About US

I have loved being in MAP over the past few years because it is a way to be immersed in the kinds of community care and alternative economic practices that I think are essential to building better and more humane worlds. I direct (and teach in) the Community Scholars Program here at UMass, where I get to work with students who are engaged in all sorts of social movement efforts around the valley and beyond. I live in Northampton with my family and I’m trying to become a more successful home gardener with the intent to share produce with my neighbors - this past summer I focused on basil, tomatoes and raspberries. 

Mutual aid is one of the most important community building practices that we have because it reminds us of our collective responsibility to each other.  I like to dabble in hobbies that I'm not particularly good at like birding and woodworking.

I teach in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and facilitate Building Solidarity Economies (www.buildingsolidarityeconomies.com), a collaborative research and teaching project, designed to advance conditions for community autonomy and well-being. I am an activist anthropologist and organizer, involved in community and movement based solidarity economy and mutual aid projects. Mutual aid, the principle and practice of "from each according to their ability, to each according to their need" is going to be increasingly necessary for survival and is the foundation from which a transformative, revolutionary politics might emerge.

Mutual Aid is such a valuable tool in community building. For a post-capitalist world to work, we need to have close relationships with one another. I am also interested in mutual aid because it provides a more holistic approach to viewing healthcare, ultimately making it more accessible and sustainable. As a member of Science for the People as well, it is interesting to see how mutual aid has taken a biological form and promotes expanding scientific knowledge to our communities. Outside of organizing, I work as a Firefighter/EMT. I also enjoy lifting weights, reading books,  and being active. I recently got my motorcycle license and hope to start riding soon!

coming soon

Mutual Aid allows us to support each others' needs and passions while committing to world-building. It is more important then ever be prioritizing community and relationships of care as we grapple with facism, which is what has brought me to MAP. Having been involved in the cooperative (shoutout Earthfoods!) and community organizing worlds, I have deep interests in solidarity economy and organizational structures and hierarchies, which has oriented me towards mutual aid as well. Outside of MAP and academics, I love to cook, to bike, to lie (my name is pronounce "lie-luh" after all...), and to be in community with wonderful people like my fellow MAP members! I also just got a camera recently which has brought me so many photos and so much joy!

I think I've always been interested in mutual aid in various capacities, before I knew what the term meant; I think being able to support your community and have your community support you is genuinely what life is all about! Being part of a student co-op on campus for several years also brought me closer to the unique communities that can form and be sustained on and around a college campus, and I'm particularly interested in exploring that.

 Three truths and no lies:  1. I'm from Portland, Oregon 2. I love cooking! Most recently, I spent two and a half hours actively making a soup (that wasn't that good) 3. I love tattoos and I'm interested in the histories of them and the communities around them. My latest one is a dragon with butterfly wings :)

I got into mutual aid after working with the Food Recovery Network starting in my freshmen year. The amazing people there got me interested in alternative systems of care and work outside of our current one! I love learning new things~ whether that be through school, reading, DIY projects, talking to people, or just exploring. I am currently learning about pedagogy, American Sign Language (ASL), plant pathology, and metalworking!

As you will hear me say often, I am often drawn to spaces because of the passionate people in them. That it what literally brought me to MAP, the incredible and amazing people that I have the privilege of calling my friends. Ideologically, mutual aid has shown me a different perspective on organizing work and the importance of the slow relational work that helps meet people's needs and builds our collective capacity. I love to read, mostly nonfiction but fantasy and sci-fi hold a special place in my heart.

              Amy Hong

            (they/them)

   Social Thought & Political Economy '26

I believe the root of all liberation comes from building connections with eachother as fellow passionate humans, and mutual aid makes fostering these connections possible through directly meeting people's material and social needs. I really resonate with the concept of solidarity as shared vulnerability (coined by Niklas Altermark). Our shared vulnerability due to our existence as mortal and malleable human beings means that relations of care are necessary for everyone to thrive– we are all interconnected and interdependent on one another whether we recognize it or not. I choose to cherish this interdependence, which is why I am involved in MAP along with these awesome people! I love sculpting weird things in clay, caring for my houseplants, and learning about new things!