2020 was a year of crisis. A year of isolation. A year of protest. And, a year of mutual aid.
From meal deliveries to sewing squads, childcare collectives to legal aid, neighbors and strangers opened their wallets, offered their skills, volunteered their time and joined together in solidarity to support one another.
Tens of thousands of mutual aid networks and projects have emerged around the world since the Covid-19 pandemic began, according to Mariame Kaba, an educator, abolitionist and organizer. During the first week of the U.S. lockdown in March 2020, Kaba joined with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to create Mutual Aid 101, an online toolkit that educates and empowers people to build their own mutual aid networks throughout their buildings, blocks, neighborhoods and cities. Emphasizing a focus on "solidarity, not charity," mutual aid is all about cooperation because, as the toolkit puts it, "we recognize that our well-being, health and dignity are all bound up in each other."
Continue reading here at Bloomberg City Lab, courtesy of Ariel Aberg-Riger.