Kim Kelly Offers Advice and Reading Suggestions for How We Might Survive the Depredations to Come
Source: Lit Hub
For all of humanity’s many, many flaws, one of our most redeeming characteristics as a species is an almost-universal desire to connect with one another. When terrible things happen and communities find themselves under threat, people invariably step up and offer to help. Beloved children’s television star Fred Rogers famously told us to “Look for the helpers” after a tragedy, because he knew we’d see them.
We can go one step further, though, because it shouldn’t take a catastrophe for people to care for one another. Mutual aid—a voluntary, collaborative exchange of resources between members of a community—is a daily practice, and an act of everyday resistance.
When the Covid-19 pandemic first began, thousands of people across the country (and the world) threw themselves into mutual aid projects, joining existing groups or starting their own to meet the unique needs of the moment. Actions like making and distributing masks or delivering meals and groceries to especially vulnerable neighbors made a material difference in peoples’ lives, and provided concrete examples of what it looks like to keep our communities safe without having to depend on government or nonprofit resources.
