From Emergency to Emergence
Public conversation series
A series of public conversations on the topic of mutual aid and solidarity in response to crises at the intersection of racial inequality, the Covid pandemic and climate change with a focus on recent events in the Twin Cities. Potential case studies and respondents include the Twin Cities Uprising, Hurricane Katrina, insurgent Municipalist movements along the Mississippi River (including Cooperation Jackson, Carbondale Spring, Cooperation Northfield), historic flooding along the Upper Mississippi River, the BP Oil Disaster, Another Gulf is Possible, BIPOC-led food sovereignty movements, the American Indian Movement, the Water Leaders Institute, Workers’ Defense Alliance, Maypop Herb Shop, Southside Harm Reduction, Common Ground Relief (Nola) and Stop Line 3.
The framing questions for these exchanges are:
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How is mutual aid and solidarity a response to the US government’s failures to respond to today’s social and environmental catastrophes, including deep structural racial inequality, environmental conditions associated with the Anthropocene, environmental inequalities, the growth of authoritarianism.
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How does mutual aid and solidarity offer new models and modes of self-governance and political autonomy necessitated by these crises.
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What can the Twin Cities learn from mutual aid, especially in conversation with organizers from other cities who have also experienced it?
Possible Topics:
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Community / neighborhood / self-defense
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Health and harm reduction
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Arts and activism
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Food sovereignty
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Community education
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Municipalism
For more information visit emergencecommunity.org
This is a program in solidarity with Confluence Studio
Timings given are Chicago/Central Standard Time or UTC-6:00
- Thursday, Aug 20, 2020
5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
1. Mutual Aid and Solidarity in Context: from Katrina to the Twin Cities
Roberts Annex, East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, USAHow is mutual aid and solidarity a response to the US government’s failures to respond to today’s social and environmental catastrophes?
How does mutual aid and solidarity offer new models and modes of self-governance and autonomy?
What else can the Twin Cities learn from mutual aid, especially in conversation with organizers from other cities who have also experienced it?
For those joining online, please visit emergencecommunity.org for the conversation meeting link.
For those in Minneapolis, there is also limited in-person socially distanced seating available at Confluence Studio.
- Wednesday, Sep 02, 2020
6:00 am - 8:00 pm
2. A Culture of Accountability
Roberts Annex, East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, USAWhat does a cultural shift towards a daily practice of abolition feel like?
What are people learning this summer from lived experiences protecting neighbors new and old, the land and people we love, and everyone else we coexist with despite our differences?
How do we show up for the work? What role do artists play in all of this?
For those joining online, please visit emergencecommunity.org for the conversation meeting link.
- Thursday, Sep 24, 2020
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
What We Want Now! Community Defense and Security in Mutual Aid and Solidarity
Roberts Annex, East Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN, USAA discussion with key activists involved in Minneapolis community defense in conversation with defense activists from other cities.
How is community defense a response to the US government’s failures to respond to today’s social catastrophes?
Why was community defense necessary during and after the unrest? Where does community defense come from?
How is community defense an expression of mutual aid and solidarity and a new model and mode of self-governance and political autonomy?
What is the future of community defense in the months to come?
For those joining online, please visit emergencecommunity.org for the conversation meeting link.
