While there is great value in using elections as a tool to leverage our power as organizers for policy change, elections are not the core strategy of our work.

The roots of our work run deep in our shared community, humanity, relationships, and vision. 

As we navigate the various paths to liberation that we can take, we should be aware of the importance of caring for our community by creating systems for healing, resources, and building trust with each other. To rely on each other and not count on any one political party or candidate to save us.

Organizers have been doing this work since the beginning.

The work of emulating the kind of world we are fighting for and not perpetuating the same oppressive practices that global institutions have subjected marginalized communities to. 

With this message in mind, we encourage youth organizers to think not just about the “inside game” that consists of electoral organizing and voting, but also the “outside game” of creating our own systems of justice in our communities.

According to mutualaid.coop, mutual aid is where people in an area, or a community, come together to support one another, collectively meeting each other’s needs without the help of official bodies like the state or NGOs.

It often arises due to neglect of government provision for certain classes of people.

The idea is that solidarity, rather than charity, underpins mutual aid. Resources are unconditionally shared, as opposed to charity which is often conditional and means tested.

Often frontline communities have the least amount of time, financial flexibility, and mental capacity to organize on a regular basis. Mutual aid can provide the material conditions that are necessary for communities to participate in grassroots organizing. 

The idea of community care is about creating intentional practices to respect each other's needs and build each other up.

It’s a way of building camaraderie through engaging in self care practices together. It encourages us to think about what gives us energy and what takes away our energy and how we can center the spaces that empower us in organizing.

Joy, rest, and relationships are the cornerstones of justice movements and those feelings are not sustained by political candidates, parties, or policies but rather our fellow organizers that sit in principled struggle with us.

Each of these elements highlight the importance of mutual aid and community care in the long-term work of grassroots organizing. If we pull together and detach ourselves relying on folks in power to care for our communities we can be more strategic and meet our needs in a people centered way.