i’m learning about pods and mutual aid. there are several ways of thinking about pods.
introduction to pods in the context of transformative justice work. written in 2016. Pods and Pod Mapping Worksheet – Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective
During the spring of 2014 the Bay Area Transformative Justice Collective (BATJC) began using the term “pod” to refer to a specific type of relationship within transformative justice (TJ) work. We needed a term to describe the kind of relationship between people who would turn to each other for support around violent, harmful and abusive experiences, whether as survivors, bystanders or people who have harmed. These would be the people in our lives that we would call on to support us with things such as our immediate and on-going safety, accountability and transformation of behaviors, or individual and collective healing and resiliency.
pod mapping for mutual aid: Pod Mapping for Mutual Aid - Google Docs
written in march of 2020. takes the theory of the pod and extends it from supporting you if you’ve been harmed to supporting you if you’re ill or society is collapsing because of a pandemic. this kind of pod is more personal, and not necessarily about being in close physical proximity.
how to neighborhood pod: How to Neighborhood Pod - Google Docs
this kind of pod is explicitly about living near each other.
A Neighborly Invitation Regarding Coronavirus, Adapted from a communication in London: A Neighborly Invitation Regarding Coronavirus - Google Docs
this is a sample letter for your neighbors if you’re going to try to do the neighborhood kind of pod.
how can i use this information and these resources?
talkgroup is definitely one of my pods. thank you.
it’s very appealing to me to imagine printing out copies of that letter and leave them on my neighbor’s doors, but i am also very, very afraid of doing it. i don’t know my neighbors’ names. i don’t know what will happen. i don’t want to be near anyone physically. so i don’t think i will. i wish i would, though.
are any of you doing this kind of thing with your neighbors? how has the shutdown affected your relationships with the people who live next to you?
and since i’ve been thinking about DIY networking / local services, wouldn’t it be cool to have some sort of local-only WAN to connect to? and not use nextdoor? lol