If there’s one thing we’re going to do in the Black community, it’s support each other. Big business isn’t going to and we KNOW the government only has interest in appearing helpful. Mutual aid is how the Black community has survived since slavery.
We’ve been restricted from access to basic necessities and resources for ages. Banding together was the best way to make it and Black churches are where most aid originated. The church served as an organization that would provide food, money - what little of it they had - and other vital resources to those in need.
As time went on, other organizations like the Free African Society began to offer the same benefits as well - providing money to buy groceries, paying rents and other basic needs. As nationalism and anti-Black hate started to rise (again) after the social reforms of the 60s and 70s, it once again became obvious that the only ones willing to help Black Americans were other Black Americans.
Today, driven by continued social injustice and the devastation of the pandemic, the number of mutual aid societies for Black communities has grown to more than 800 in 48 states. A practice of support and solidarity, mutual aid has benefited us as a community for centuries.