Mutual aid is where people in an area, or a community, come together to support one another, collectively meeting each other’s needs without the help of official bodies like the state or NGOs. It often arises due to neglect of government provision for certain classes of people.
Mutual aid, in simpler words, is cooperation for the common good.
Mutual aid is a horizontal mode of organisation, aiming to break down hierarchies and practice collective decision making. However, the concept of mutual aid encompasses a wide variety of practices – there is no one-catch-all term or definition, it is a universal practice rather than a singular concept. All of the examples listed on this site attempt to speak to the universality of this practice, but by no means aim to define them rigidly.The idea of solidarity, rather than charity, underpins mutual aid. Resources are unconditionally shared, as opposed to charity which is often conditional and means tested.
Mutual aid has been around for a while. Dean Spade, a trans activist and scholar defines mutual aid as, “work that directly addresses the conditions the movement seeks to address, such as providing housing, food, health care, or transportation in a way that draws attention to the politics creating need and vulnerability.” In other words, mutual aid is solidarity not charity.
Mutual aid groups have been around through every corner of U.S. history in the form of unions, activist groups, and organized networks. Spade notes that some of the most famous examples of mutual aid in the US are from the l960s and 1970s. The Black Panthers’ free breakfast program fed tens of thousands of Black children and ultimately helped contribute to the establishment of federal free lunch programs. In 1970, the Young Lords took over the sixth floor of Lincoln Hospital and fought to provide medical care and testing to neglected communities in the predominantly Black and Latinx South Bronx. And before Roe v. Wade legalized abortions, a group of women in Chicago helped 11,000 women access abortions.
https://www.theegayagenda.com/mutual-aid
https://www.mutualaid.coop/what-is-mutual-aid/

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The Free Breakfast for School Children Program, or the People’s Free Food Program, was a community service program run by the Black Panther Party that focused on providing free breakfast for children before school. The program began in January 1969 at Father Earl A. Neil’s St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, located in West Oakland, California and spread throughout the nation. This program was an early manifestation of the social mission envisioned by Black Panther Party founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, along with their founding of the Oakland Community School, which provided high-level education to 150 children from impoverished urban neighborhoods. The breakfasts formed the core of what became known as the party’s Survival Programs.[2] Inspired by contemporary research about the essential role of breakfast for optimal schooling and the belief that alleviating hunger and poverty was necessary for Black liberation, the Panthers cooked and served food to the poor inner city youth of the area. The service created community centers in various cities for children and parents to simultaneously eat and learn more about black liberation and the Black Panther Party’s efforts. (Wikipedia)

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“Laundry Love” is a national organization dedicated to providing laundry services to people with low and no incomes. Our local chapter in Duluth, MN is now in full swing offering free laundry services once a week. Volunteers staff Spin City (Spirit Valley) laundromat for three hours at a time, offering people the chance to wash up to two loads of clothes per week. Laundry Love volunteers provide snacks and activities as well, hoping that this service is more than just a place to clean your clothes, but an opportunity to build and celebrate community.

19.5″ x 29″ pastel on paper $1,150 framed
Brake Light Repair Clinics are events where organizers change people’s broken tail lights for free in order to to reduce police interactions and have discussions with people about their personal experiences with police.
More than 50,000 drivers are pulled over in a traffic stop every day in the U.S., according to the Stanford Open Policing Project. Reports document black folks being pulled are over 20 percent more likely to get a ticket than white drivers, underlining the stark racial disparities within the criminal justice system.
The process for fixing brake lights is simple, but will help in reducing community interactions with police and help educate the community on legislation that activists are interested in passing.
Brake Light Clinic impact our communities by reducing the number of police interactions working-class people encounter due to bogus reasons such as broken brake lights and building relationships with our neighbors!