Thirty Days of Prompts and Opportunities for Solidarity: Week One
Welcome to the Shitshow, Part 850, Trump 2.0, Climate Collapse, Chapter 37.
Note: Solidarity, mutual aid and community are what keep us safe, regardless of who is in office. Still, I’ve compiled these daily prompts and opportunities for solidarity (i.e. folks doing work that you can support if you are able/ feel so inclined), as a way to connect with others, reflect on where and how you can plug in, and to keep us all thinking about liberation. The prompts are meant for writing (alone or with others), conversation starters with comrades or dates, ideas for art projects or actions or whatever you’d like! In my workshops and classes, I generally set a timer for 10 minutes, folks write, then everyone takes turns reading aloud. But there are no rules here in this here friendly anarchist space…Collect them all, write alone in your room while listening to Dead Prez, or host a gathering/writing workshop. Write songs and poetry! Embroider the words onto a pillow for your lover! Build community! Host a fundraiser for one or more networks mentioned! Host a potluck, Eat the rich! xo
Prompt, Day 1: What in the actual fuck is happening?
Opportunity for Solidarity: Mask Bloc Los Angeles is actively getting PPE/masks out to folks all over Los Angeles County to help protect them from the harmful impacts of the (still active, though being gradually contained) Eaton and Palisades Fires.
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Prompt, Day 2: What do we owe the places we live? What is your relationship to the place you live (home/town/city/state/country/continent/etc)? Who was there before you? How can you be in solidarity with each other?
Opportunity for Solidarity: Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.
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Prompt, Day 3: What does solidarity mean to you? What does it mean to the people in your life/community?
Opportunity for Solidarity: No More Deaths / No Mas Muertos is a humanitarian organization based in Southern Arizona, which began as a coalition of community and faith groups, dedicated to stepping up efforts to stop the deaths of migrants in the desert.
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Prompt, Day 4: Where are your people from? How can you best honor them/do better than them/use their cultural practices to serve others?
Opportunity for Solidarity: The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program works to support formerly incarcerated firefighters with recruitment, training and employment opportunities.
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Prompt, Day 5: Who are your heroes and why? How are they flawed? What can you learn from their successes and mistakes?
Opportunity for Solidarity: The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the long-entrenched and systematic oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian population, using non-violent, direct-action methods and principles.
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Prompt, Day 6: But really, what do we do next? Where do we go? How do we get there?
Opportunity for Solidarity: Metro Trans Umbrella Group is a grassroots, trans-focused organization that works to serve, unite, strengthen, and empower trans people by creating visibility, providing education, and promoting positive change in St. Louis and beyond.
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Prompt, Day 7: How can I best take care of myself and my comrades/allies while staying engaged in the good fight?
Opportunity for Solidarity: The Brigid Alliance is a referral-based service that provides travel, food, lodging, child care and other logistical support for people seeking abortions.
PS: Here's a couple of songs for you. xo
This classic from my classy local guy:
And this absolute banger of a Bush 2 era/anti-Iraq War illuminati banger (as I like to call it):
