Adam Greenfield
And here’s the link to the Chuffed.org page. Please share widely https://chuffed.org/project/196914-lets-ship-a-solar-generator-to-folks-without-power-in-gary-indiana
I’d also really appreciate whatever support you yourself are able to join me in kicking in. Thanks so much for your attention, your care and your solidarity. I’ll share regular updates as to the status of the campaign/getting the generators to the folks in Gary. 👊
Adam Greenfield
OK, here’s what’s cropping up: folks at the Space are asking for one or more solar generators. I’m looking at the Jackery Solar Generator 2000 v2, with two 200W SolarSaga panels, as I can vouch for it personally.
Will organize a Chuffed.org page & post link here shortly. Thanks so much for your interest, care and support.
(I know you want to be helpful, but please do not chime in to recommend instead other models of generator/pro-grade or OSHW equivalents. I know the Jackery well and think it’s well suited to this use case. Thanks.)
Adam Greenfield
But more such spaces are needed: “Ten more, a hundred. More in every neighborhood, to ground ourselves in moments when we already know nobody is coming to save us. It’s hard to take that leap and [gather the] confidence to just act, so spaces are really important – they give us that courage to *just move*, because it sets a sort of tempo to the rhythm of crisis. Knowing where to go within a few miles sets a frame of returning to something, when navigating a whole terrain of abandonment.”
I’m currently trying to get a bead on how the rest of us can best support autonomous mutual aid efforts in Gary, and will let you know as soon as I have more insight.
Adam Greenfield
A ten-day outage would be inconceivable in most places, of course, so NIPSCO’s inability to restore power really stands out. The reason behind it is clear to everyone on the ground there: a local activist describes the situation as “organized abandonment in a deindustrialized sacrifice zone.”
#Mutualaid is currently being organized through a space called…the Space, one of a few autonomous projects in Gary (including the Joy Bomb social center, where I gave a Lifehouse talk on the last leg of my North American tour) where folks are storing goods and doing pop-up distribution.
Adam Greenfield
To clarify: it’s been another one of those shocking-but-not-surprising things, to see how little note the media have taken of what’s happening in #Gary, Indiana - a predominantly Black, relatively poor, post-industrial city with a shrinking population.
Roughly 20,000 households have now gone ten days without electric power since an unusually strong derecho tore through on August 11th. In all that time, local electric utility NIPSCO has been unable to restore service, with all the predictable consequences: spoiled food and medicines, no recourse to air conditioning or refrigeration, local businesses unable to operate, people having to spend heavily on generator fuel (and suffer all the pollution that accompanies their use), difficulty charging phones and medical equipment, and schools remaining closed.
Adam Greenfield
Folks do know what’s happening in Gary, right?
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