What I’m doing to prepare

willowbl00 2024-11-17

I realized on Friday that all my experience in organizing marginalized frontline populations in times of crisis is really going to come to bear on the upcoming years. This time, we even have some time to prepare, and lots of foundational work has already been happening in our communities by those who haven’t been served by ANY administration that’s been in power.

Find your people

Ideally, you already know some of your neighbors. But maybe you don’t! Capitalism and eviction culture lead to not knowing who’s around you. It means we have less solidarity and less strength against the ruling class. If you don’t already know your neighbors, start getting to know them! Get comfortable knocking on doors with cookies. Be open to who you meet. More and more people are uncomfortable with the status quo, even if they voted differently to you. Remember that the uniting cry of the Zapatists was “¡Ya Basta!” (“enough!”). You may end up with strange allies, but they will be allies nonetheless.

Have a good sense of who you can trust with what. Some folks are excellent at helping people feel welcome, but also don’t have a good gauge of how discrete a new person can be. Some folks are good in a crisis but otherwise aren’t dependable. Etc. There are many things you can trust someone with, have a good sense of who to trust with what.

Be open to new folks showing up, but also be aware that there will be lots of attempts at infiltration as time goes on, especially as you become more known. Each person having a story and a personal contact who can vouch for them goes a long way, but also just behave as if you’re already infiltrated.

Scope your focus

I have chosen to focus on my state and county. If a trans kid from Florida shows up on my porch, Reed and I will talk about housing them. However, I can’t do anything about trans kids in Florida at this point. I can keep giving money to Planned Parenthood in the Midwest and the South, and I can keep giving money to Translifeline, but other than that, I need to hone my focus close to home. Maybe you’ll pick a specific cause to focus on rather than a geographic one. But regardless, pick something that matches your area of influence and stick to it. Else we all go mad and burn out.

I also really liked this article that’s being passed around, that has four areas of focus: protect people, disrupt and disobey, defend civic institutions, and build alternatives. I think it’s good to know which frame folks are using when they’re asking for action. I also think it’s important that all four of these bases be covered (or intentionally left out) when organizing a broader group.

Figure out what your clusters are

What will you care about, given the needs of your community and what services are likely to maintain versus deteriorate?

Comms

You will almost certainly need a comms cluster. I broke ours into basics and going off the deep end. Basics are getting everyone into Signal groups and educating on combatting disinformation. It also has to do with getting folks to turn on Advanced Data Protection if they’re using Apple devices, and to stock up on printers, toner, and paper in the neighborhood. I had a conversation with the other technical folks in our neighborhood about setting up a Mattermost or other encrypted comms channel, but we’re not willing to take on the risk or responsibility of running servers in our basements. For the deep end (we’ll see if anyone wants to do this with me), I’m thinking about investing in radios for folks to use and HAM radio licenses.

Care

You nearly certainly have people in your neighborhood who will need care if things start to go sideways. Knowing who they are and their care needs in advance helps greatly. Do you have a bunch of folks who need to have insulin refrigerated? Invest in a generator. Do you have a lot of kids in the neighborhood? Who can educate them (and mind them) while other adults are doing other work? Having block captains to check in on folks when things get gnarly is also a good responsibility to set up.

Medical

Do folks in your neighborhood have medical training? Regardless, getting some street medic training all the way up through EMT/wilderness training isn’t a bad idea. Stock up on gauze, soap, etc. Know who in your neighborhood has good sanitary practices, and who can keep a stock of abortion pills etc. Keep them secret, keep them safe.

Food, water, and power

Ok this is me going full prepper, but it’s not so bad to have water and food at the ready, including for other disasters. You want water not just for drinking, but also for washing and flushing toilets. Rain barrels are great!

So many people being on solar now is GREAT because it means lots of batteries all over the place. But backup generators are also reliable, especially if you live somewhere that doesn’t have consistent sun.

Defense

This will make some folks uncomfortable, but that’s ok. I think it’s important to be willing and capable with weapons, not because I think we’d win an outright gun fight, but because as things deteriorate, bullies will come by to see if they can push you around. Demonstrating that you’re willing to fight back at their level is a huge deterrent.

This is also at odds with deescalation. If you are more invested in deescalation and nonviolence, goat speed. Not for me at this point in time.

Doing safety trainings and finding out who in your neighborhood is willing to train with you is important. Maybe we’ll see a resurgence of John Brown Clubs. Friends keep telling me to also get plates and the like, but I’m not there quite yet.

Evacuation story

People are more likely to evacuate if they do so in groups and in a coordinated way. Have options of where you’ll evacuate to, and have things in order to go there.

Passports and other identity docs in order
Have multiple places picked out, and ideally visited or otherwise established a baseline there in advance
Print out routes with alternatives of how to get there
Have a go bag packed with sufficient things to at least get to your destination, and ideally have a pack list for if you have a couple hours to go rather than minutes

Meet regularly

We’ll be meeting monthly to talk about how things are going and to keep on top of our preparedness. We’ll meet more often if things start to go sideways, and clusters may meet on their own outside the monthly thing. We picked a public location that felt open but safe to those attending, after much discussion about whether or not to have it in our houses.

Rehearse

Whatever your cluster, have regular rehearsals of scenarios. Keeping in practice will help things stay fresh, and will highlight areas to improve process. Share with other neighborhoods as you learn ways to be better.

Being open, making art

I’ve decided to take the risk of being open about my intentions and organizing. Maybe that risk profile isn’t for you. But I’m already visibly queer and very vocal about things, and have been for decades. There’s no hiding for me, and I’m ok with that. You should decide how open you want to be with your organizing, but regardless of that, I would encourage you to always leave a seat open at the dinner table for those who show up needing help. That’s how we maintain our Selves and our Sanity.

Making art and finding joy in all this is also vital. Have little plays, draw stick figures, find the beauty in the world. That’s what we’re fighting for — a better tomorrow. Remember what it looks like, and show what it can look like in your acts and your creations.