For our final episode of The Response this year, we interviewed three mutual aid organizers from Orlando, FL, Hartford, CT, and Bvlbancha (aka New Orleans, LA). Gabbie Barnes is the founder of FREE HART Closet, a worker-owner at the People’s Saturday School, a mutual aid organizer, and a Library of Things Fellow. Rachel Kinbar is an organizer with Central Florida Mutual Aid, Orlando DSA, the operations director for Beautiful Trouble, and is a participant in both the Emergency Battery Network Co-Lab and a Library of Things Fellow. And Ida Aronson is an active member of the United Houma Nation and organizes with Bvlbancha Collective, Imagine Water Works, and Bvlbancha Radio among other mutual aid projects, and was a participant in the Emergency Battery Network Co-Lab.
While each guest is working on several unique projects, they are connected by their dedication to their communities and their participation in our SolidarityWorks program. Together, we discuss the current threats to their communities, both political and environmental, the ways they are collaborating with others to develop community-led solutions, and how they find joy in their life and work despite the many challenges they face.
Check out the resources below to learn more about all of their projects.
Resources:
- SolidarityWorks
- Emergency Battery Network Toolkit
- Mutual Aid Hartford (MAH)
- FREE HART Closet
- The People’s Saturday School
- Central Florida Mutual Aid
- Beautiful Trouble
- Bvlbancha Collective
- Bvlbancha Radio
- Imagine Water Works
- How To Set Up An Open Mesh Network in Your Neighborhood
- Meet Freifunk, the German group that aims to provide free internet to all
- “The Food Conspiracy Cookbook“
- Urban Recipe (Food Distribution Co-op)
Episode credits:
- Hosted and produced by Tom Llewellyn
- Edited by Robert Raymond
- Theme Music by Cultivate Beats
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The Response is an award-winning podcast series produced by Shareable exploring how communities respond to disaster — from hurricanes to wildfires to reactionary politics and more.
