How To Support Your Community In The Wake Of The Election
by andrea hu
The results of the U.S. Presidential election have left many of us unsure whether our rights, dignity, or safety will be protected under the incoming administration. It’s more important than ever to foster empathy, care, community, and revolutionary ways of living. We have gathered a list of ideas and resources for people who are looking to be more involved within their communities.
Day-to-day Actions
The most radical form of community comes through day-to-day interactions with strangers, neighbors, and friends. We’re taught to provide—and survive—only for ourselves; how would society transform if we started thinking about the collective first?
Here is a beginner’s list of daily actions you can take to move toward communal thinking:
Providing transportation
Making meals for others
Providing shelter
Donating, if possible
Bartering
Starting an archival practice within your community/contributing to an archive
Reading and educating oneself
Providing a space to listen
Volunteering
Grassroots Grocery has an extensive program and team that brings fresh produce to those in the community. They offer opportunities to volunteer, donate, sponsor, and even fill a community fridge. Grassroots Grocery partners with distributors, local businesses, and other institutions to continue providing food to the local community.
This directory keeps track of current community fridges within NYC. People can also add fridges and help their community fridges through the organizer’s Instagram. The site is a community-led effort for fridge updates, involvement, and care.
Community Gardens
As the nation’s largest urban gardening program, GreenThumb transforms vacant spaces into community gardens. Local communities maintain gardens and ensure food security, environmental justice, and a third space for educational and special events. People can also volunteer at their local community garden.
Based in Detroit, Feedom Freedom provides education on gardening and food justice while community building through gardening and conversations. Their ideology of shared labor and knowledge, communal practices, and the collective economy to maintain a sustainable community is woven into their programming. Great ways to support Feedom Freedom are to visit their garden or donate.
Collectives/Education-Based Programs/Organizations
Featuring a myriad of anti-colonial workshops, political educational events, and volunteer opportunities, People’s Forum NYC is an organization that provides a space for those who are just starting on their journey toward political revolution.
We The People is an abolitionist mutual aid collective organizing to provide and care “for the people, by the people.” There is always room to volunteer on their designated teams and contribute through monetary, clothing, and essential donations.
Other Ways to Contribute
Donate to:
public school teachers’ GoFundMe fundraisers
public libraries
public housing
the Internet Archive
your local archive space. If you live in the Los Angeles area, LACA is a great contemporary archive space where you can drop off physical materials you’ve made or are involved in. They focus on communal archiving and constantly challenge what “archival” means in the West.
Directory
For folks looking for a general directory, Giving Compass is a great place to start researching and participating in your local organizations’ efforts.
Since this is not an exhaustive list, we want to extend the practice of knowledge-sharing to our own community and encourage you all to share additional resources! Comment with your favorite resources or grassroots organizations below or on our socials!