Strengthening the mycelium of resistance
By Maggie Block
It feels impotent, writing some more leftist anti-fascist articles on this little newsletter. Since placing the importance of these political times into our newsletter’s introductions, things have only gotten worse. It is demoralizing to see and understand the issues that are destroying our world perfectly clearly, to raise your voice, over and over again, and just watch things get worse.
It is so hard not to give into despair.
Maybe somedays that is what we need to do, feel the full weight of the forces trying to crush the world. Let the sadness in, and grieve.
But our task, daunting as it is, is to get back up afterwards. To remember that it is not hopeless, it is hard, and it takes time. It can be easy to think our work makes no change because we cannot immediately reap the fruits of our labor. We need to reframe how we do movement work, it’s not about the big and flashy moments of unrest, it is about all the work to create networks of resistence and support that bring longevity to the fight for justice. It is about, as Sim Kern so deftly put it in their book The Free People’s Village, the mycelium we build:
"You know big protests like that—those are just the mushrooms, right?"
"… So a fungus is not just the mushroom that pops up out of the ground, okay? That's just the 'fruiting body.' The real fungus is the network of mycelium under the ground…
"This mutual aid work we're doing here-that's the mycelium, the roots of the fungus that spread underground, forming a network through the forest that can spread for miles, unseen, strengthening and feeding the whole organism. Then when conditions are right-the right amount of rain, sun, press exposure, public outrage, whatever—" Shayna made an exploding gesture with her hand. "All of a sudden, little mushrooms pop up all over the forest. All of a sudden, you've got mass protests springing up across the country. And the thing about mushrooms…
is, they shoot out spores. Millions of 'em, spreading their fungal secrets everywhere the wind blows. And just like that, each time we have a protest, we're sending out millions of spores that take root in people's minds.
"Now, once a spore lands in fertile soil, it takes a while to start growing. It's got to build up its own network of mycelium…
"So protest movements always spread the spores for the next protest movement. Like mushrooms, they're only meant to last a short while. Hell, the Free People's Village was a sturdy little mushroom —we were out there for months! And since then, all the zillions of spores we sent into the world? They've been growing. Trust. Now we just got to wait for the next time conditions are right-and be ready. In the meantime, we grow our network—we spread our mycelium, we strengthen our community."
So what can we do to strengthen our communities?
If you can give money to support the uprising in Minneapolis right now, I’m going to list places below that could use your funds.
But to spread our mycelium, we need to work on strengthening our communities. What are connections you can make, what is a weight you can lift off an organizer, how do we fortify our communities to protect each other once DHS focuses its sights on our city?
If you already have a task that you’ve been meaning to do, to be more involved in your community, do it! If you have no idea where to start, here are a few directions you could go:
The South Seattle Emerald created this incredible guide of local mutual aid groups in the Southend. Consider getting involved.
Support our local immigrant’s rights organizations! Super Familia, La Resistencia, WAISN
Support our local trans affirming organizations! Lavender Rights Project, Gender Justice League, Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center, Ingersoll Gender Center, Lambert House, Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network, U.T.O.P.I.A., Diversity Alliance of Puget Sound.
Organizations to support in Minneapolis:
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee
GoFundMe’s for individuals attacked and detained by ICE: Ponce family, for Sing and family, for a Minnesota family of nine, for Christian Rivera and family, for Donaldo's family, for Zurzya Sanchez's family, for Karla Lopez's family, for Josefina and Gabriel, for a local family separated by ICE, for a family of four unable to work, and for a family whose young cousin was detained.
Zion Community Commons, Open Market MN, and the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Collective
Lowry Hill Neighborhood Food Share
Monetary support for 10 immigrant families
A Huge thank you to Justine Jones whose article for The Minneapolis Times gave me the majority of the resources listed above