run

The Christmas story, as depicted in Matthew 2:13-23, contrasts with Hallmark’s idealized version. It presents a narrative of fear, displacement, and the fight for survival against oppressive power. Jesus’ birth signifies solidarity with the vulnerable and challenges systems of…
Christmas on the Run
The Christmas story, as depicted in Matthew 2:13-23, contrasts with Hallmark’s idealized version. It presents a narrative of fear, displacement, and the fight for survival against oppressive power. Jesus’ birth signifies solidarity with the vulnerable and challenges systems of domination, calling for compassion and justice rather than complacency.
jarrettbanks.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:01 PM
tempestori.bsky.social
It's coming. Sign your strike card and share.
We are organizing for our collective liberation with the survival programs successfully demonstrated by the Black Panther Party Movement, and building #DualPower while this empire crumbles to ash.

Join the movement.
#Solidarity
❤️‍🔥✊️❤️‍🔥
Generalstrikeus.com
The General Strike
The General strike -the people united shall never be stopped. If we strike together we can make true real change. Sign the strike card today.
Generalstrikeus.com
December 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
jawanaka.bsky.social
Post-war Swedish historiography of the war is a mess, largely since it had to reconcile what WWII foreign policy was (a cynical but effective way of ensuring national survival) with what they wanted it to be (Sweden as shining neutral beacon justifying the solidarity politics o the 60s, 70s and 80s)
December 28, 2025 at 10:44 AM
modamo.xyz
Solidarity not charity. Everyone go read Mutual Aid by @deanspade.bsky.social

theanarchistlibrary.org/library/dean...
Chart 1. Characteristics of Mutual Aid vs. Charity Mutual Aid vs Charity - De-professionalized survival work done by volunteers vs Service work staffed by professionals - Beg, borrow, and steal supplies vs Grant money for supplies/philanthropic control of program - Survival work rooted in principles of anti-capitalism, antiimperialism, racial justice, gender justice, disability justice vs Siloed single-issue work, serving a particular population or working on one area of policy reform, disconnected from other issues - Open meetings, with as many people making decisions and doing the work as possible vs Closed board meetings, governance by professionals or people associated with big institutions or donors, program operated by staff, volunteers limited to stuffing envelopes or other menial tasks, volunteers not part of high-level decision-making - Support people facing the most dire conditions vs Impose eligibility criteria for services that divide people into “deserving” and “undeserving” recipients - Give things away without expectations vs Set conditions for getting help—recipients have to fill out onerous paperwork, be sober, have a certain family status, have a certain immigration status, not have outstanding warrants, certain convictions, etc. - People participate voluntarily because of their passion about injustice and care for their community vs People come looking for a job, wanting to climb a hierarchy, build a career, or become “important” - Efforts to flatten hierarchies—e.g., flat wage scales if anyone is paid, training so that new people can do work they weren’t professionally trained to do, rotating facilitation roles, language access vs Maintaining hierarchies of pay, status, decision making power, influence that are typical of the mainstream culture (e.g., lawyers are more valuable and important than non-lawyers) - Values self-determination for people impacted or targeted by harmful social conditions vs Offers “help” to the “underprivileged,” absent of an awareness or strategy for transforming the conditions that produced injustice; embraces paternalism, rescue fantasies, and saviorism - Consensus decision-making to maximize everyone’s participation, to ensure people impacted by decisions are the ones making them, to avoid under-represented groups getting outvoted, and to build the skill of caring about each other’s participation and concerns rather than caring about winning or being right vs Person on top (often the executive director) decides things or, in some instances, a board votes and the majority wins - Direct aid work is connected to other tactics, including disruptive tactics aimed at the root causes of distress vs Direct aid work disconnected from other tactics, depoliticized, and distanced from disruptive or root causes– oriented tactics in order to retain legitimacy with government or funders - Tendency to assess the work based on how the people facing the crisis regard the work vs Tendency to assess the work based on opinions of elites: political officials, bureaucrats, funders, corporate media - “Members” = people making decisions, usually everyone involved in doing the work and/or getting help from the group vs “Members” = donors - Engagement with the group builds broader political participation, solidarity, mobilization, radicalization vs Engagement with the group is not aimed at growing participants’ connection to other issues, groups, or struggles for justice; main focus is to meet grant deliverables and give the organization a good public reputation with funders, media, elected officials
December 27, 2025 at 9:51 PM