Several police vehicles, an armored tactical vehicle, and law enforcement personnel including swat team pointed their guns at relief workers while surrounding and then entering our base of operations in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico in the early hours before dawn of October 16th, 2017. Law enforcement communicated that they were acting from a call that Mutual … Continue reading Repression vs. Resilience

As the days grind up in number, creating time and distance from the thrashing winds and surging inundation of the deluge of water hurricane Maria pulled over Puerto Rico, statistics remain alien from the view on the ground, a tangible contradiction to a popular and racially charged narrative that Puerto Ricans "need to stop relying … Continue reading No Longer Forgotten

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. That is why we created Mutual Aid Disaster Relief (MADR) – an organization inspired by Common … Continue reading Growing the Movement for Mutual Aid – Invite Trainers and Prepare Your Community for Grassroots Direct Action Disaster Response

We drove through neighborhoods in the mountains with local residents and our comrades from Guaynabo, delivered food, cases of water, water purification tablets, and provided health care to elderly residents and their families sweltering in damaged homes, surrounded by narrow, perilous roads with no power and waning supplies. We are sharing our time, access to … Continue reading Building A Future Based On Mutual Aid

A land abandoned is one in which no one has come to respond. That's not the case in Puerto Rico. Thousands of fema/military/ fbi/police and others have flooded the island and where, at first, we imagined an occupation, this does not qualify as such. An existing occupation would be a visible occupation. But the optics … Continue reading Building Power While The Lights Are Out

On this day, we must remember that for some communities, disasters have been unfolding for centuries, depriving people of life and liberty every single day. Indigenous peoples in the Americas have been attacked and oppressed for over 500 years.  This continues today.  Every day.  Indigenous communities in the United States have exceptionally high rates of … Continue reading Resistance is Disaster Relief

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is organizing response teams to continually travel to Puerto Rico and surrounding areas to assist with rebuilding sustainable, modular water and energy systems to provide immediate, life-saving relief and long-term, permanent independence and autonomy of marginalized, impacted communities. Please share our Action Network donation page and campaign Wishlist! Email us to share your … Continue reading Resistance against Colonialism and Neoliberalism; Solidarity with Puerto Rico and the Caribbean

Here are the latest sights, from Jojutla, Morelos. More words follow. I joined a group of therapists on a scouting mission We learned a lot, primarily that the army is in charge but no one really knows the plan Many buildings are damaged… But there is an enormous amount of grassroots action, like these folks … Continue reading Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Mexico