"COVID-19 Sparks Community Action" video. For English transcript, Spanish dub and transcript: www.biointeractive.org/classroom-resources/covid-19-sparks-community-action
The Common Humanity Collective Summer Update
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This summer marks more than five years since the Common Humanity Collective (CHC) formed as a mutual aid group.
In response to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, UC Berkeley scientists, Bay Area activists, community leaders, and neighbors came together to make and distribute free hand sanitizer, face masks, and disinfectant wipes. Unlike stopgap measures against government austerity (read on for more on "solidarity vs. charity"), which have demobilizing effects on poor and working class people, we urge one another to own the production and distribution of critical supplies to ensure we participate in decisions about our survival. CHC continues to be an autonomous, anti-capitalist volunteer-led and run effort, and we share everything from skills to supplies for free so we each have what we need to breathe through ongoing crises like the pandemic and wildfires.
Looking back on the summer of 2020, we also commemorate the George Floyd Uprisings, one of the largest waves of protest on Turtle Island in recent history. The state reacted to that powerful summer of direct action for police abolition by increasing suppression and criminalization of mutual aid and community solidarity. This has spanned from the police murder of Tortuguita and indictments of 61 people in the movement to Stop Cop City, to students arrested and deported for their support of Palestinian liberation and decolonization. Locally, this has included criminalizing "aiding or abetting" homeless encampments in Fremont, as well as felony and misdemeanor charges against the #GoldenGate26 on top of a $162,000 restitution demand.
As we mentioned in our last update, we've been following the rollout of mask bans (including SB-627 + SB-805) and rejecting proposed legislation here in CA (AB-1326) that claims to protect a "right" to mask with built-in unmasking exceptions for both police and surveillance. And in the past few months of community defense against ICE abductions, we've also seen charges of conspiracy and aiding civil disorder against an LA organizer for handing out protective face shields. Our experience is that amid escalating fascism and multiplying disasters, ordinary people are the ones keeping each other safe — and we are committed to continuing this work. Since our last update in December, CHC has supported Californians facing wildfires, protest repression, toxic chemical exposure, and everyday threats from unmitigated airborne illness spread to household injuries. As always, we rely on community donations, which fuel our ongoing efforts.
Within the first few days of wildfires breaking out in early January, what initially began as an idea from our partners at Mask Oakland to ship our mask inventory to comrades in LA, evolved into a rapid response collective with drivers continually bringing a range of supplies down to LA. Indigenous Resilience/Frontline Medics began organizing DIY air purifier builds, but the hardware stores in LA quickly sold out of quality air filters. We worked together to drive down filters and fans for two of their DIY air purifier builds, as well as a third build by another autonomous group we connected with through Mutual Aid Disaster Relief. We also participated in building purifiers and joined their distribution crew to get these resources to other mutual aid networks across LA. For some of our core organizers, this was their first time doing rapid response of any type, much less of this scale or urgency. As a result, there was both a lot of learning and imagining happening! Due to the intensity of this work, we built stronger connections with other comrades in the Bay Area, including those from Mask Oakland, Mask4Mask Bay Area, and Medicine for Nightmares, among others. We know how critical these relationships can be in (and out!) of organizing. These connections, threads, and friendships will serve to make our communities stronger.
Not much later into 2025, residents of Martinez were severely impacted by several fires ignited at the city's refinery. The plumes, which burned out of control for several days in February, contained combustion byproducts that can cause cancer and heart and lung diseases. This incident follows years of safety and toxicity issues stemming from heavy industry in the region. In 2023, residents formed Healthy Martinez, a grassroots community group that works to hold Martinez Refining Company (MRC), their parent company PBF Energy, and other refineries in our area accountable for fires, flaring, and daily emissions that are polluting our air, water, and soil. In February, CHC was proud to join Healthy Martinez along with 350 Bay Area to help distribute air purifiers donated by Lasko. It only took a few hours for residents to take home 1,000 purifiers, with many wondering aloud, "These are just free??"
In May, we collaborated with DIY Museum and Moments Cooperative and Community Space for a DIY air purifier build, and Moments Co-Op generously lent their space to us for the build. We were thrilled to be partnering with these two local groups that understand the importance of air purifiers and masks, and regularly host masks-required events that foster community and solidarity. If you aren’t already connected to these likeminded collectives, we hope you’ll join us to learn more about our mutual and complementary work. If you can, support the fundraiser to keep Moments Co-Op open! We distributed almost 40 purifiers on the day of the build, both to attendees as well as workers at nearby businesses and people passing by on the street who were interested in taking one home. If you were interested in picking one up but couldn't make it out, shoot us an email. We'll get one to you!
This spring, we were also excited to test out a lending system for a modified design of DIY air purifiers called Corsi-Rosenthal (CR) boxes. At the Gay Ass Solidarity Market, we had three Vornado fan CR boxes, engineered by one of our core organizers. This "V CR-box" uses 14x30" filters, assembles like a traditional CR box, and then the fan sits on top just with its weight (pictured below). One drawback of the standard CR box design is how much space it takes up using a 20x20” fan. This version has a slender footprint in comparison, and its Vornado fan runs quietly, providing good airflow.
In other DIY air purifier news, we had planned a "Build Your Own Air Purifier" station to support students and families with assembling CR boxes at a school expo event in Oakland, but last minute, it was postponed until the fall (join our discord to learn about this school build once it's rescheduled!). We've also offered DIY air purifier build guidance to Mask Bloc UCB and Lavendar Phoenix, and shared files for the informational labels we use on our DIY air purifiers with the Mendo Clean Air Club to help them with their own purifier distro.
In March, we received a few bulk orders of rapid COVID antigen tests that people could add when contacting CHC for DIY air purifiers and masks. While we were thrilled to be able to hand these out, the need for more accurate (but often prohibitively expensive) testing still exists. Through acts of solidarity from members of our community, we launched a project that same month to begin lending our Metrix kit, with PCR-accurate molecular readers and free COVID-19 tests to our Bay Area neighbors. We hope this helps people access the testing that we all deserve. (Note that the Metrix lending kit is not available for events at this time.) Please reach out to us through our website contact form with any questions and requests!
Each week, CHC organizers respond to individual requests for masks, DIY air purifiers, and tests. In addition to connecting neighbors with supplies, we also support grassroots groups and events with resources. So far this year, that's included efforts like the Winter Relief Fund's Care Packages for Unhoused Neighbors, For Survivors: A QTBIPOC Performance Event & Reckoning, Candlelight Vigil for Sam Nordquist and Tahiry Broom, Swap Don't Shop! Free Community Clothing Swap, The Spirit of the People is Stronger than Imperialist Bombs, DIY Museum, Moments Co-Op, Bay Area Workers Support, Transphoria Night Market and Pride Party, NorCal Resist, National Copwatch Conference in Berkeley, Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore in SF, Punks with Lunch and Rogers and Rosewater's Summer Care Village, Right 2 Exist Festival, Salon Hala, Solidarity Cinema, and CALMA's Day Laborer Outreach.
If you're curious how CHC works, we joined a conversation about the meaning of the guiding principle "solidarity not charity" and the power of mutual aid networks with other mutual aid organizers from WashMasks, Feed the Block, Super Familia KC, and SF Mutual Aid. Check out the conversation here! Here's a quick look, with a quote from one of CHC's organizers:
“In regards of how mutual aid differs from charity, a big thing I feel with charities often is that the people who have the resources essentially get to decide who is eligible or deserving of these kinds of aid... and often, especially because they don’t want to actually spend that much of their resources doing anything about it, will choose to either inadequately or intentionally limit the amount of resources and create an artificial scarcity around what they’re actually able and willing to do to 'help people.' And one of the things we’ve definitely taken in our model of organizing is to really meet people and take them at their word [when they ask for] what they need, and we should meet their needs to the degree that is possible. And when we’ve run into situations where, let’s say we don’t have enough resources at that moment for everyone who wants them, get information so that we can follow up with them and make sure we get it so that we’re not doing that same thing.”
A few other highlights:
Thanks to the labor and generosity of members of the Bay Area community, CHC organizers had the opportunity to get trained on how to operate a Portacount machine for mask fit testing, a process that helps people determine which masks offer the best fit and protection. We're now organizing a fit testing event in August, where we'll also be assembling SIP valve kits!
On emergency preparedness, some of our organizers were able to attend a Stop the Bleed training earlier this year, getting a crash course on some basic techniques to support people with life-threatening bleeding. We've also begun testing two projects, one on Meshtastic, an open-source project for decentralized, long-range messaging. The other project is a DIY activated carbon filter air purifier, which got started following the Moss Landing Battery Plant fire. Connect with us to learn more!
A change that you might have noticed — we have a new email address! Out of our commitment to move towards BDS-friendly alternatives as well as increase our digital security, we initiated a multi-month project divesting from Google. This involved moving our documentation, communications, and more into CryptPad and RiseUp. (Shoutout to San Francisco Food Not Bombs for helping us with RiseUp!)
As ever, we have more projects and collaborations than reasonable space to mention them all, and we can't share everything publicly. If you'd like to explore getting involved with CHC, please fill out our interest form! Know that we're doing our best to nurture solidarity with one another, and we hope you all are finding ways to do the same.
