Check out the Mutual Aid Disaster Relief event on May 2-4, hosted by North Star Street Medics.

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is on tour talking about the work that they have been doing and sharing ideas and skills with fellow communities in struggle. Amazing! (MADRelief – https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/)

There is more about this group below, but mark your calendars…

Wednesday, May 2, 6pm – 8pm: “Protectors v. Profiteers – Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism,” an evening of storytelling to learn about their work
Walker Community Church, 3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407
https://www.facebook.com/events/552850991766544/

and again
Thursday, May 3, 6pm – 8pm: “Protectors v. Profiteers – Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism,” an evening of storytelling to learn about their work (this event has the same program as the one on the 2nd)
UROC, 2001 Plymouth Ave. N., Minneapolis, MN 55411
https://www.facebook.com/events/165730284137427/

Friday, May 4th, 1pm – 8pm: “Giving Our Best, Ready for the Worst,” an in-depth workshop on community organizing as disaster preparation
back at Walker Community Church, 3104 16th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407
https://www.facebook.com/events/348463202310644/ PLEASE NOTE: we are planning on providing food and other logistical support for this event so we’re encouraging folks to fill out this quick FORM so we can try to meet people’s needs.

These events are in are all FREE of cost. They are in wheelchair accessible spaces and there will be Spanish interpretation offered. Please let us know if you or a group you are a part of would like to help out in any way to make these events as amazing as possible for our community. Thanks and hope to see you there!

 

The Movement for Mutual Aid is growing rapidly. Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADRelief) is seizing this critical moment to start a grassroots training campaign, and they are coming this way! With an innovative curriculum that shows how natural storms turn into unnatural disasters through dangerous new forms of disaster capitalism and how everyday people are using principles of “Solidarity, Not Charity” to engage in d.i.y. disaster recovery, a two-day workshop will include both an easy introduction accessible to the general public, and a deeper participatory training for those who are ready to get involved.

Part 1 is a presentation: “Protectors v. Profiteers – Communities in Resistance to Disaster Capitalism.”

Part 2 is a participatory workshop, “Giving Our Best, Ready for the Worst,” in which we will discuss many different aspects of Community Organizing as Disaster Preparation. All events are free and open to the public.

MADRelief envisions a new form of humanitarian aid that is participatory and empowering. Climate chaos is happening. Adaptation and preparation are essential. Grassroots disaster response will be more and more necessary as we see more catastrophes – infrastructure, economic, and ecological collapses – and as corporations and governments seek only to capitalize on the crises. Unlike apolitical charities such as the Red Cross, MADRelief innovates and expands their mission by tackling “unnatural disasters” as well, understanding that racist violence, dirty mines and pipelines, and the daily disasters of crushing poverty are all crises that require constructive community responses.

MADRelief has been inspired by experiences from Common Ground Relief, Occupy Sandy, the Standing Rock Water Protectors, and the long history of diverse grassroots movements seeking to make a better world possible. MADRelief is now building a new network to facilitate inter-community disaster preparation and cooperative crisis response. The time is right for developing and training a standing network of organizers and volunteers, continually growing in size and efficacy, which will be at-the-ready to respond to natural and unnatural disasters – from hurricanes to hate rallies, from mudslides to mine waste spills – and to help survivors, especially those in marginalized communities, to restore their homes, to build their power, to thrive through cooperation, and to vision a more sustainable future.

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