Scholar Jessica Gordon Nembhard says in her book, Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, that mutual aid societies were a cornerstone of African-American communities. A notable one is the Free African Society, formed in Philadelphia a decade after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. By 1830, more than a hundred mutual aid societies existed in Philadelphia alone. So drawing from existing knowledge instead of reinventing the wheel, this article is a guide to starting or increasing the capacity of, a mutual aid network. Start small and start anywhere with a core team. It's OK to not have a grand plan to save the world when starting a mutual aid network. In fact, it's better if you don't—mutual aid is a complex, emergent process where each member's abilities and ideas are respected. It also operates on a local scale. Not knowing all the answers—and being able to admit that—is a good start. From Aaron Fernando writing in Shareable.

Around the world, people are faced with crisis after crisis, from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to—or actively engineer—each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support vulnerable members of their communities. This survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid. From Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade. Hajooj Kuka, External communications officer for the Khartoum State Emergency Response Room, writes about their experiences in The New Humanitarian. One year into a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly nine million, there is one thing flourishing in Sudan: mutual aid. ... millions of Sudanese have remained in war-torn areas outside the reach of international aid agencies, finding ways to support each other using local resources and diaspora aid. Others like myself have found a way of helping from afar. Together, we have formed mutual aid groups known as Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) that have provided food, health, and other critical services, all while building partnerships, raising funding, and getting recognition as frontline humanitarian aid workers. From the free Mutual Aid 101 Toolkit: Mutual Aid is not... Quid pro quo transactions Only for disasters or crises Charity or a way to "save" people A reason for a social safety net not to exist. Neighbourhood Pods How-To from Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville in Massachusetts (Facebook link). Finally, Solidarity in the Rural South, an excerpt from an interview with a minister who grew up in, left, and then returned to Alabama written by Mitchell Atencio and published in Sojourners. People always ask, "How did you convince your town to do this?" A lot of it is dependent on the relational aspect of building relationships with people who are in leadership. But it's also just asking — especially in rural areas. The town has a lot of property, but not a lot of money to do anything with it so it's just sitting there vacant. [We build] those relationships in my town with our town leaders and council people, and work with them to revitalize and breathe life into things and invite them to participate in new ways. We're setting up a free "vending machine" for Narcan, which is the first one of those, maybe in Alabama, but definitely in this part of Alabama. Our county commission has all this money from opioid settlements and they're refusing to use it for anything good. So, we're saying, "Okay, we're not going to wait around on you. We're going to figure out a way to do it." And that vending machine is, again, in partnership with our local town. The county won't do anything, but the town says "Sure, we love this idea. You can put the vending machine on town property." Our communities are being burned alive by opioids, so anything we can do to help keep people alive, we want to do it.

I make my living dealing with assholes. Usually they're attached to nice people seeking help for a host of common issues causing them pain or embarrassment. Many of my patients are young and LGBTQ+, needing relief from injuries caused by improperly executed anal sex, or treatment for anal STIs. But I also frequently see people of all genders and sexual orientations who are seeking help for conditions caused by constipation, childbirth and even poor weightlifting techniques. An excerpt in The Guardian adapted from Butt Seriously: The Definitive Guide to Anal Health, Pleasure, and Everything In Between by Dr. Evan Goldstein.

I see damage from over-wiping with rough toilet paper, or rashes or fungal or bacterial irritations caused by overuse of wet wipes. I meet people suffering from hemorrhoids, who are scared when they see unexplained blood in the toilet bowl. I talk to patients who just don't feel sexy because of unwanted hair or irregular pigmentation. Ultimately, one thing seems to be universally true: no one feels happy, healthy or beautiful if their ass isn't happy, healthy and beautiful. So that's what I do – give people their happiness, health and self-confidence back, one butt at a time. And since we spend a considerable amount of our life pooping, it behooves us to understand there is a correct technique for doing it. I call this lesson Pooping 101.

From Tom Perkins in The Guardian: Wisconsin Republicans are withholding $125m designated for cleanup of widespread PFAS contamination in drinking water and have said they will only release the funds in exchange for immunity for polluters. The move is part of a broader effort by Republicans in the state to steal power from the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, the funding's supporters say, alleging such "political games" are putting residents' health at risk.

"People really feel like they're being held hostage," said Lee Donahue, mayor of Campbell, which is part of the La Crosse metropolitan area and has drinking water contaminated with astronomical levels of PFAS. "It's ridiculous, and some would argue that it's criminal, that they are withholding money from communities in dire need of clean drinking water." PFAS are a class of chemicals used across dozens of industries to make products water-, stain- and heat-resistant. They are called "forever chemicals" because they don't naturally break down, and they persist in the environment and accumulate in humans' and animals' bodies. The compounds are linked to cancer, decreased immunity, thyroid problems, birth defects, kidney disease, liver problems and a range of other serious illnesses. In other news about PFAS, outdoor clothing brands are still using 'forever chemicals' despite health risk, according to Guardian reporter James Tapper. PFAS are a global issue. In early 2023, the Forever Pollution Project released the results of a unique collaborative cross-border and cross-field investigation by 16 European newsrooms. The investigation showed that nearly 23,000 sites all over Europe are contaminated by PFAS. It also uncovered an additional 21,500 presumptive contamination sites due to current or past industrial activity. The dataset behind the Map of Forever Pollution is freely available thanks to French newspaper Le Monde. US nonprofit Clean Water Action recommends 10 actions to help reduce your exposure to PFAS (oddly, refusing to vote for Republicans is not one of them). Previously: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: PFAs.