WEBVTT - Mutual Aid & the LA Fires 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:05.040 Coolz Media. 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.040 Hi everyone, welcome, VIC can have it here. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.520 It's me James today with a terrible cold as you 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.640 can probably tell, but still very important to listen today 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:15.440 because I'm talking to andre Na, an organizer from Ktown 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.600 for All Up in LA, and we're going to talk 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:18.960 about the fires in LA and the. 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:20.759 Meat laid response and what you can do to help. 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.560 So welcome to the show Andrena, thank you for having me. James. Yeah, 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:26.560 thanks for being here. I know you guys are really 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:27.240 busy right now. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:30.680 So to begin with, like in case this has missed people, 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:32.879 and there's a lot there's a lot of news happening 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:35.400 right now, can you explain what's been going on in 0:00:35.560 --> 0:00:37.960 LA with respected the fires for the last two or 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:38.640 three days. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.360 So about three or four days ago, we got a 0:00:41.400 --> 0:00:44.320 warning that we were going to be experiencing high winds 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.640 up to fifty miles per hour, which is nuts, and 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:49.839 they were going to be coming from the desert. So 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:52.400 this is just like a barrage of hot wind. So 0:00:52.520 --> 0:00:55.640 we were preparing to have to replace tents and tarps 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.280 because you know, man made structures that people are surviving 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.600 with cancer that kind of wind. But when we hear 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.520 that wind here in southern California, we immediately think fire, sadly, 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.880 because any little you know, a cigarette, but an electrical spark, 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:14.160 you know, like when it's this dry, it's enough to 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.600 cause devastation, which is exactly what's happened. There are about 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.400 seven fires right now spread around the perimeter of Los 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:24.240 Angeles County that have been started and then spread massively 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:27.560 by these giant winds everywhere. So the embers are being 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.800 picked up. Thankfully the wind has settled down, but the 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:34.399 wind itself has prevented, you know, the big water tinkers 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.360 from flying, which is led to the massive devastation that 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.399 you saw in the Palisades and other areas. You know, 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.880 the entire water we being grounded for a while. It 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.760 just meant that it was burning with no control, relying 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.240 on on the ground firefighters. So what we've seen is 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.520 just mass devastation, thousands of homes lost. I think there 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:00.560 is a death tally, thankfully very low in about tannish. 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:04.120 I think I've heard from this morning with confirmation, but yeah, 0:02:04.200 --> 0:02:05.960 that's all we're facing right now. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:10.520 Yeah, it's pretty devastating, like whole neighborhoods have gone, right, 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:14.560 I think I thought like two thousand structures have already 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.480 been burned. And like, as you said, if people aren't 0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:19.880 in the United States or aren't familiar with how fire 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:23.080 is fort like out here in the Western United States, 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.080 it's a lot of air dropping fire retired in and 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.640 air dropping water, which without that, it's very hard to 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.560 get enough water to where it needs to be. And 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:33.280 I believe at one point that actually ran out of 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.799 water in water towers right up in Palisades. 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.960 Yeah, the fire hydrants ran dry in some areas, which 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.720 is terrifying to think of. And we were warned, I'm 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.600 in the Korea Ton neighborhood. We were warned about low 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.919 water pressure. And I do know that some areas in 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:53.120 Los Angeles, particularly in that region, are being worn to 0:02:53.400 --> 0:02:55.920 boil water and that their water is unsafe to drink 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:56.440 right now. 0:02:57.000 --> 0:02:59.360 Yeah, I've seen that too. There was a water boil 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.720 warning for yeah, lots of places. So as a result 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.720 of these fires and all the destruction they've caused, I 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:07.320 think I saw it, was it one hundred and fifty 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.880 thousand odd people have been displaced now, is that? 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:11.639 Is that right? Is that a good number? 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.120 I saw something large like that of just the people 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.440 that have been evacuated. Right north of me was the 0:03:17.520 --> 0:03:21.240 Sunset fire, and that was very concerningly close to their 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:25.040 career ten neighborhood that is generally never concerned about fires 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:28.440 because we're so in the concrete jungle, like we're so insulated. 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:32.240 I think that's the closest we've come to devastation. And 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.400 we were really stressed out last night just keeping an 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:37.320 eye on the news because that's, you know, not even 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:40.760 two miles away from the core of the densest neighborhood 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:41.800 of Los Angeles. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:42.400 Right. 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.040 Yeah, I guess again if people aren't familiar, like, fires 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:48.400 destroy property and kill people every year here, and the 0:03:48.400 --> 0:03:51.560 climate change has meant that they have become worse and worse. 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.680 But in the middle of a city, you're genermanly not 0:03:54.760 --> 0:03:58.160 worried about fires because the resources will be spent to 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.600 defend that property. Right, Like, this is to the very 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:04.440 unique situation to see huge parts of a city burning down. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:12.600 Yeah, particularly the Palisades, which is historically a significantly wealthy neighborhood, 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:17.520 you know, a den of celebrity and Hollywood elites. It 0:04:17.720 --> 0:04:20.880 seeing it devastated just kind of sends home the point 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.720 that you know, you have wealth that insulates you from 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.599 the worst of what we're facing, but that only goes 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.440 so far. I saw that there was a couple of 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.480 wealthy people on Twitter begging for private fired fighting forces 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.880 to come save their homes. Famously, the same ones that 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.520 are talking about tax evasion and how smart they are 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:44.000 to do real estate, you know, maneuvering to not pay 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.560 into the social system that helps in these times. Clearly 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:52.880 we're severely underfunded and severely undermanaged when it comes to 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:55.120 the government stepping in during these emergencies. 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.440 Yeah, and like, that's something I want to address because 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.920 I think in every natural disaster that I've covered, the 0:05:03.960 --> 0:05:05.880 reason it becomes a disaster, I guess is because the 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.000 state's incapable of responding in a way that protects people. 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:12.000 And in almost every case it's people who have to 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.919 step up and look after one another. So we should 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:20.040 talk about the response of the LA city and county governments, 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:22.200 and then I'd love to talk about the mutial aid 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:22.960 response after that. 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:26.719 Yeah, from what we've seen here in Kaytown, if you 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:32.040 weren't immediately evacuated, there's nothing. All of our outreach folks 0:05:32.080 --> 0:05:34.920 that were out talking to all of our unhouse neighbors 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:38.040 here in the area, which are in the hundreds, first 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.039 of all, didn't know what was going on. They saw 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.240 the sky, they assumed there was a fire nearby, but 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:45.120 they didn't know the swath of the devastation and that 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:49.039 we were generally threatened as well. They didn't have any supplies, 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.720 and in some areas of Los Angeles we've heard as 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.680 of this morning and yesterday that sweeps have continued. So 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.039 the city has continued throwing away tents from the people 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.679 living on the streets, and then for the house people 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:06.359 that have been displaced. There are shelter designations that they've 0:06:06.440 --> 0:06:09.240 set up. Pen Pacific Park is one of them for Hollywood, 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:13.120 there's one in Pasadena, you know, and the like. But 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.120 it seems to be, you know, a hodgepodge of you know, 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.920 disorganization and a lot of you know, mutual aid folks 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.240 on the ground being the ones to direct people and 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.600 gather the supplies. I have not heard of, you know, 0:06:26.800 --> 0:06:30.320 a very formalized system. There is no word on any 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:32.960 kind of significant assistance for people who have lost their 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.000 homes at the moment, I don't know if the Red 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:37.720 Cross is gonna set a staging zone up or anything. 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.159 But I do know that the people who are setting 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:43.520 up you know, places for people to go, food, water, 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:49.039 even pet care things like that have been just random volunteers. 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.359 You know. I'm in this chat group Mutual ADLA that 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:55.360 spurred you know, literally just on signal the day that 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.040 the fire started, that has a thousand people on it 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:03.680 mobilizing and distributing and volunteering to move people from one 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:05.839 area of the city to the other. You know, I 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:07.600 have this person who needs a place to stay, Like, 0:07:07.640 --> 0:07:10.680 who's got a list of places that are open, because 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:15.320 when you have disasters this big, you need help quickly. Yeah, 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:19.640 and bureaucracy just doesn't you know that that's not built 0:07:19.640 --> 0:07:19.840 for that. 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:21.160 Yeah, it's not. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.720 And like we've definitely seen that there was just a 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.360 failure of the state to respond like in the way 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.040 that it needed to as quickly as it needed to. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:32.200 And it's really it's wonderful to see people picking up slack, 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:34.360 Like of course it is. It's really beautiful that people 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.880 show up for each other in these times. There's something 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.880 about that that I obviously, like find really affirming. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:43.560 That's maybe why I do this for a living. 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:46.440 But yeah, it's really beautiful to see It doesn't mean 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.640 that we should forget that. Like the state has capacity 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:51.640 that it is using, as you said, to displace people 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:55.520 who are unhoused. It could be using that capacity to 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:58.120 bring masks to people, to bring food to people, to 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:01.440 create shelter for people. It's not it's choosing to harasp 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:02.520 people who live on the street. 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:03.720 Yeah, and this is. 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.840 Something we see repeatedly. You know, it hasn't rained in 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.040 LA for about eight months, but when it did rain, 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:13.000 we had historical rains last year, in particular, we had 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:16.640 a cold front where folks die every time, and we 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.840 know folks are going to die every time it rains 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:20.960 here in LA. We have more people that die of 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:24.360 hypothermia and Los Angeles than New York and San Francisco 0:08:24.440 --> 0:08:28.640 combined every year. Because hypothermia actually doesn't require it to 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.160 be freezing this set end. It just requires you to 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.840 be in around sixty degrees and be wet, which is 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:38.600 very common on the streets here of LA. We've seen 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.280 people get frostbite from having their skin against cold concrete, 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:44.960 you know, over the night while it's raining, and our 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.000 electeds know this. When I first started doing this work, 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:51.480 there was a slogan that we were chanting for a 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:53.880 day in LA and that was the number of unhelped 0:08:53.880 --> 0:08:56.440 people that died every day, and now we're at about 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.880 six or seven. We request, you know, through the Freedom 0:08:59.920 --> 0:09:03.280 of Information Act, requests the coroner's report every year of 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:05.720 how many people died, and that number is only growing. 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.400 And the government knows this. They know every time we 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.800 have a heat wave that there are seventy thousand people 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.240 sleeping on the streets, sleeping in their cars. They know that. 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.920 During the winter, you know, people are out there in 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.839 the cold and the rain. And I talk to people 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.920 who aren't into the organizing space and they ask me like, well, 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:26.000 aren't there you know, insert service here that you think 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.959 there should be, you know right now during the fires, 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.600 Like aren't there vans picking people up and taking them 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.480 to shelter? And it's like that would be wonderful. When 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:38.080 there's not. There's never any vans picking people up, you know, 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:42.440 even when they open up cooling shelters and warming shelters. 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.000 The number one barrier we heard from people in the 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.320 streets is how would I get there? And when I 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.520 get there, they make me not bring my stuff in, 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:52.160 so it's all going to get stolen. There's just all 0:09:52.200 --> 0:09:56.160 of these barriers that the city is just completely you know, 0:09:56.280 --> 0:09:59.560 purposely neglecting. They could talk to any of us on 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.760 how to a successful you know, warming or cooling shelter, 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.040 they don't, you know, they have no interest in what 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:08.839 we have to say. In fact, our city council person 0:10:08.880 --> 0:10:12.280 here in Kytown doesn't respond to any of our inquiries 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.320 at all. She just flat out doesn't respond to us 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.160 whenever we email her with concerns or questions. And that's 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:21.720 kind of how we've been, you know, working just with 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.720 the knowledge that we don't have this support of this agency, 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:28.440 and in fact they are opposition. You know, we're the 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:30.960 ones having organize around them and what they're doing. 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:35.240 Yeah, it's sadly not that dissimilar here. Like every time 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:37.920 it rains, people will die. Every time we have a 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.320 heat wave. I remember they found the remains of an 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:43.080 house person a couple of years ago, and they thought 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:46.120 the person had been burned like by fire, and it 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.560 turned out they had just been exposed to massive amounts 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:51.400 of heat. And yeah, I remember a couple of years ago, 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.840 to give an anecdote, it was I think above one 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.160 hundred degrees in town. It was so hot and I 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.400 was in the riverbed, like I had this big insulated 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:03.600 backpack to get people cold water, and just like dozens 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:07.360 of people, we're in terrible distress. And yeah, there was 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:11.240 no presence of police fire, anyone to help. Right Like 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:15.120 we have these sometimes billion dollar police departments in these cities, 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:19.400 and people are still unsafe and they don't feel safe 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.240 reaching out to any government agencies because these government agencies 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.080 are the same ones that you say that throw away 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.160 that shit, that destroy all the little things that they've 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:28.960 been trying to build up to get onto, you know, 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:30.600 like a better situation in life. 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:34.880 Yeah, and I think there's this sense of like apathy 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.720 that has built, and rightfully so from the people that 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.600 live on the streets where we've you know, relayed messages 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:43.880 that we've heard like hey, two one one says they 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.760 have one hundred shelter buds tonight, call and see if 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:49.560 you can get in, and they're like, okay, you know, 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:51.720 like I'll give it a shot, you know, and it's 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:56.560 very well received because we understand the amount of disappointment 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:59.000 these people have gone through when they do the care 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.880 plus sweeps, which which is in itself such an evil name, 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.480 when they throw all their stuff away when they show up, 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.200 and they do care. Plus they show up with a 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.319 social worker first, which if I was a social worker, 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.000 I'd be kicking and screaming about how damaging that is 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.760 that right before they throw away everything that an non 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.120 house person owns, they send in a loan social worker 0:12:20.200 --> 0:12:23.240 to write their names and maybe their numbers down and 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.520 tell them that the shelters are full, but they'll get 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.199 back to them, and then they have all of their 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.679 belongings to them away. I can't imagine the harm that 0:12:30.720 --> 0:12:35.679 has done for just trusting services even when they're available, 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:39.360 you know, accessing them and then giving them your information. 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:42.200 Have one person who rightfully so told me they have 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.760 trauma about filling out forms because they've done this three 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.600 hundred times, you know, they said something incredible. They've been 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:51.760 counting about how many times they've filled the same forms 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:56.040 out to have it lead nowhere. And I can't imagine, 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:59.360 you know, that kind of resilience. Now, with this devastation, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:01.800 there's going to be a lot of homeowners who are 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.880 going to experience that firsthand. I'm seeing a lot of 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.000 people that are homeless for the first time ever in 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.120 their lives, Like in their late fifties. And these are 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:12.960 people that have owned homes, that have worked careers, that 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:16.080 have you know, lived their whole life as you're supposed 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:19.240 to in the United States, and then in their elder 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.360 years before some sort of disaster or social Security doesn't 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.960 pay anymore, and they are severely shocked when I tell 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.000 them what the landscape of our social safety net looks like. 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.319 I've had people ask me like, where do I go 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:34.280 to sign up for free housing? And I have to 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.040 tell them, you know, the wait list for vouchers is 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.520 fifteen years long and it's a lottery. The list is 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:43.920 closed because it's so full. You can apply to senior housing, 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:46.199 but that's about a ten year wait. You know that. 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:48.400 I have to be the one to tell them that, 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:51.640 and that's sort of shock. I think is going to 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:54.520 be hitting a lot of folks that have never tried 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.079 to access services before. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:13:59.600 Yeah, definitely, let's take a little break here for some 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:14.120 advertisements and then we'll come back. All right, we're back, So. 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.120 Yeah, I think anyone who's familiar with the situation facing 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:22.280 unhouse people in southern California will understand that there is 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.600 not a safety net, and that's about to become more 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:30.000 profoundly obvious than ever for thousands of people. Let's talk 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.040 about the way that people are helping to take care 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.520 of one another, because I think that's that's what always 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.800 happened to these situations. So let's talk about the mutual 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.600 aid effort. Maybe you could talk about some of the groups, 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:43.400 talk about some of the things you've been doing, and 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:45.080 then I want to get on to how people can 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:46.960 help if they're in town, and how people can help 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:48.440 if they are a long way away. 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:52.920 Yeah, in LA, we have a very robust network of 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.880 mutual aid groups that have been built by force, honestly, 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:00.280 via this government. I think a lot a lot of 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:04.120 them have started up to step in. Just there's no 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.880 denying all over LA that there's this crisis. Because you 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.080 walk outside of your house and there are people sleeping 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:14.040 on your street. You know, there's people digging through your garbage. 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:18.040 So we've seen this blossoming of mutual aid groups all 0:15:18.080 --> 0:15:22.920 over the city, and we in times of crisis, you know, 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.800 will spark up a signal group that grows from zero 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.680 to thousands of people overnight that are willing to jump 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.920 in and get their hands dirty, to coalesce and find resources. 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:37.800 You know, here's where we're buying masks. This star is out, 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.080 don't go to this one. Go to that one who's 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:44.400 reimbursing people for gas, et cetera, et cetera. And it's 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.400 normal people. You know, I have a full time job. 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.920 My friends here in k Town for All. Some are teachers, 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:55.400 some are in the movie industry, you know, some are 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:59.360 random lawyers you know that will take their time out 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:04.080 to do this work. And I think that it's beautiful 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:06.840 in the sense that we get people the help they need, 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:11.520 and it's never enough, which is crushing. Here in Ktown. 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.880 We give supplies to about four hundred or so on 0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:19.480 house people a week minimum, and that is hygiene supplies, 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:24.240 tense blankets. We connect them to any services that they 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.800 might ask us to connect them to, driving them to 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.960 the hospital, et cetera. And this has been going on 0:16:30.080 --> 0:16:33.280 for the last five years. And Ktown for All specifically 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:37.440 started as a counter protest because there was an attempt 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.800 to build a shelter here in Koreatown and some homeowners 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.760 organized against it. They marched down Wilshire and shut it down, 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:46.680 and our founders found each other because they were the 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:51.320 only five people holding up. We want shelter signs and 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:54.480 just started doing distribution themselves. And I think that's one 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:57.720 thing that I would really suggest to folks is it's 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.280 not as intimidating as it seems to start one of 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.720 these projects. It's literally you and a couple of friends 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.520 who decide that you're going to do something, and you 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:10.440 acknowledge that you can't do everything and that you'll never 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.040 be able to meet the need because what we need 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.240 is a government who cares about people. But in the meanwhile, 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:19.280 we're going to do the best we can, and the 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:21.800 lives of the you know, now four hundred or so 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.399 people that we see every week are a little better 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:25.919 because we decide to do that. 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:28.800 Yeah, I think that's really important to say that. Like 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.439 it can seem really overwhelming. This is an email I 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:34.280 get almost every week, like how do I start a 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.520 mutual aid group? But like, if you can make a sandwich, 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:39.800 then you can you can start a mutual aid group. 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:42.320 Like just go and feed people who are hungry, if 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:45.080 someone's cold, give them a blanket. Like it doesn't have 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.959 to be like you don't have to read seventeen books, 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:49.840 you know, and be like starting a five h one, 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:50.880 C three and stuff. 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:52.879 You just need to do things. 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.720 And I think, especially like we're going into a new administration, 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.399 we're going to see the state being more hot style 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:04.520 to people who already marginalized, And like, the best advice 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.600 I have for people is to get off the internet 0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:08.959 and to get into the streets and just do something. 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.000 It doesn't matter if you say you won't be able 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.480 to do everything, not right away, maybe one day we will, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.440 but like, doing something is a lot better than doing nothing, 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.439 and I guarantee it there is also much better for 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.720 you and you're met. Like I feel so much better 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:23.639 when I'm able to help people. I wouldn't be able 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:25.320 to do the job I do at the border if 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.600 I wasn't also able to help people. It helps me 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.520 feel like I'm not part of the problem, I guess, 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.359 or like we're doing something about it at least. What 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.879 are people doing right now to help people who are 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.199 impacted by the fires? Like what are the needs that 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:41.320 are arising and how are people meeting them? 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:44.359 Yeah, well, Ktown for all focuses here in the k 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:48.200 Town neighborhood, and what we've particularly focused on is mass distribution. 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:51.240 People are sitting and it's literally raining ash in some 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.520 areas and are sitting in the sut so there's that. 0:18:55.000 --> 0:19:00.000 There's basic tent and tarp gathering meals. So many emergencies 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:03.919 services shut down during disasters that you know makes sense, 0:19:04.400 --> 0:19:06.560 but a lot of food kitchens that people would get 0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:09.400 meals from are not open right now. So it's getting 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.760 people food, getting people water just enough to survive. In 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:16.959 other areas, folks are gathering supplies. There's all Power Books 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:21.199 that is a big distribution site right now. Po Mutuoid 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:24.119 out in the Palms area is doing a lot of 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:27.280 really great work. The South Bay got swept last night, 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.479 so South Bay Mutuo Aid Club is replacing tens this morning. 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:33.679 There's a lot of the Pet Mutuo Aid groups who 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:37.159 are gathering pet food and finding foster homes for a 0:19:37.160 --> 0:19:40.720 lot of the found dogs and cats. It's just I mean, 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:43.240 I can't even list the amount of people right now 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:46.040 that are like in their vehicles doing drop offs to 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:49.760 you know, the Sidewalk project. There's a big skid Row 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:54.320 distribution point that is building up, crowdsourcing insulin, things that 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:56.240 like you don't think about that people ran out of 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.840 their house that they need to live, they don't have 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:01.239 time to go get a prescription right, you know at 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:04.400 a primary care provider like that we need albuterol that 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.359 people are having asthma attacks. So there's these kind of 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:11.000 burdens that mutual aid projects get around because people a 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.600 don't have to fill out any forms, they don't have 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:15.840 to wait. If we have it, you're going to be 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:20.400 handed it. And you know, even medical providers as part 0:20:20.440 --> 0:20:24.720 of our projects, have become a really big support as 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.960 people on the streets are often very disabled. We have 0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.920 a lot of folks at diabetes, like diabetic open wounds, 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:35.200 like just very horrible injuries that need constant care. All 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:38.640 Power Bookstore has a free clinic, All Power Clinic and 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:41.320 they offer free medical care and come with us on 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:44.600 our roots here in Ktown to offer free treatment for folks. 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.840 And I think that's something that is going to only grow, 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:53.280