Mutual Aid 101
By Emily & Amanda
Shop this article: https://bookshop.org/lists/community-readin-magazine *affiliate linkMutual aid is the mobilization of communities to collectively find solutions to meet each other’s needs. More importantly, mutual aid is the way that we come together to support our communities in areas where the government has failed to support us as people. It is not simply helping people, it’s the redistribution of resources to fight for autonomy for the entire community, unconditionally.
What Do Mutual Aid Organizations Actually Do?
Mutual aid groups provide care, support, and success for community members. This includes housing, education, financial assistance, employment support, access to clothing and food, and more. Mutual aid organizations are built on the belief that communities support each other, especially in areas where the government fails to provide support. Think, “neighbors supporting neighbors”. A quick Google search can help you find mutual aid organizations in your area. Small-scale operations and organizations are often connected to other small-scale groups, so once you find one, they can easily connect you to more. Some larger-scale organizations include Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and NCLR.
How Can We Support These Organizations?
We can support these organizations by spreading awareness, listening to what they need, and participating where we can!
Provide requested items to a local food bank.
Feeding America allows you to find, donate, and volunteer at local food banks.
Participate in food distribution projects.
Volunteer at soup kitchens.
Contribute to community bail bonds.
Community Justice Exchange lists national and local bail bonds.
Join a local natural disasters group.
American Red Cross and FEMA are two national resources.
Give your time or requested books to a local Prison Book Project.
@prisonbookprogram is a great resource.
This is a non-exhaustive list. Find organizations in your area that provide mutual aid on mutualaidhub.org to see how you can volunteer/contribute.
How Book-Lovers Can Participate in & Support Mutual Aid Efforts!
Supporting mutual aid organizations can be interest-focused as well! It can be as easy as talking about a Trans-focused organization during the TransRightsReadathon. Each year, this readathon takes place the week leading up to March 31st, the Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV). For example, Sisters PGH is a Black and Trans-led non-profit organization that serves People of Color (POC), transgender, and nonbinary people, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They work tirelessly to achieve justice for the most marginalized members of our society.
Spreading awareness or donating to similar organizations during a “call to action” like the TransRightsReadathon is a great way to provide support!
There are many campaigns happening throughout the book community all the time. Recently on social media, #PagesforPalestine was a readathon seeking to encourage people to read more books by Palestinian authors and support families trapped in Gaza during the genocide. Similarly, KidLit4Ceasefire was an auction where authors donated books and services to raise money to help families evacuate from Gaza.
Get Involved Through Local Bookstores
In addition to all the online mutual aid efforts that book lovers can participate in, independent bookstores are often an epicenter of a lot of mutual aid efforts. In the Los Angeles area, for example, All Power Books opened up for emergency use for anyone evacuated or affected by the wildfires last month, as well as organized the packing and redistribution of supplies to those in need. They also hold revolutionary teach-ins, free grocery distributions, free clinics, and more, all hosted at the bookstore! Midnight Books LA offers revolutionary teach-ins, poetry workshops, and opens the space for mutual aid organizations to fundraise and host events. Matilija Lending Library partners with small organizations to organize events. They also host a book club, the Radical Sewing Club so people can learn how to sew, and more.
While we mostly know about what the bookstores in LA are up to, your local independent bookstore probably has similar efforts happening. IndieBound.org is a great resource to help you find local indie bookstores. If you’re looking for ways to get involved, or a place to learn together, indie bookstores are a great place to start looking.
Book Recommendations
By Dean Spade (2020)
This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It explains the very basics 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.
By Ijeoma Oluo (2024)
This novel is both an urgent chronicle of America today, as well as an inspiring and restorative call for action. Showing how people across America are working to create real positive change, Ijeoma Oluo highlights not only what people are doing to create change for intersectional racial equity, but also in our most powerful systems, such as education, media, labor, health, housing, policing, and more. She illustrates various ways in which readers can find entryways into change in these same areas, or can bring some of this important work being done elsewhere to where they live.
We urge you all to find a way to participate in some form of mutual aid in your community. Whether it be collecting and distributing clothes to people in need, or donating food to a local community fridge, your efforts will be appreciated. Contribute where you can, unconditionally; no action is too small. Every single one of us deserves to have our basic needs met, and our government refuses to meet those needs for all of us. Getting involved in mutual aid efforts in your community helps us build power to fight back and demand more. If you want to learn more about mutual aid, or dive deeper into the topic, make sure to stop at your local library or indie bookstore to pick up some reading materials!
