"The shape of our relationships is revolutionary. Every piece of it changes the world."
What is your group's objective?
Everything changes, because the whole point of mutual aid is to respond to what's happening. I mean, we do have kind of ad hoc groups. We have the Unhoused Solidarity Network, we did have the Mutual Aid Gardens. The whole point is to basically meet the needs, whatever they might be, in the moment or during the time, with the tenants of mutual aid in mind. Even that's changeable – I mean, I think there's foundational ideas of what usually it is, but I think that's also flexible depending on where we're at, or what the needs are. Some people might call that mutual aid, or some people may call that charity, but I think that's kind of fluid and open for debate. I feel like we're having to define what mutual aid is, and this is part of it. For context, I think it's helpful to say that MAKK happened when the pandemic hit. And so it was a response to a crisis that made MAKK kind of emerge.
Can you tell us more about the Unhoused Solidarity Network?
One of the main reasons why MAKK was started was due to the encampment in Bell Park, and the city trying to evict people. I think the main focus has been, for the most part, providing solidarity for our unhoused neighbors in Bell Park and other encampments. Taking on the city. Doing check-ins with people, providing material support when needed, collaborating with other community groups, sometimes not for profits. As you said, Laurel, there's like a MAKK whole, and then there's subgroups, which you can join, depending on what you're interested in helping with or what is happening in the city at the moment. So I feel like the unhoused solidarity group was actually one of the most active subgroups in MAKK. Because of the ongoing issues at Bell Park, it had to be, I would say, so it's just a subgroup of people who are part of MAKK and who are working with the mainly the people who live in Bell park, but also with the help of some other groups, like the integrated care hub, which is right on the encampment.
What are the basic tenets of mutual aid?
For me, the first thing that comes up is solidarity, not charity. We're not here to save anyone. We're helping each other out, we keep each other safe. My liberation depends on your liberation. I believe that it's horizontal. It takes on oppression of any sort of whether it be perhaps capitalism or racism or colonialism or any other ism. I think mutual aid by its very nature is anti oppression and liberatory. But it's much more than that. It's very grassroots. Because it's grassroots, I think it's very effective, because it's more sustainable compared to charity which is dependent on the state and the non profit system. Mutual aid can be as radical as it needs to be. And it's not horizontal, it's top down. Charity decides that the needs are such and such. And they have all kinds of processes and they have a board and all that kind of stuff, and they're not able to be radical. Whereas if you're doing mutual aid, you're grassroots enough, you're horizontal enough that you're not funded by the state and you're working with your neighbors towards a solution that you both decided is what you're looking at together. You don't have as many barriers so you don't have as many resources but you also are able to be super nimble, and super responsive. So we're just creating that network of support and care that we think makes a healthy neighborhood, a healthy town, a healthy community, is how I look at it. It's usually quite nimble, and not bogged down by bureaucracy that is inherently not for profit.
What would your response be to the common misconception about mutual aid that the unhoused are expected to give something back to us?
I think mutual aid is hard to describe, because it's not a model that we see a lot. That's not how our society is functioning. I think it's about relationships. It's not so much mutual, as in, I'm Person A I help Person B and Person B helps me back, it's more, I'm Person A, and at this moment in time, I have the capacity to help Person B, Person B then goes on and does something that helps Person F. And Person F helps to grow a garden with Person H, who then has more time to help me write something that I need to write five months later. So I don't really see it as exactly like this, but it's more that it's a big network. Relational rather than transactional. I think the importance of seeing people as your neighbors that are in a horizontal relationship with you is also vital because the charity model is dehumanizing. And I think there's a lot of dehumanization going on right now. And it's really dangerous to others to that extent.
What are your biggest challenges as a group?
I think the biggest obstacle is just colonialism called capitalism. All that extraction culture, roadblock after roadblock. It's very exhausting navigating that all the time. Having to relearn all the bullshit. For me, anyways, that's one of probably one of the most rewarding things personally, but also one of the biggest challenges. The main difficulty that's also just how it's always going to be is that, in its essence, mutual aid is counterculture, or, you know, going against the way that things work. So it's a constant, moving against big forces, of all the isms. So definitely, I think the main thing is that it's exhausting to always be countering in that way.
What would you say are your biggest wins to date? Or what are you most proud of?
I feel like we don't take enough time to think about that. I'm smiling because there are still people who live in Bell Park. We did manage to win through advocacy and through organizing with other people as well. It didn't happen. The amount of people in the town who mobilized and showed up when we started doing stuff for Bell Park was a win.
For me, I would say one of the biggest wins is that we’re still here through all the burnout and barriers. And I feel like that the people that are in the group actually care about one another. It’s been really incredible and really impressive that MAKK has been able to avoid a lot of tensions and have this beautiful positive space.
What is your group’s biggest need right now?
I would say, people being willing to spend some time helping out. But I think our biggest need is to build community. And I don't mean just MAKK, but I mean, us as a collective, we need to build community.
Would you want to collaborate with other activist groups?
I would think we already do collaborate. I think it's important to cooperate with other groups.
it's okay to open up and work with other groups that maybe have a slightly different vision and work a little bit different from us. And there's some groups that might have a very kind of specific vision, but they specialize. Something I'm speaking of, in particular recently, is Palestinian solidarity, SPHR right? People in MAKK have been collaborating a lot with them. We’ve also been collaborating with Trans Families Kingston and definetley the ICH, and AKA.
What's the point? Why do you fight?
Because once you're in there, you realize that you just need small actions together to create change. It just feels a bit more tangible, which means it feels more attainable. And then I think we're really supportive when there's burnout, or people need to take a step back to come back later when they feel healthier and more willing to and I think that's also part of how we can keep going is because there is this understanding, I feel it's honestly one of the most non judgmental space I've been in.
And I think people in general join the group and stay because there's room for everyone. All skill sets are needed, we're all valuable, we're all of equal value. Again, horizontal, no hierarchy.
And as Laura said, MAKK gives us obtainable goals to feel like we're actually doing something to move forward, past the grief or the hopelessness. It gives us something tangible to do.
Interconnection and wins are important too, like, you know, seeing people still at Bell Park despite it all. That's still a big middle finger salute to the city. But I think it all boils down to it's something tangible, that we're able to have community and do something with other people working with other people, collaborating with other people. The shape of our meetings is revolutionary, the shape of our relationships is revolutionary.
Every piece of it changes the world. We're working really hard on practicing mutual aid with each other, and how to show up for each other.
We have dinners before or after our meetings, which is really helpful and creates those relationships, that community.
Contact MAKK:
Email or etransfer to donate at mutualaidkatarokwi@gmail.com
Visit their main page at https://mutualaidkatarokwi.wordpress.com/
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/mkatarokwi?lang=en
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