Solidarity, not Charity
Photos and story by Paula Bard
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JO JO DELIVERS GALLONS AND GALLONS, and more gallons of water to more than half a dozen water and hand-washing stations sprinkled throughout the homeless encampments north of downtown Denver. Several times a week he hauls water on his bicycle.
A bright-eyed and fit young man in his early 30s, Jo Jo grew up in Denver. As Jo Jo explained, “I remember going to Food Not Bombs when I was 16 to help out, and there was a dude that was serving. He really influenced me. You do this work because it is what you do. It just feels right.”
From there, Jo Jo was led to a bicycle collective called Derailer. He also discovered the punk world, and he hopped a few freight trains along the way. Eventually, he spent a decade in the music scene, traveling and “playing shows.”
“So, when I was introduced to Mutual Aid work, it just made sense. It feels meaningful; it’s easy work helping people,” Jo Jo said. “I’ve often seen charity work as something that you do for recognition; the opposite of that would be you do something for solidarity because it’s the right thing to do. Solidarity, not charity,” he added.
MUTUAL AID OF DENVER
The seeds of Mutual Aid of Denver (MAD) were planted when a few friends got together last fall to look at what they could do to meet the needs of their community. As the pandemic rolled through Denver during the spring, and the homeless encampments swelled, the needs of the unhoused became paramount. During the pandemic, there was no sanitation for thousands living on the streets. And then, in the sizzling heat of summer — no water. Denver was simply not providing basic necessities for those vulnerable citizens losing jobs and housing, those forced out on the streets.
MAD jumped in and helped set up port-a-potties. Then they hand-built and welded hand-washing and water stations throughout the encampments. Water is a literal lifesaver for the residents carving a precarious existence on the streets where temperatures regularly reach into the 100s. They are currently working on a very clever, inexpensive, hand-built, shower setup ($25, without the shower curtain).
As Alex, a member of MAD, explained, “We believe that you need to directly talk to the people who you’re trying to give aid to. Ask them what they need or want, rather than assume for them.
“None of the folks in MAD have been unhoused, but we go directly to the encampments and don’t like, force anyone to alk to us, you know? We just ask people how they are and if they could use anything. We ask them if there is anything they need. Or, what would make their life, living in an encampment, safer or more comfortable? And then, we provide these things for them.
“I think for a perspective on charity, it’s one of assuming that you know what’s best for the people you’re trying to give aid to, and not asking what they need or want. We don’t agree with that,” she added.
MAD assistance comes with no strings attached. According to Alex, “We try not to project our ideals on to anyone. Of course, we hope folks recognize that it’s separate from the state and, therefore, more alternative types of, I guess community engagement, then what is socially normal. But we don’t project any religion on anyone or anything like that. Whereas, a lot of the charities do, and the shelters do too.”
A WELL-WORN PATH
Mutual aid organizations have historically distinguished themselves from charities. Other than churches, mutual aid networks were the most popular associations in the U.S. throughout the mid-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Hispanic miners in Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico participated in mutual aid networks. Generally, miners were characterized by solidarity and maintained a strong aversion to philanthropy. Hard-rock and silver miners created benefit societies to ensure that they did not rely on charity. The striking miners of that era were fierce and proud men who guarded their independence. With mutual mid societies, they provided assistance for themselves, preserved their dignity, and were able to fight for safe working conditions and livable wages. By providing medical care and strike benefits, they helped solidify the labor movement.
Mutual aid societies provided women’s health care, and many exclusively Black organizations provided care for members, particularly in New Orleans. By the turn of the century, mutual aid provided hospitals, doctors, disability insurance, and sick leave for workers. There were explicitly Hispanic and Indigenous mutual aid networks. In Florida, Cuban and Spanish cigar workers were covered.
AND NOW?
Mutual aid assistance now comes in many forms, and more mutual aid societies have stepped up all over the country.
Mutual aid is said to come alive, especially, when central authority begins to break down and becomes less able to sustain citizens. People tend to come together to form networks, share resources, and support each other — out of necessity.
Occupy groups, in cities around the country, beginning in the fall of 2011, utilized mutual aid networks to provide themselves with what they needed: shelter, food, medical care, music, protection. Many of the participants carried these cooperative skills forward when the Occupy groups disbanded.
The DC Mutual Aid network is an example of a multifaceted support network. It grew out of Black Lives Matter - DC. It has evolved to tackle gentrification issues, provide food sustenance, support for victims of domestic violence, and support for seniors, children, and the vulnerable in public housing and the unhoused. In keeping with the historic mutual aid focus, there is no centralized leadership. This movement grew out of the need to listen to the community and step up with support. They actively debate best practices.
Their Facebook page describes their mission as, “Protecting each other, not policing each other.”
Closer to home in Colorado, mutual aid networks have grown all over the state: Front Range Mutual Aid, Mutual Aid in Colorado Springs, Grand Junction Mutual Aid, and Western Slope Mutual Aid all see their role a bit differently but provide essential assistance to their local communities. ■
“We like to meet folks at their level, and yeah, see what they might need, right where they’re at.” — Alex
(This article was published in the September 2020 issue of the Denver VOICE)