There isn’t a formal process the way there is with death wills, but an arrest will should contain information about what your close friends/family should do if you’re arrested at an action.
Do you have someone who can take care of your pets? Is there someone specific you want contacted? Do you need someone to lie to your boss about why you’ll be missing work? Do your loved ones know your preferred lawyer? There’s a lot of things to consider, and you should do it before you go out protesting.
Write up what needs to happen if you get arrested, share the information with your trusted contacts, and make sure you don’t just disappear into the court system with no game plan.
It’s scary, but important! Make your arrest will today!
(Re)Building for the Future: Solar Solidarity in Puerto Rico - by Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
The networks of mutual support
in Puerto Rico that sprung up like a flower through the concrete after
Hurricane Maria, show how mutual aid responses to disasters build power
and resilience for future crises, both political and climate-related.
These Centros de Apoyo Mutuo (Mutual Aid Centers) served as nuclei for
relief efforts to coalesce around after the recent earthquakes in
southern Puerto Rico. Actions taken by these mutual aid networks have
been potent examples of revolutionary ideas of autonomy and
self-governance.
Partnering with Rock Spring United Church of Christ,
a justice-focused church out of Virginia who provided significant
funding and volunteers for the efforts, along with technical expertise
from Footprint Project and Solar Village Project, together we were able to re-wire the first and second floor and install new fans and LED lights at the Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unidos
(CAMBU) in Las Marias, Puerto Rico. Our friends here now plan to launch
a computer lab for the community in addition to their other programs in
this rural area, all running off of 100% renewable energy.
Nearby, in Lares, an abandoned school is in the process of being transformed into a vibrant mutual aid community space, by Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Lares.
Lares has one of the highest displacement rates of any community on the
island – lots of people can’t find work here and move to San Juan or
leave the island entirely. Folks working on the project told us that,
aside from providing emergency housing, a communal kitchen and meeting
space, the main purpose will be to share and build skills necessary for
people to support themselves and each other and not have to leave Lares
to work in San Juan, with a particular focus on food autonomy and
agroecology. One organizer in particular emphasized the significance of
food autonomy on the island as much of the island still depends on
imports for many food staples.
A
small photovoltaic system is installed here in Lares for now and we
worked to clean & reclaim several rooms. But as their vision for the
space grows and more rooms are rescued, we aim to have their back and
come back to install a larger, more permanent solar array that can power
the legal clinic, agroecology programs, workshops, skillshares, music
nights and anything else they are dreaming up.
[…]
These mutual aid centers, and more like
them, show a path forward through political, economic, and climate
crises. In grounding their vision for revolutionary change in tangible
action supporting the people in their community, they are building for
the future, one meal, one workshop, one acupuncture treatment, one act
of compassion, one act of resistance, at a time. And we are excited to
build alongside them, one light switch, one solar panel, one friendship
into the future, knowing that whatever may come our way, we know we have
each other.
