Promoting Social Justice Through Mutual Aid
Dr. Hannah Lebovits, an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Planning, makes a statement about social justice associated with Feed the People Dallas in The Dallas Morning News. Initially, Vanessa Wilmore, a 26 year-old freelance home designer, and her friends delivered groceries to her Oak Cliff neighbors. However, Wilmore sought to contribute more once Black Lives Matter protests were organized across the country after the death of George Floyd. Wilmore and other volunteers launched Feed the People Dallas Mutual Aid to distribute care packages with masks, snacks, water, and first aid supplies to protestors. Feed the People continues to distribute care packages, groceries, and meals with the help of community members or volunteers in the Dallas area as the organization grows.
However, university faculty members have commented that the mutual aid is a form of solidarity rather charity. Mutual aid originated from the Free African Society in 18th century Philadelphia to “financially support newly free black people.” Mutual aid is a continuing practice that coalesces around marginalized communities and urgent crises, which helps efforts more directly as stated by an SMU nonprofit studies lecturer. Social media and other platforms, such as GoFundMe, has aided the growth of mutual aid during the pandemic. Dr. Hannah Lebovits stated that “the pandemic has shown us that a lot of our institutions aren’t able to get to those people who are hardest hit, so hardest hit folks are taking care of themselves. They’re doing it through mutual aid, as opposed to further interacting with established institutions.” Vanessa Wilmore said “solidarity, not charity, is an intention and mindset. It’s getting to the root of the problem, because the reason why a lot of people are in the situations that they are in is because of systematic oppression.” Things are progressively opening up and “returning to normal” after a year with the pandemic, but Wilmore states that “the normal we had before [the pandemic] was still bad for a lot of people. If we’re going back to that, that’s not good and we need to work even harder.” Political education will be necessary to create these changes and emphasize the significance of mutual aid.
Full story provided by The Dallas Morning News