LEF March-April 2025 Newsletter

Living Energy Farm
March – April 2025 Newsletter

Easy Reaper Demonstration Day
One June 21 (June 28 rain date) we will have an afternoon event at LEF to demonstrate our Easy Reaper harvesting wheat, while also offering a tour of LEF’s energy systems. This event is being organized with the support of the Common Grain Alliance. Please sign up for Field Day Exploring Small-Scale Organic Grain Farming Equipment & Renewable Energy Solutions.

2025 DC Solar Training: Applications Due May 20
If you’re considering applying for this year’s DC Solar Training, get your application in soon! The application window will close May 20. The program will take place July 18, 19 and 20 at Serenity Solidarity Community, located a half hour from Albany NY. To apply, fill out the following form: https://form.jotform.com/250646742972061

LEF Partners with The Dogbane Movement Hub
We were pleased to be collaborating this year with the Dogbane Movement Hub, a
climate resilience education space and small farm in Ashland VA, just north of Richmond. The Dogbane Movement Hub is part of The Climate Mobilization, which organizes climate survival programs for low-income communities and communities of color around the US. Their goal is to build resilient infrastructure and essential skills that can support these communities through the coming climate shocks.

Tim explains how to wire a solar pump at Dogbane Movement Hub.

The first such program offered at Dogbane Movement Hub was a Water Survival Training, which happened this April. Richmond’s municipal water system has been in crisis for several months, so there is a clear need for autonomous water infrastructure. There were several experts at the training leading sessions on risk assessment, rainwater catchment and water purification. The LEF team led a session on solar water pumping, which included an installation of a solar water pump for the Hub’s new rainwater catchment system. This system will provide water pressure for their kitchen and bathroom during future events and workshops.

It was very exciting to get connected to so many amazing activists and community organizers in Richmond. Several folks at the event represented community gardens. Urban farms have emerged as a popular spot for applying direct drive technologies in cities, particularly water systems and refrigeration. A few years ago we installed a DC system at an urban garden in Caguas, Puerto Rico; this spring, we installed one at Dirtbaby Farm in Philadelphia.

It’s a logical fit- folks are already working towards community self sufficiency and self-determination, and often have both practical and idealogical motivation to keep their utilities separate from the city’s. It seems that the urban farming movement will likely be the first to introduce direct drive technology to the Richmond area as well.

Dorian and Amalia, who attended our training last year, install a panel for a direct drive fridge at Dirtbaby Farm.

LEF Featured on Nate Hagen’s Great Simplification
Living Energy Farm was featured on Nate Hagen’s Great Simplification show. Links are here:
Website: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/171-alexis-zeigler
Youtube: https://youtu.be/vTIaxj8gRRc
Substack: https://natehagens.substack.com/p/living-without-fossil-fuels-how-living
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7315705104920190977/
We have known of Nate for many years. He does an excellent job of producing high quality content related to the changes we face in modern times. We got more response from this show than any media ever produced in the last 15 years about LEF. We have been doing our best to respond to the many people who have contacted us in response.

Empowering Communities Book Updated
We have updated the book Empowering Communities very recently. It is at conev.org. It is less of a historical re-telling of how LEF was built but with more information about our technologies. Feel free to download a new copy, and to send us corrections/ suggestions.

Easy Reaper in Zambia
For about a year now, Kerry Clark from the University of Missouri has been promoting the Easy Reaper (the simplified combine harvester invented by Alexis) to agricultural equipment fabricators in Africa. Mostly her work has been funded by USAID. After USAID was downsized by you-know-who, Kerry was able to arrange some private funding to keep the project moving. While these new funds are not enough to pay for the rapid expansion of Easy Reaper production in Africa as originally planned, we have continued to upgrade of the drawings and instructions for building the machine. We have supplied these plans to a small fabricator in Zambia who works with Kerry. We are hoping that the detailed plans will make it possible for Easy Reapers to be built in Africa without Alexis having to travel over there. Work has begun on making the machine in Zambia.

The current Easy Reaper is the fourth iteration of the design, and it works pretty well. It is dramatically simpler than a normal combine harvester. Build One of the Easy Reaper was a much simpler than Build Four, and an abysmal failure. We have learned a lot in the last 10 years of working on this project. We are now working on Build Five, which is quite a bit simpler than Build Four and similar the original Build One, but incorporating lots of lessons learned since then. At our children’s insistence, the new machine is called the Grain Goblin. It would be sweet to have it running for a test with the upcoming grain harvest at the end of June, but we are pretty buried right now with spring farming and project management. Perhaps we will be able to harvest oats with the Goblin later in the summer.

Farm Update
We’re getting into the thick of planting season at Living Energy Farm. This year we’ll be
growing the usual assortment of vegetables and grains for seed and food, while also expanding our orchards. We’re excited that our new member, Chrissy, is taking on a lot of seed growing responsibilities. This will go a long way in allowing our community to continue to grow seeds for income in the future, since outreach projects have been growing quickly over the past few years, taking up more and more of Debbie’s time.

Chrissy has two children, Harvey and Jenny. Having another family on the farm continues to make our lives more fun and interesting. Among other things, the kids have inspired an ambitious watermelon trial this year with 15 different varieties, including some representation from deep south watermelons that Alexis grew in his youth in Georgia. We’re also doing an eggplant trial this year, but the kids are less excited about that.

This spring we welcomed our newest member, Ian, who hails from just over the border in West Virginia. Ian brings a lot of diverse skills to our team, along with a love of mountain music and humor. He attended our training last year, thinking he might want to take his homestead off the grid. Instead, he decided to join ours. Aren’t we lucky!

Planting Seminole pumpkins at LEF

The Reach of Living Energy Farm
Folks often ask us for advice on how to integrate DC Microgrid technology into their lives while maintaining grid powered “backup.” We usually tell them, if you’re going to be on the grid, insulate your house and put windows on the south side for passive solar gain if you can. If you are using grid power, installing solar electricity in a grid supported house is a waste of time and resources.

People like to think of solar electricity as inherently good. Photovoltaic panels are ecologically costly, and we have become accustomed to using massive amounts of energy. Adding more energy to current consumption patterns is kind of like finding a new source of beer for an alcoholic. It doesn’t help.

There is a large and growing field of academic study that illuminates the futility of trying to meet modern energy demands from the supply side with “renewable” energy. Ozzie Zehner coined the term productivism in “Green Illusions” to describe this phenomena. A new book on the subject is More and More and More: an All-Consuming History of Energy, by Jean-Baptiste Fressoz. The book debunks the popular idea that “energy transitions” have happened in the past and will, presumably, happen in the future. It explains that this is a myth and that, in all of modern history, new energy sources have never made the old ones obselete. They simply increase overall energy consumption.

Take firewood, for example. There is a myth that “coal saved the forests,” that the burning of fossil fuels has reduced the burning of wood for fuel. This is not true. Globally, wood consumption is higher than ever. In fact, in the UK the single largest carbon emitter is a wood-burning power plant that imports wood from the US and Canada. Shockingly, its emissions are absent from the country’s carbon accounting because it is classified as “renewable.”

Renewable energy in a growth based economy is simply that: more energy. The corporatist economy will swallow it up and continue to grow. The real work of our age is not finding new ways to feed our addiction, but learning to live well while consuming less resources. This is the work we are doing at Living Energy Farm. We have created an energy system that we call a Direct Drive DC Microgrid, or D3M for short. D3M can provide modern energy services with zero coal, nuclear, natural gas, or industrial “renewables.” With 300 watts installed PV per capita, D3M has a far lower cost and resource footprint than conventional renewable energy systems. It’s a tool that can enable low-income communities to “cut the cord” of energy addiction.

We do what we can to promote D3M, through media appearances, annual trainings, and various installation projects, some close to home and others abroad. Promoting D3M is exciting, and our project list keeps growing. But the reality is that very few D3M systems exist that haven’t been built by our team. If D3M works so well, why isn’t it spreading on its own merits? We think there are several problems standing in the way of its adaptation. A big one is the persistent fantasy that a renewable energy “transition” can stop the modern economy’s consumption of fossil fuels by adding energy sources.

Another big problem is the organization of the modern world around individuals (or couples) owning property. Both the rugged homesteader and the city dweller doesn’t have the time or resources to build, maintain, or manage a solar thermal, D3M or biogas system. These systems require village level cooperation. Not coincidentally, the focus on private property and private investment leaves us all dependent on powerful corporations who produce almost every material thing we need.

We have been attempting to overcome these impediments by taking the technology to people abroad who might appreciate it more, and who are organized in a manner to make better use of it. We have made some progress in the Caribbean. We are planning a scouting trip to Sub Saharan Africa, currently planned for October. On paper, the energy needs of African villages could be well served by D3M, and thus provide a model that could grow more quickly. We will have to see how that works out.

We also work with activist organizations in the US, and do what we can to enhance self
determination in communities left out of the “American dream.” We are often met with enthusiasm in communities of color. We sometimes get the cold shoulder from professionals who cannot enhance their careers with our technologies. We don’t fit their funding categories, and they are often the gatekeepers of nonprofit and government funds.

So we keep trying. We have a better crew than we have ever had at LEF. We are all volunteers, and some days it feels like we are trying to do too much. We continue to develop technologies to fit D3M and the needs of small farmers, including biogas, a DC washing machine, a simplified combine harvester, and other projects. We are doing what we can to spread our ideas. We are always looking for help in doing that.

Living Energy Farm is a project to build a demonstration farm, community, and education center in Louisa County that uses no fossil fuels. For more information see our website http://www.livingenergyfarm.org, or contact us at livingenergyfarm@gmail.com or Living Energy Farm, 1022 Bibb Store Rd, Louisa VA, 23093. Donations to the Living Energy Farm Institute are tax deductible. Click here to make a tax deductible donation. Make sure to designate your donation for Living Energy Institute.

Articles, Videos, and Podcasts about LEF are here: https://livingenergyfarm.org/articles-and-videos/

Syrup, Talk, Renovations, Dinner, and Canning

by Raven

Here are some Facebook posts from mid-April looking at everything happening in the communes from boiling down maple syrup to encouraging folks to can their excess harvest.

Serenity Solidarity sent a little video along of them doing a “boil down” with an important message.

These are stills from the video. You can see the original ‘reel’ here.

Unfortunately, this didn’t do very well. Although it got four loves (including one from Serenity Solidarity) and a like, it only got thirty-three views.

We also published something from Serenity Solidarity about a talk that they were hosting on a book against prisons.

It sounded like a great cause but the post got no likes or loves and only twenty-eight views.

At Twin Oaks, they are still making the transition away from making hammocks and that is freeing up space for other things.

This got six likes and a comment but only ninety-nine views.

East Wind posted about a feast they had in March.

This post did very well on Facebook, with two likes, two loves, a wow!, and over a hundred and thirty views.

Finally, Southern Exposure wanted to encourage canning as a way to deal with surplus verggies.

The whole article is here. These are the pictures they put on Facebook.

This got six likes and a love but just ninety views.

Supporting Indigenous Artists

Earlier this year, Ericka from Serenity Solidarity traveled down to Quintana Roo, Mexico. She wrote: “Out here in Quintana Roo building real solidarity with Indigenous artists. More to come about how to support them. Many of them are living very poor, without adequate food or housing. Some are just trying to support their family is and some are trying to get through school. What an honor!” Here’s some of the pictures of them and their work.

Living Energy Farm January – February 2025 Newsletter

Now Accepting Applications for our 2025 DC Solar Training, offered in collaboration with Serenity Solidarity!
This year, we will be holding our annual DC Solar training at Serenity Community, located in Stockbridge Munsee Mohican land in eastern New York state (a half hour from Albany NY). Program dates are July 18, 19, and 20. Topics covered by the program will include green building and solar thermal systems, direct drive systems, 12VDC battery system, and biogas production. We will be installing a solar direct fridge and a 100AH lighting and charging system at Serenity Community as part of the program.
This program is offered free of charge, but we are asking that participants commit to doing 25 volunteer hours on a DC Microgrid installation in exchange for the program. We are also asking folks to donate to cover the cost of food (or donate food). On-site camping will be available. Spots are limited, and we will prioritize applicants with an intention to apply DC Microgrid technology in their communities.
Applications are due May 15.
To apply, fill out the following form:
https://form.jotform.com/250646742972061

DC Microgrids in the Caribbean
John and Debbie had an enjoyable and productive trip to Puerto Rico in January.
They had a great time reconnecting with old friends, and checked up on many of the DC
Microgrids we installed in past years, making improvements and repairs where needed.
(They didn’t complain much about being away from Virginia during the coldest part of
the winter, either.) For the most part they stayed at Otra Cosa, an off-the-grid farm and home of our friend Tara Rodriguez-Besosa, activist and co-founder of El Depa. In exchange for their lodging, Debbie and John installed a 100AH Iron Sun kit and lighting system at the farm. It was very gratifying to be able to immediately enjoy the benefits of the installation. Both the lights and the expanded power supply were a big improvement, and made it possible for John to do his remote job from the farm.
The other significant installation job they did on this trip was in a mobile classroom project of Tenedor Social, a non-profit that works on disaster relief and food sovereignty in northeastern Puerto Rico. The founder of Tenedor Social, Marina, lives off the grid in Luquillo, a small city right on the beach. Together with her partner Angel, Marina is fixing up an old school bus, with the goal of eventually taking the bus to schools and other venues to offer educational programming on small-scale food production and energy self-sufficiency. Since attending our training in 2023, Marina has wanted to install a DC system on the bus. This year the funding came together, and we made it happen. We installed a Roxy Oven, a few small charging kits, and a Sunstar solar direct refrigerator.

Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC) and traveling mascots on the Tenedor Social bus.

Plans are coming together for expanding DC Microgrids elsewhere in the Caribbean as well. The installation and workshop at Wa Samaki Permaculture in Trinidad is still in the works, although it has been postponed till the summer due to complications in logistics. We’re also in conversation again with Afia Walking Tree, who attended our 2023 training and is the founder of Solidarity Yaad Farm in Jamaica. With the support of El Depa, several of our trainees from Puerto Rico traveled to Solidarity Yaad in 2024 to install a solar water pump, cooker, fridge and battery kit. A year later, Afia is very happy with how the equipment is working, the water system in particular. Solidarity Yaad is now a demonstration site for the Ministry of Agriculture, and Afia says that many farmers in the area want to set up similar water systems. She wants to continue collaborating with us by expanding the systems into another building, and possibly hosting a solar training at her farm this year or next.

Simplified Combine Harvester and DC Microgrids in Africa (?)
Work on the Simplified Combine Harvester (Easy Reaper) is ongoing. We have been making some refinements to the machine itself — improving the grain cleaning process, improving the sickle bar cutter.
Plans were in place to go to Zambia in May and start building Easy Reapers there while training people from all over Africa. Well, that project was funded by USAID, and it got cut. The Supreme Court blocked the executive’s power to reallocate funding from USAID to billionaire tax cuts, but the damage is done. The trip to Zambia is cancelled. The intent was to talk to African solar installers, and talk to people in rural African communities that don’t have grid power, while we were there working on combines. Going forward, the plan is to go to Africa with our own resources. We may go in July, or it may wait until November.
Many, many people have suggsted that our Direct Drive DC Microgrid could have a big impact in Sub-Saharan Africa. Certainly in areas where stationary diesel engines are being used to grind grain, a direct drive solar system would be a huge benefit. We are talking to people in Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, and Ethiopia. We are likely to focus on one or two demonstration sites in one area, given the resources at our disposal.

At this point, our strongest connections are in Ghana. Ghana has pretty good electrical service compared to other Sub-Saharan African countries, but many (most?) rural villages have no grid power. We have learned that even very good renewable energy systems have a hard time competing with grid power and gas (propane or natural gas). We hope to test the theory of the broader viability and impact of our DC microgrid in Africa this year, probably in Ghana. And, while we are there, we can help some small manufacturers to start building Easy Reapers. This would be a whole lot easier with stronger funding.

Wish us luck.

Biogas All Winter!
As we head into spring, we are pleased that we have been able to cook food on biogas all winter!
That is a very big improvement in quality of life for us. We have had some issues feeding fibrous material into the digester tank. We are in the process of building a large peristaltic pump to do that. A peristaltic pump works like a big snake swallowing one mouse after another, with rollers pushing the process along.
In future years, we will want to stockpile some winter food for the digester, though we squeaked by this year. We had unusually persistent cold this past winter, so if we can
make it through that, we should be fine in winters to come.

Biogas filtration tower. The grey pipe is the bubbler section. The water is pumped up to the
showerhead over the blue barrel. CO2 is dissapated into the air, and the water recirculated.

Biogas Tractor
We are continuing work on the biogas tractor. We successfully implemented a filtering system to remove moisture vapor and hydrogen sulfide from the biogas. (The latter can damage engines.) After some research and consultation with a friend of ours who has studied biogas academically, we have built a tower to use water to remove carbon dioxide from the biogas. This will increase the energy density of the fuel, which will help with storage. Carbon dioxide absorbs easily into water, but the water saturates fairly quickly. And any filtration system has to remain sealed so we are not introducing air to the biogas. We designed a vertical carbon dioxide filter with two pumps. One pump pushes biogas through the filter, bubbling it up a long pipe. The second pump circulates the water from the pipe, spraying and recollecting the water. Exposing the water to the atmosphere should evaporate most of the carbon dioxide. We have not tested it yet.
We really wanted to get a high quality American or European scuba compressor to compress the biogas, but we finally settled in a Chinese version. Hopefully that will work. However this works out, it is clear that making a small tractor move through a field with
any kind of fuel is a lot more difficult than direct drive solar. It is as inevitable as gravity that industrial output will decline in the future. What level of technological sophistication we can maintain, and who will have access to limited industrial outputs, is uncertain. If we can maintain the limited output necessary to maintain small machines, that would support a far more productive agricultural system than relying only on human labor and draft animals.
The rate of future industrial decline is highly uncertain. Our role in prototyping future sustainable technologies is also uncertain. We are trying to think through these questions as best we can. Citizens of modern industrial societies have become accustomed to having massive energy resources at their fingertips. A small car usually has 100 horsepower, a truck over 300. We have had many people talk to us in excited terms about human powered pumps and appliances. A quarter horse solar motor (a couple hundred watts) will do an order of maganitude more work in a day than a human body. A very small farm machine with only a few horsepower — if we can maintain the infrastructure to keep such machines running — can do as much farmwork as numerous draft animals or dozens of humans. It’s not entirely clear what the best answers for the future might be, but we are doing the best we can to figure that out.

Please support us if you can.

Living Energy Farm is a project to build a demonstration farm, community, and education center in Louisa County that uses no fossil fuels. For more information see our website
http://www.livingenergyfarm.org, or contact us at livingenergyfarm@gmail.com or Living Energy Farm, 1022 Bibb Store Rd, Louisa VA, 23093. Donations to the Living Energy Farm Institute are tax deductible. Click here to make a tax deductible donation. Make sure to designate your donation for Living Energy Institute.

Articles, Videos, and Podcasts about LEF are here:
https://livingenergyfarm.org/articles-and-videos/

Artists, Pucks, and Community Building Puzzle

by Raven

It was one of those weeks on Facebook where the usual communes didn’t post much, so I filled in with an old Facebook post (on Validation Day for February 14th) and a puzzle that was worth two days of posts (one for the questions and one for the answers).

Ericka from Serenity Solidarity did put out a really lovely post on visiting indigenous artists, actually her second one on the subject (see last week’s Facebook roundup for her other post), and this one came with a lot of pictures.

People obviously like pictures and I was pleased to see that this did very, very well on Facebook, with seven likes, three loves, and three cares, and well over three hundred views.

East Wind wrote about a very sweet use of their Peanut Butter:

This also did well, although nowhere near as well as Ericka’s artists, with two likes, two loves, and a “Wow!”, and a hundred and fifteen views.

Finally, I enjoy putting out puzzles now and then, although they haven’t been doing so well on Facebook lately. I have noticed that more people look at the actual puzzle or the questions then look at the answers–which puzzles me. This time the subject was how to build communities.

This didn’t do too well at all, with just one like and not even sixty views.

Now, if you are interested in taking the quiz yourself, take a moment and look at the steps again and see if you can put them in the correct order.

I’ll give you a bit of space before I put down the solution.

Go ahead. Try it.

And here’s the answers.

As usual, the answers did less well than the questions, with no likes or loves and just over forty views.

Indigenous Artists, PB Day, Pizza Garden, and Mutual Aid

by Raven

We’re into the Facebook posts for February.

Ericka from Serenity Solidarity is traveling and posted this.

This post did okay, with two likes, two loves, a care, and a hundred and eight views.

East Wind Nutbutters was promoting…

This didn’t do that well. While it got three likes and two loves, it only got thirty-nine views.

Most folks like pizza. Southern Exposure suggests that you grow a garden for it.

This didn’t do that well either. (What? People don’t like peanut butter? People don’t like pizza?) It only got two likes and a love and just eighty-five views.

There wasn’t a lot to post this week so I decided to finish by asking a question and hoping to get comments and views.

I didn’t get a lot of comments–just one, plus my response.

However, it got four likes and two loves and over two hundred and fifty views.

Directory, Seed Growers, Seed Starting, Cows, and Conversion

by Raven

This was an okay week on Facebook, with some posts that did fine and some that didn’t.

Serenity Solidarity passed on a link to a directory of Black families affected by the fires in California.

As important as this information is, it didn’t do well on FB. At least one person cared, but only twenty-nine folks saw it.

Twin Oaks posted about Common Wealth Seed Growers.

Here’s a link to the document Twin Oaks is referring to.

This post just did okay, with five loves (including Twin Oaks Community!) and two likes, but only a hundred views.

East Wind posted about their dedicated dairy crew.

This did the best of a mediocre week, with six likes, a love, and a hundred and thirty-one views.

Southern Exposure (at Acorn Community in Virginia) was excited about starting sprouting seeds.

Maybe no one wants to hear about starting seeds in February but it only got two likes and just fifty-seven views.

Finally, at Twin Oaks, the former hammocks office is being converted.

This also didn’t do too well, with three likes, three loves, and only eighty-nine views.

Workshops, Cows, Bluesky, Deportation, and Cheffing

by Raven

Another week on Facebook, moving toward the end of January.

And Acorn and Southern Exposure were posting once again about what Ira was up to.

Once upon a time on Commune Life, just mentioning Ira guaranteed a high viewing share. That doesn’t seem true anymore. This post got just four likes and a disappointing sixty-three views.

At East Wind, it was all about the cows.

This did pretty well with four likes, three loves, and a hundred and fourteen views.

Twin Oaks was talking about getting a new account on Bluesky. So I asked what seemed to me to be the obvious question.

This got thirteen likes, two loves, four comments (two of which were “Yes” and “yes !”), and an impressive two hundred and twelve views. I’m hoping that we will have a Bluesky account soon.

The deportations are happening, and they are happening to a lot of good folks. Serenity Solidarity wrote about one.

Unfortunately, this didn’t do very well on Facebook with just two likes and sixty-eight views.

Finally, East Wind posted about their chefs, cheffing it up.

This did pretty well with five likes, two loves, and a hundred and thirty-four views.

Trailer, Cover Crops, Helping, Hammock Garden, and Pepper Relish

by Raven

Yes, we are still covering November, but this is the last of it.

Twin Oaks got a new trailer to help with their expanding work with seeds.

This did pretty well on Facebook getting three loves, four likes, and a hundred and sixteen views.

Southern Exposure posted about winter cover crops.

Here’s a link to the actual post.

Unfortunately, this post did really poorly on Facebook, with no likes or loves and just forty-five views.

Serenity Solidarity posted about a couple of mutual aid requests:

This also didn’t do that well. While it got a like and two cares, it only got eighty five views on Facebook.

Twin Oaks hammocks are a popular item in many communities.

This did okay, with six likes (including one from Twin Oaks hammocks), five loves, and a care, but only had a hundred and eight views.

Finally, East Wind closed off the month with a post about what they were doing with the extra peppers that they harvested.

This didn’t do too badly on Facebook,with five likes, one love, and a hundred and twenty-one views.

The Fight Ahead: Protecting Marginalized People in the Era of Trump’s Return

By Ericka Williams Rodriguez, Serenity Solidarity

As people living in close-knit communities or as those who aspire to create and sustain communal living environments, it is evident (to me, anyway) that the necessity of mutual support/mutual aid is not just a moral imperative but a fundamental aspect of thriving together. The scope of this support cannot, and must not, be confined solely to the people within our immediate circle or community. True communal solidarity requires us to expand our reach, extend a helping hand beyond the boundaries of our familiar networks, and create a broader system of interconnectedness that nurtures and strengthens all individuals. Only through such expansive support can we build resilient, compassionate societies that uplift everyone. Only through this support can we truly call ourselves allies and activists.

Image taken from ‘How to Make a Mutual Aid Map’

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iG7A2UF87-vFOzl0mXEtJt-uf64c8AGvtdezxLfLWDU/edit?usp=drivesdk

As we step into 2025, the struggle for justice and equity for marginalized communities demands our urgent and relentless attention. We are going to have to fight, and fight hard. Marginalized people continue to face systemic barriers that threaten their survival and dignity. The path to a more just world is neither inevitable nor easy. It will require fierce, unwavering advocacy and action to dismantle the inequities that persist and deepen suffering. If we are to honor our shared humanity, we must recognize that this fight is not optional; it is a moral imperative that will define our future. We are going to have to step up in ways that may be hard and uncomfortable. The return of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency is not just a political setback; it is an existential threat to the very fabric of our society. For those of us who live on the fringes— undocumented people, Black and Brown people, immigrants, trans people, incarcerated people, poor people —the next four years will demand more than just resistance. They will require a deep commitment to each other, solidarity, creativity, and our collective action.

There’s a reality that cannot be ignored: if we are to win this fight, the people who have long benefitted from systems of privilege—those with wealth, property, and power—must step up in ways they never have before.

Appalachian-based Pansy Collective, a queer mutual aid group that helped with relief efforts after Hurricane Helene.

For too long, people with privilege have distanced themselves from the suffering of marginalized communities. Many claim to be anti-racist, in solidarity with peace and justice movements, or deeply connected to spirituality. Many have quietly watched as policies that harm marginalized people have flourished, whether through the criminalization of undocumented immigrants or the systemic violence that plagues Black and Indigenous people. Sure, many give up a few hours in a day to March for Palestine or for Indigenous rights, and that is important- but would they take an undocumented single mother into their home or give up some of their beloved money, and -gasp- risk possible instability in their own lives, to make sure someone has food to eat or a roof over their head?

With Trump’s return to power, we stand at a crossroads. His administration has made it clear that the lives of undocumented people, trans people, and Black and Brown communities will be under attack. On day one of his presidency. From deportation raids and separating undocumented families, to emboldened racial profiling by police, to attacks on trans people’s lives, and the destruction of key civil rights protections, such as those that safeguard voting rights and fight discrimination in education and housing, will all worsen under Trump.

Jewish Voice for Peace risking their freedom to protest the genocide in Palestine.

Trump is expected to prioritize fossil fuel industry interests over climate action, undoing important environmental regulations and pulling out of international climate agreements. Under Trump, the U.S. will not take action to address the growing climate crisis, which disproportionately affects vulnerable communities, including Indigenous communities and people in low-income areas. I expect climate activists to be even more harshly pursued and prosecuted , and for there to be severe penalties for those trying to stop cop cities and the genocide in Gaza.

This is where we—those of us who are fighting for justice—need those with land, wealth, and privilege to understand that they are not exempt from this fight. Historically, it is the marginalized, the oppressed, who have been called upon to resist. And yet, time and again, our struggles have been disregarded by those in positions of power and privilege. As an Afro-Indigenous activist committed to supporting people who cannot support themselves, and to building and supporting community land projects where BIPOC are centered, I know that land is not just a commodity; it is a life source. It is the space where we grow our food, where we house our families, where we reclaim our histories. This is why the fight for land, and the right to self-determination, is central to everything we do. But it is also why we need others to see how this fight is bigger than any one community—it is a fight for the survival of all.

There are many intentional communities, churches, and regular people who have lots and lots of land, extra space in their houses and buildings, and money saved for a ‘rainy day’. Well while they are trying not to get wet, we are drowning. They may not think of it as extra, but it is more than they need. For too long as a society we have acquired more than we need at the terrible expense and suffering of others. We consume resources far beyond what is necessary for our own well-being, frequently at the expense of poorer nations and communities. We acquire huge pieces of land just so that we have private woods to walk in. From excessive energy usage, which contributes to climate change, to the insatiable demand for cheap goods that exploit workers in developing countries. We rely on global supply chains that extract resources—whether raw materials, labor, or land—at unsustainable rates, leaving local populations in poverty while enriching multinational corporations. This imbalance is fueled by policies and systems that Trump and his cabinet will uphold and expand. Systems that prioritize profit over people, leading to environmental degradation, economic inequality, and the displacement of vulnerable people. The resulting exploitation perpetuates cycles of poverty and limits access to resources for those who need them most, while those with privilege continue to live in comfort. You have heard this all before. I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know. What is worse? To go without, or to cause others to suffer because you won’t give up your comforts.

Immigrant Community Defense: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/what-we-do/advocacy/community-defense/

For people of wealth, property, and privilege, the protection of marginalized communities is not just an act of charity or solidarity; it is a matter of survival for the soul of this nation. If they AGAIN fail to protect the rights of undocumented people, Indigenous people, and Black and Brown people, they will lose more than the trust and friendship of BIPOC allies; they will lose their humanity. This is not a distant issue or an abstract cause. The policies that will be enacted under Trump’s administration—whether through harsher immigration laws, new barriers to voting, or police state expansions—will target those who already face the harshest realities. But the ripple effects will be felt by everyone, including those who benefit from the current system.

We cannot afford to wait for others to step up. Marginalized people have always had to build from the ground up, carving out spaces of resistance and resilience in a world that seeks to erase our presence. Yet, while we continue to fight and build, we need those who control vast resources to recognize the urgency of this moment.

In a world where compassion and humanity should know no borders, opening our homes or sharing part of our land with marginalized people is a powerful act of solidarity. These individuals are simply striving for a better life—just as we would if we were in their shoes. By offering them shelter or land, we not only provide a safe space but also affirm their dignity and humanity. Remember that our wealth is not measured solely by possessions but by the kindness and generosity we extend to those in need. We can create a world where no one is left behind, where every person can feel valued and supported and have their needs met, regardless of their immigration status, gender, or color.

People with privilege also need to use their economic power to support grassroots initiatives and community land projects that serve to protect and uplift undocumented communities, Black and Brown people, and Indigenous nations. Money is a tool that can either be used to reinforce systems of oppression, or dismantle them. By investing in land reparations, supporting sanctuary cities, and funding legal services for those under threat of deportation or incarceration, they can directly contribute to collective liberation.

It is time for those with influence to stand alongside us in protest, in policy change, in direct action, and in advocacy. You must use your platforms to speak truth to power, to challenge the white supremacy that fuels Trump’s policies, and to demand accountability from all levels of government.

We must understand that this fight is not only about protecting the most vulnerable. It is about a collective vision for a better and more equitable future. When Trump comes into office once again, his agenda will continue to benefit the wealthy and oppress the poor. But wealth does not guarantee safety. Look at the United Healthcare executive. True safety and security can only come when we build a world where justice is not a privilege but a right for all.

In this fight, there will be no neutral ground. We either stand up for the lives of the most marginalized or we allow the systems of hate, fear, and division to deepen. We need solidarity, not pity. We need action, not book clubs and discussion groups. We need to come together to protect the most vulnerable, to fight for land, for safety, and for dignity for all people. This is the work ahead. And if those with wealth and privilege don’t step up, we will remember who stayed silent and who chose to fight. We will hold the line, but we need you to at least stand beside us, if not in front of us.

This is a call to action, a call to remember our shared humanity, and a call to make sure that when history looks back at 2025, it remembers that we did not give up. We did not give in. We fought for the people who needed us most—and we won.

If you would like to be paired with a marginalized person, family, or group that you can support directly, please reach out to Serenity Solidarity at Serenitycmty@gmail.com or please find your own people to support. They are everywhere.