Do What The F*ck You Can

Community Care 101

Image by @lukejohnmatthewarnold

*A reminder that the resource guide to support Palestine can be downloaded here or by clicking the image.

One of the scariest experiences I’ve had in Ohio was the time I was stuck in traffic behind a minivan. They had a window sticker with a stethoscope and tiny pink baby feet. Underneath it said “NICU nurse.” I smiled as I thought about the kind hearted person who cared for tiny humans. Then my eyes drifted to the sticker on the opposite side - blue lives matter. 

My heart aches when I think about the Black mamas and precious babies they’ve probably harmed out of cruelty, racist internal bias or lack of care. 

I am tired of this place. 

I want to go home. I want to find my people. I want to feel safe. 

Can I please, please sleep forever? My spirit is not built for this…

This is not a life. 

As for sleep, I’m barely able to rest due to chronic stress. 

This morning at 2am I opened Twitter.

What a dumpster fire. 

I started to close the app but an image caught my eye.

A Black collector found this book from 1969 at an estate sale. For every “like” the post received, he said that he’d share a page.

16 million views, 116,000 likes and 13,000 reposts later and…

…there was a thread  with 122 tweets.

Baby yes, Black Twitter needed to see it. 

I went to purchase a copy. Cost: $759.99 

Alrighty then.

I decided instead to take a screenshot of every tweet, uploaded it to Canva, use my editing skills and create my own flipbook ‘cause that’s what you do when you’re chronically poor but incredibly creative. Based on my research, I don’t believe this violates the copyright but if you know otherwise then please lemme know.

I related to many of his experiences despite that this was written *checks notes* 55 years ago. 

This is why I exist in a constant state of rage. 

I am exhausted by whiteness. 

A handful of folks will read that as “white people” and that ain’t my business. 

This. 

I am exhausted by this. (And flat out racists.)

Image by www.whitesupremacyculture.info

But that’s not why I’m here. 

I’ll keep this quick. 

I recently co-founded the Decolonized Community Care Fund.

Did we have any clue how to run a Mutual Aid organization? Absolutely not.

We did it anyway. 

It was painful for us to watch members of our community crowdfund for survival (myself included) simply because they/we didn’t have money. I’ve been poor my entire life but I understand money. And what I know for damn sure is that there is plenty for everyone. 

Please hear me when I say that poverty isn’t a moral failure of the individual - it’s systemic and works as intended. 

I need folks to grasp that poverty is on purpose.

As for the Community Care Fund, this is not charity.

• It’s solidarity. 

• It’s a redistribution of wealth. 

• It’s contributing to our collective wellness. 

The colonial, oppressive structures we exist in are about to collapse globally. 

When they do, we are on our own.

How will you build community?

How will you care for each other? 

What’s your role in creating our new world? 

Image by the Slow Factory

If you’re a resourced individual and your role is to fund ideas and financially support organizers, then we welcome it. Our grassroots movements require cold, hard cash.

Do you have a Mutual Aid idea you want to try in your community? 

Go for it. 

Don’t get caught up on perfectionism (see above) - we don’t have time for that. 

Take action. 

Seek out support.

Learn from missteps.

Refine as needed.

Repeat. 

I have notebooks full of beautiful ways I want to serve my community. 

However, life in this country as a Black woman has worn me thin. If I want to continue to exist, then it’s time to leave for Mexico.

This transition to a new life would be unimaginable alone. But with community care, I have faith that it’ll happen. Click here or the image to invest in my personal wellness and liberation.

And joy, I’m ready for joy.

Other ways to contribute to my care? Upgrade to a paid subscription or purchase gift subscriptions to help me build a sustainable income from my words.

2024 Goal: To only have to write about poverty and not continue to live in it.

As for my role in our new world…

I’m a writer, visionary and trouble maker. 

What are yours?