I recently wrote about the article, Prefigurative Societies in movement by Marina Sitrin, Popular Resistance, December 21, 2022. It begins “something new is happening – something new in content, depth, breadth and global consistency. Societies around the world are in movement.” [Note: I try to avoid using so many quotations, to speak from my own experience … Continue reading Prefigurative societies and mutual aid
Fleeting thoughts often return to my consciousness. One of my life’s goals has been to catch those thoughts or prayers before they disappear. Because when they reappear, they are significant. Perhaps that gap is needed for the thought to incubate. For me to become ready to accept the thought. In the early days of being … Continue reading Prefigurative politics
How straight has the course of your life been? During my life I’ve changed course many times. Sometimes a change was forced upon me, sometimes a voluntary change. Sometimes both. I grew up on farms and in small towns in rural Iowa. I hadn’t lived in any cities prior to moving to Indianapolis in 1971. … Continue reading Changing course
I’ve been enthusiastically involved in Mutual Aid for three years. I’ve also been frustrated for those years, because I haven’t been able to tell others what a significant change Mutual Aid represents. Recently discovering Cecosesola will help with that, I think. “The theoretical frameworks for Protest and Social Movements are not sufficient to understand the … Continue reading CECOSESOLA: Building, here and now, the world we yearn for
How do you feel about the police shooting treesitter Manuel Teran (Tortuguita) in Atlanta? I’ve been wondering why I felt so much sorrow about this. Some of the statements below have shed some light on this. My whole life I have been in resistance to capitalism and the state. I quickly learned there were such … Continue reading We lost someone unnecessarily to police violence
As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve found it difficult to begin to talk about mental health. At the same time, I’ve become much more aware of how the lives of people I care about, work with, and am trying to support are experiencing significant stresses. From the T-MAPs workbook, “we hope that it helps you give … Continue reading Why make a T-MAP?
I first learned about Transformative Mutual Aid Practices (T-MAPs) a couple of weeks ago. https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/2022/12/30/transformative-mutual-aid-practices/ Which means I’m in the early stages of trying to understand what T-MAPs are all about. [See: https://quakersandreligioussocialism.com/t-maps/ ] Trying to write about mental health is uncomfortable because I know so little about it. But I am discovering how important … Continue reading New and creative ways of living
I recently learned about Transformational Mutual Aid Practices (when I did an Internet search for prefigurative and mutual aid). Prefigurative being another new concept I’m learning about. One of the first things I encountered was the zine A Call for Prefigurative Mental Health Support and Communal Care Within Radical Groups and Organizations. One section of … Continue reading Who created this zine and why?
This is a continuation of yesterday’s blog post, Transformative Mutual Aid Practices. I’m truly blessed to have almost three years of experience in my Mutual Aid community. It’s because of the support I’ve received from this community that I can relate to these ideas of transformative mutual aid. [A note to people of faith. From … Continue reading Transformative Mutual Aid Practices Part 2
This was a morning when I didn’t seem to be led to write anything. Then, as I was searching using the keywords prefigurative and mutual aid I found references to Transformative Mutual Aid Practices. I’ve just recently become aware of traumas I hadn’t known I was suffering from. My Des Moines Mutual Aid community practices … Continue reading Transformative Mutual Aid Practices
Quakers and Religious Socialism 