I'm Tired of Little Life Boats

'Cause I'm Still About To Drown

My life in four frames…

*A reminder that the Palestine Resource guide can be downloaded here.

Started my day thinking about how non-profits shouldn’t exist because in a healthy, functional society that gives a damn about human life, the needs of everyone in the community are already cared for.

But that’s not why I’m here. No wait, actually it is.

Let’s talk about Mutual Aid!

Or as I prefer to call it - Community Care.

To start, what’s a “little life boat” of support?

A little life boat is just enough to help you not drown but not quite enough to get you back on land where you can build a solid financial foundation.

Listen, this isn’t shade towards people who extend this type of support.

I’m literally alive because of little life boats.

But this is an exhausting way to live.

Quick storytime: My car was scheduled for repossession last weekend. This ain’t new, it’s up for repo every month. However, I’ve always been able to hustle and pay it (often with help) a few days prior to the scheduled date. This time it was down to the wire. I had 24 hours before they came to take away the place I’d live if I became homeless - once again for the fifth time. How is this my life?

Those of us with a lack of resources are forced to be resourceful.

However, this month was rough. My sprained ankle has slowed me down, creating my plan for Mexico has required heaps of my attention and my landlord (what a musty word) continues to harass me which has wasted weeks of my damn time.

My car payment should have been at the top of my “financial fires” list but it wasn’t because my brain is overwhelmed and it slipped my mind.

I is tired.

Thankfully, my supportive online community was like “nah, not on our watch” and they crowdfunded the entire day until I had the money.

That’s Community Care. I love those people for real.

As soon as I made the payment, my worn out body shut down for the next two days.

• I needed time for my stressed out nerves to recover

• I needed space to catch my breath down and quit hyperventilating

• I needed rest to help my blood pressure return to a less terrifying number

I’m grateful for little life boats but chile, the chronic stress wears me out.

This is what my body endures every single month.

At this point (in terms of financial support) any amount below 50k is a drop in the bucket when it comes to what I truly need to substantively level up the quality of my life.

If your first thought is “yeah, ain’t no way” then I invite you to expand your limited thinking about what’s possible in an unlimited reality.

I recently learned about an initiative called The Open Road Fund.

According to their website “The Open Road Fund is a community fund gifting $50 million to Black folks in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota in order to create tangible pathways to liberation, prosperity, and healing on our own terms.

We believe that paths lead to our destiny, and when faced with barriers, we call upon our ancestors to guide us on the open road to liberation. In honor of their resiliency and communal spirit, the Open Road Fund aims to redistribute resources to present-day descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade in an effort to build Black wealth within our communities.”

Listen, my Black ass doesn’t trust any program that appears too good to be true. This country rarely takes an action for Black people that they don’t benefit from on the back end.

But this? This checks out.

• It’s run by Black people

• It’s a genuine $50,000 “no strings attached” one time payment

• The application doesn’t require anyone to put their trauma on display

50k? Where have I heard that before…

Oh. That’s the exact amount I believe would change my own life.

In other words, it’s possible. Keep your minds open.

And because I believe in Mutual Aid, redistributing wealth and repairing financial harm with every bit of my tired, poor person soul, I recently co-founded the Decolonized Community Care Fund with a friend that I adore. This wouldn’t exist without them.

Our Goal: To connect people who have resources with people who need resources.

Mutual aid ain’t gotta be hard.

We launched last week and we’ve already redistributed $1700 in funds.

That’s kinda fire for two people who’ve never run a fund but figured it out because we know how much it sucks to not have basic needs met and we wanted to help.

And to be clear, lmao yes - yes I did start this while I continue to live in poverty.

My Blessing is on the way. But right now, I’m here to be a bridge.

• Want to learn more about the Decolonized Community Care Fund? Click here.

• Want to add your name as a recipient? Fill out the short Google form here.

• Want to find out how to become a donor? Learn more here.

• Ready to contribute? View the spreadsheet of open requests here.

And gentle reminder, please love up on those who identify as men too.

What did you say, you aren’t sure how much to redistribute on a monthly basis?

I got you.

Start here and adjust to your capacity.

Image courtesy of Aware LA

To close this out, I need ya’ll to head to your nearest independent Black owned bookstore and purchase a copy of Hood Wellness by Tamela Gordon with a quickness.

This book is giving me life.

You can listen to it on Spotify Premium here or order it from Harriet’s Bookshop here.

This isn’t an affiliate link, I just swoon for Black owned businesses.

Please support the hell outta this dope author. Buy multiple copies, send it to friends, leave heartfelt reviews - you know what to do.

Amazon is trash and did her book completely dirty. On the release date, they had thousands of pre-orders but for some reason they marked the book as “temporarily out of stock” and invited customers to cancel their orders. Out of stock? On a release date? But every other bookseller has it ready to ship?

*sucks teeth in indignant negro*

You can watch a recent Instagram live about the Amazon foolishness with the author and their publisher (Row House) here.

Go run this up, fam.

And speaking of Row House, this is the team I want to publish my own ‘Poverty Sucks’ book with. They’re real ones when it comes to amplifying purposely excluded voices.

Feel free to hold the “writing my book on a beach in Mexico” Vision with me…

Want to tangibly invest in my own wellness? Contribute to my Help Robin move to Mexico campaign here or by clicking the image.

Thank you for the care.

In the words of Tamela Gordon “I’m not desperate to stay alive, I’m desperate to live a full life.” -Hood Wellness

I’m ready to live, it’s time.