Building Power While the Lights Are Out: A Conversation w/ Jimmy Dunson

200 Anderson Street,Portland ME 04101

14 May, 2023

Description

Building Power While the Lights Are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power| A Conversation and Q&A with activist and anthology editor Jimmy Dunson 5pm Doors | 6pm Conversation and Q&A This event is free and open to the public; all ages are welcome to attend. Join us in conversation with social activist and community organizer Jimmy Dunson, co-founder of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief and editor of the new anthology - Building Power While the Lights Are Out (Rebel Hearts Publishing, 2021). Through over 20 selected entries, anthology authors tackle what it means to be confronted with the increasing frequency and intensity of natural and man-made disasters and offer in return a valuable road map for how we can collectively fight for just and equitable recovery, meet the climate crisis head on, and how - together - we can re-imagine our relationships with each other and the planet. The Zapatistas taught civil society: "Don't seize power, exercise it." While disaster capitalism continues to dominate, it is not the only powerful force to emerge when disaster occurs. Building Power When the Lights Are Out looks at the broad ecosystem of the mutual aid disaster relief movement and its diverse organizations, positions, and practices - all rooted in the values of mutual aid and solidarity. Engaged in decentralized, liberatory disaster relief, this growing movement of movements calls for a combined direct action alternative grounded in radical social movement organizing: meet the survival needs of the people and build power from below while challenging the forces of Money and Power. Click here to learn more about the selected works and authors included in Building Power While the Lights Are Out: Disasters, Mutual Aid, and Dual Power (Rebel Hearts Publishing, 2021). Jimmy Dunson is a writer, activist, and co-founder of Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. Jimmy has a passion for building mutual aid survival programs and has been involved with many movements for a better world including refugee solidarity efforts, peer support, farmworker justice, solidarity-based disaster relief, and more.