Suelo y Comunidad
Cualli tonalli and welcome back to our blog!
We had another busy month which primarily consisted of our social media presentation of the Tzintiliztli Workshop Series. The content found here has been used as the basis for the script, however, it doesn’t compare to the amount of links provided to expand on any given topic. That said, the video presentations have been reaching a substantial amount of people who have been kind enough to like, follow, share, and comment on our videos and we couldn’t be more grateful.
We have taken a brief two week break from posting more content to give people time to discover and catch up to the number of videos we have so far, seventeen in total! We’ve gotten more efficient in writing and editing the script, recording narration, designing the slides, and editing the video before publishing but a brief breather has given us time to address another pressing matter.
With food insecurity becoming a growing concern due to government policies, such as the cutting of food program funding and the punishment of states helping their citizens, we have taken some time during the break to help establish connections between local farms with individuals, organizations, and food pantries. Some of that initial time was also spent directly harvesting and distributing squash, but we realize that working with others allows more community members to receive aid while strengthening mutual aid networks.
We recommend anyone reading this to do the same, as much as one is able without being burnt out, whether or not they partake in social benefits. This is an incredibly important and traditional position to act on because such policies are designed to inflate feelings of desperation, the cruelty is the point and it’s meant to force us into designated locations at risk of raids or outright crime to meet our basic needs. This is all to justify increased police, military, and federal presence, reminding us of a fish, in a way, in-that the only struggle-free movement a fish is granted is towards the fisher, towards its demise.
This isn’t to instill a sense of fear or dread, rather its meant to show the writing on the wall, and how we can effectively meet the moment without moving towards the fisher. The answer, as this is written at least, is mutual aid networks. Our Tlamanalli Initiative is meant to serve as our version of such efforts, unfortunately, we have to focus on the initiative’s core principles and join the chorus of people and organizations promoting the same solution in a decentralized manner, making it harder to target by others.
A wide range of information and guides exist, simply look up ‘Mutual Aid Guides’, or something along those lines, to get started. Begin gardening if you can to create or join a seed and/or food exchange, become familiar with local organizations and community leaders and how you can support so we can weather this storm together, and who knows? Perhaps this helps to lay the groundwork for employee-owned businesses and research initiatives!
Thank you for checking out our blog, we hope you found this entry insightful and motivating. Keep an eye out for more course content and be sure to follow, like, and share our social media!
Until next time, tlazocamati!
