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Iowa Mutual Aid Network

Iowa Mutual Aid NetworkIowa Mutual Aid NetworkIowa Mutual Aid Network
Home
911 Alternatives
Current Initiatives
Donate
Organizations
  • DSM BLM
  • DSM BLM Rent Relief
  • Des Moines Defender
  • Des Moines Mutual Aid
  • Edna Griffin Mutual Aid
  • Iowa City Mutual Aid
  • Iowa Trans Mutual Aid
  • North DSM Mutual Aid
  • Prairielands Freedom Fund
  • Prison Abolition Letters
  • The Supply Hive
  • Sweet Tooth
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    • DSM BLM
    • DSM BLM Rent Relief
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    • Iowa City Mutual Aid
    • Iowa Trans Mutual Aid
    • North DSM Mutual Aid
    • Prairielands Freedom Fund
    • Prison Abolition Letters
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  • Home
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  • Current Initiatives
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  • Organizations
    • DSM BLM
    • DSM BLM Rent Relief
    • Des Moines Defender
    • Des Moines Mutual Aid
    • Edna Griffin Mutual Aid
    • Iowa City Mutual Aid
    • Iowa Trans Mutual Aid
    • North DSM Mutual Aid
    • Prairielands Freedom Fund
    • Prison Abolition Letters
    • The Supply Hive
    • Sweet Tooth

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Des Moines Mutual Aid Points of Unity

0. We believe in working shoulder to shoulder and standing in solidarity with all oppressed communities. We ourselves are oppressed, and our mutual aid work is a fight for our collective liberation. We do not believe in a top-down model of charity. Instead, we contrast our efforts at horizontal mutual aid, the fostering of mutually beneficial relationships and communities, to dehumanizing and colonizing charity. 


1. We believe in community autonomy. We believe that the communities we live and organize in have been largely excluded from state social services, but intensely surveilled and policed by the state repressive apparatus. Capitalism is fundamentally unable to meet people’s needs. We want to build self-sustaining communities that are independent of the capitalist state, both materially and ideologically, and can resist its repression. 


2. We are police and prison abolitionists. Abolition and the mutual aid that we practice are inextricably linked. We don't rely on capitalist institutions or the police to do our work. We believe in building strong and resilient communities which make police obsolete, including community systems of accountability and crisis intervention. 


3. We work to raise the political consciousness of our communities. Part of political education is connecting people’s lived experiences to a broader political perspective. Another component is working to ensure that people can meet their basic needs. It is difficult to organize for future liberation when someone is entrenched in day-to-day struggle.


4. We have open disagreements with each other about ideas and practices. We believe there is no formula for resolving our ideological differences other than working towards our common aims, engaging with each other in a comradely manner, and respecting one another, whether or not we can hash out disagreements in the process. 

  • Home
  • 911 Alternatives
  • Current Initiatives
  • Donate
  • DSM BLM
  • DSM BLM Rent Relief
  • Des Moines Defender
  • Des Moines Mutual Aid
  • Edna Griffin Mutual Aid
  • Iowa City Mutual Aid
  • Iowa Trans Mutual Aid
  • North DSM Mutual Aid
  • Prairielands Freedom Fund
  • Prison Abolition Letters
  • The Supply Hive
  • Sweet Tooth
  • Mutual Aid Monthly

Iowa Mutual Aid Network

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