WE KEEP GOING
Does the Work of Mutual Aid End?
"Protest is not a one-day event. We keep going. We keep strategizing. There is no stopping until we see the change that we know needs to happen." –Lovinah Igbani
As LAM workers new(ish) to mutual aid, the authors keep hearing that mutual aid matters in a crisis, and that the goal should be a world where mutual aid isn't necessary. However, we're not so sure that mutual aid will ever be obsolete! Similar to an organized workplace, mutual aid is not only an activity but also a state of being that comprises an alternative future to the one we're heading towards. Unions should exist to help workers in good times as well as bad; so should mutual aid. Exiting one crisis – perhaps thanks to organizing, mutual aid, direct action, and/or demystifying crisis narratives – doesn't on its own forestall the next one.
Outside the Context of Work
The United States is one of many deeply unequal societies around the world, and many of our social and political structures are designed to maintain (if not exacerbate) inequality. As the authors describe in the sections on struggle and our wishlist for LAM, LAM workers have so much to fight for. By engaging in mutual aid, perhaps LAM workers can not only help one another but also build our capacity to contribute to larger struggles going on all around us.