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Resources Towards Solidarity [Southwest Michigan]

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A curated list of resources for community self-defense, basic needs, solidarity, creative caretaking, and organizing in Southwest Michigan.

A drawing of the entrance to a corner store in Southwest Michigan where people are gathered in the parking lot talking, children are playing. Artwork by Chad Eckersley.
A drawing of the entrance to a corner store in Southwest Michigan where people are gathered in the parking lot talking, children are playing. Artwork by Chad Eckersley.

Editor’s Note

The following resources have been gathered for and with the tri-county area of Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren, Michigan–a region that represents three of the 10 counties overlapping the lands that were stolen from and historically stewarded by the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi which you can learn more about here. 

If there is reason to believe a particular resource is discriminatory, or inequitable toward you or someone you know, to the extent you/they feel targeted, choose safety. You can notify this platform of an inaccuracy since the focus is “resources for community solidarity, self-defense and care.” 

I’ve learned the way to bravely encounter fears and anxieties that may prove to be new experiences in disguise, is to own and stand in your power. Respectfully be authentically you. You can observe your assumptions, challenge them, but don’t miss out on a chance to expose yourself to new worlds and ways of understanding. 

If you feel apprehensive about new, outsider-vs.-insider power dynamics, I recommend these steps to counter insecurity or uncertainty when embarking into unchartered territory, be it a new physical or virtual environment.

  1. Revisit situations where you have previously felt uncertainty about encountering something new. Write down times your boundaries have been violated and the steps that led up to a point of escalation or an exit. Then ask,

    How did I feel? Can I recognize any patterns in my behavior? What assumptions did I make that are wrong? This is data. These observations can inform future encounters or actions. 
  2. You can go deeper to explore potential patterns in behavior through crafting a list of values you seek to uphold or issues you are sensitive to defending. This is how to clearly identify violations, so if your emotions escalate or your brain signals distress, you can confidently leave a stressful situation. This act of internal assessment helps to evaluate when it’s safe to challenge or defend your principles through conversation and using clarifying questions to understand other perspectives.
  1. Alternatively, you can create a list of attributes for what safety feels, tastes, smells, and looks like. This list is your radar to assess if your body’s distress call for safety is an accurate association to danger.

Regardless, if you find yourself in a state of escalating emotions or dysregulation, beware of mistaking a discomfort alarm as stepping outside of your norm to have a new, novel experience. Sometimes a self-determined cause for alarm is unwarranted and what’s at risk if you abandon or disengage an uncomfortable situation has negative consequences for those around you that can directly affect a larger collective action to fight against disenfranchisement. 

A large part of fighting injustices or advocating on behalf of your own basic needs is that outcomes are inherently uncertain. Acting from a place of fighting for the broader good, as opposed to an individualized-capital “I,” adds accountability to braving an experience of discomfort. Diverse individuals must navigate discomfort, as often as every day, if they are moving through life within a different homogenous group to which they do not identify. Recognizing this and your privilege to safely explore worlds can add the necessary push to stand in your “scary” confrontation with confidence, longer than you will ever imagine. All it takes is taking small steps to make an effort. It is an act toward resilience.

At the end of the day, the fact is your safety is of the utmost importance. This priority rules the day overall.

–Siobhan Leonard

FOR BASIC NEEDS

I. Where can I find resources for local food access, community gardens, and food-based mutual aid projects that I can tap into, donate to, or volunteer for?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

II. What community-based programs can I turn to for urgent and ongoing healthcare needs?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

III. What community-based programs or sources can I turn to for housing needs?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

IV. Where can I turn for accessible or public transportation support or information?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

V. Where can I find no- or low-consumption communities, creative reuse resources, free stores, free community resources, or other non-monetary support networks?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

FOR ACTION + BASIC RIGHTS

I. Where can I turn if I have legal aid needs or for reliable guidance and information that prepares me or my loved ones for an encounter with ICE or being detained?

Tri-County / National

II. How can I show up and support the meeting of urgent needs for community members who are immigrants and refugees, or others under the threat of being targeted by ICE?

Tri-County

III. I plan on attending rallies or protests in the future or want to know ways I can show up beyond protests. Where can I find details on ones that are happening and what do I need to know before I attend?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Van Buren County

IV. I want to be ready to document ICE in my city or I have some documentation of ICE using force, stop & frisk, or conducting traffic stops in MI and want to hold them accountable. What do I need to know right now and where can I share my footage?

Tri-County

V. I want to tap into electoral politics and/or contact my County Commissioner, city/township/village officials, or other legislators in my county–where can I turn?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

FOR DIGITAL SECURITY, CENSORSHIP RESISTANCE, WEB ARCHIVING, + CREATIVE FREEDOM

I. I’m concerned about surveillance, infiltration, my digital protection, and web security—where can I find accessible information on how to protect myself, my family, and my community?

Tri-County

II. I’m concerned about censorship, freedom of speech, and first amendment rights. What tools exist to help me navigate these issues and use my voice bravely?

Tri-County

III. I’m concerned about digital preservation, web archiving, and attacks on information access. What resources can I turn to to build my knowledge and skills for caretaking around our sources of history, information, and culture?

FOR THE MIND, SPIRIT, SOLIDARITY, + WORLD-BUILDING

I. There’s so much happening. How can I begin to understand what is happening right now or get some backstory? And what independent local news sources and journalistic efforts are providing reliable, consistent, and trustworthy guidance or reporting on our current political climate and issues?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

II. What physical spaces of knowledge, healing, and community can I turn to right now?

Tri-County

Berrien County

Cass County

III. What are resources for learning why and how to organize my own liberatory and community-nourishing efforts or joining ones that exist locally or nationally—mutual aid networks, solidarity economy projects, community organizing tools, labor organizing, healing efforts, etc.

Tri-County / National

Berrien County

Cass County

Van Buren County

IV. What can I be reading, listening to, watching or subscribing to—to keep me nourished, curious, and grounded in my mind, body, spirit, and creativity?

Tri-County / National

FOR INTERSECTIONALITY + INTERCONNECTEDNESS

I. There’s been so much going on, but I don’t want to lose sight of other urgencies that are directly or indirectly connected to what’s happening in my city or this country. What are some news and information sources that I can turn to if I want to stay conscious of and give attention to related fights for liberation nationally and globally?

About the editor/organizer: Siobhan Leonard is a story collector and “activator.” Their tools range from acts of service to letter correspondence, writing and documentation. Their art practice is grounded in community. The ways their creativity is expressed is through facilitating audio interviews, analog/digital filmmaking, photography, stop-motion animation and qualitative evaluation. They are based in their hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan with their partner and dog.

About the illustrator: Chad Eckersley is an ink and wash cartoonist based in Southwest Michigan, working across illustration, mixed media, and independent comics.

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