The Response

Update:

Three years ago this week, an avoidable fire ripped through a London public housing apartment resulting in 72 deaths, most of which were people of color.

Today, we're reposting this episode of The Response from 2019 because it covers a prime example of how structural racism has permeated many aspects of society around the globe.

Racism doesn't stop with a discriminatory (in)justice system. It rears its ugly head in reduced quality of education, health care, access to finance, salaries, housing… the list goes on.

Be sure to listen to the end (or scroll down to the bottom of the transcript) for a short update on where things stand in this evolving story.

The Response revisits a disaster that has its roots in inequality, austerity, and institutional racism. On June 14, 2017, a fire started in a 24-story public housing apartment building in West London called Grenfell Tower. The fire raged all night and reduced the building to a shell. Seventy-two people lost their lives, making the Grenfell Fire the United Kingdom's deadliest disaster since World War II (up until the COVID-19 Pandemic).

Through the voices of survivors, their families, and others who were impacted, the episode examines the events that led up to the Grenfell Tower fire and explores how the community has responded. What has the healing process looked like for survivors and the bereaved? How has the community come together to increase its resilience while simultaneously fighting for justice and accountability? And what is being done to ensure that something like this never, ever happens again?

This week on The Response podcast, we're bringing you a round table discussion with Lydia Violet Harutoonian from the Music As Medicine Project, Don Hall from Transition US, and Ryan Rising from Permaculture Action Network.

While the conversation covered a lot of ground, we focussed on some of the core components of thriving resilient communities, the solidarity economy, and several pathways to move through the multiple crises we're facing as a global community.

This episode was produced in partnership with Thriving Resilient Communities Collaboratory.

TRCC is a US-based network of regional and national leaders who use systemic and collaborative approaches to help communities become more thriving and resilient.

You can learn more about TRCC, all of the organizations involved in the program, and make a tax-deductible donation to support the entire cohort by visiting: thrivingresilience.org/get-involved

Additional information about Don Hall and Transition US can be found at transitionus.org and learn more about their regenerative approach to preparedness and resilience at readytogether.net.

Music As Medicine has an online school where you can find accessible support groups, facilitator trainings, and workshops with folks like Joanna Macy, Leah Song, Adrienne maree brown, and Lydia Violet herself. Find out more information at musicasmedicineproject.org

Ryan Rising and Permaculture Action Network can be found online at PermacultureAction.org or @PermacultureAction on Facebook and instagram. Visit their website to learn more about the Just Transition Mapping Project or to sign up for future action days in your region.

• Host and executive producer: Tom Llewellyn
• Series Producer: Robert Raymond
• The Sketchnote was created by Elizabeth Niarhos @lizar_tristry
• Thank you to this week's guests and Thriving Resilient Communities Collaboratory
• Theme Song: Cultivate Beats

Additional songs sung by Lydia Violet Harutoonian included a rendition of the traditional, "I'm Gonna Do What the Spirit Says" and her version of MaMuse's "We Shall Be Known" which you'll hear at the end of the credits.

The Response is a project of Shareable, a nonprofit media outlet, action network, and consultancy promoting people-powered solutions for the common good.

Visit Shareable.net to find our full coverage of The People's COVID-19 Response, to find all of our episodes, and for special bonus content like our free ebook.

Support for this project has been provided by the Threshold, Shift, Guerrilla, Clif Bar Family, and Abundant Earth foundations, Shareable's sponsors including Tipalti, MyTurn, and NearMe, and tax-deductible donations from listeners like you.

And don't forget to hit subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, to hear more stories like this.

In this documentary episode of The Response Podcast, we take a deep dive into the work being done by the Chico chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA. Their mutual aid work in response to the coronavirus pandemic is just a microcosm of the whole country, from major cities to rural communities, where DSA and other, similar organizations have been stepping in to fill many of the gaps left by the local, state, and federal response.

• Host and executive producer: Tom Llewellyn
• Senior producer, field production, and scriptwriter: Robert Raymond
• Script editors: Courtney Pankrat, Tom Llewellyn, and Neal Gorenflo.
• The graphic art created for this episode by Kane Lynch was inspired by photos taken by Brittany White.
• Information gathering and fact-checking: Addison and Alex (Chico DSA)
• A special thank you to all the volunteers at Chico DSA, and to those who are living at Bird Street and Comanche Creek Greenway for letting us into their homes.
• Music by:
• Pele
• Strongboi
• Ada Lea

Shareable and FSTV recently co-hosted a panel discussion after the television premiere of the documentary film, "The Response: How Puerto Ricans Are Restoring Power to the People." Panelists Susan Silber, Tré Vasquez, Juan C. Dávila, and Christine Nieves explored a wide range of topics including mutual aid, community resilience, and the impact of colonialism on Puerto Rico's response to COVID-19.

Designed to provide a deeper context for the ongoing impact of disasters on Puerto Ricans and other communities in the U.S., panelists explored how people are working together to increase their collective resilience.

The entire discussion is available in several formats. In addition to this podcast, the video recording and written transcript are available on shareable.net.

The Response film is available for free virtual community or educational screenings and is an effective tool for convening local, regional, and national organizing meetings aimed at launching and strengthening mutual aid and resilience work. Sign up to host a screening at www.shareable.net/the-response-film or find out more information by sending an email to [email protected].

Can we navigate a Just Transition through COVID-19 and the climate crisis?

Today, we'll dig into that question and more with Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan from Movement Generation Justice and Ecology Project.

Michelle was a founding co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance and recently published an article outlining the 10 reasons why the time for Permanently Organized Communities is now.

Learn more about Michelle (and her work) at www.movementgeneration.org

This is the first episode of a special series documenting the People's COVID-19 Response; the rapidly growing wave of volunteering, mutual aid, and resource sharing that's sweeping the globe.

While you may not see it, countless thousands are rising to the occasion at the speed and scale that's needed right now – and building lasting power at the same time.

While you may not see it, a large and rapidly growing wave of volunteering, mutual aid, and resource sharing is sweeping the globe. Instead of panicking, many people are defining this moment through their warmth, bravery, diligence, generosity, and creativity.

This is the #PeoplesCOVID19Response!

We're in an 'all hands on deck' moment. There's not a second to lose. Working together, we can continue to help save lives and reduce suffering.

On the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, Shareable and Free Speech TV (FSTV) will host a special online simulcast of the film which will immediately be followed by a panel discussion about community-led disaster response, collective resilience, and mutual aid.

Register for this free event to secure your spot at the screening and panel discussion.

The panel after the film will be hosted by The Response producer Tom Llewellyn and will feature Susan Silber (NorCal Resilience Network), Tré Vasquez (Movement Generation), Juan C. Dávila ("The Response" film director), and Christine Nieves (co-founder of Proyecto Apoyo Mutuo Mariana).

Where to watch on TV:

The special will air on Free Speech TV (DISH 9415, DIRECTV 348, and stream on Roku, Apple TV, Sling TV, and at freespeech.org).

The East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EBPREC), facilitates black, indigenous, people of color, and allied communities to cooperatively organize, finance, purchase, occupy, and steward properties. We spoke with Noni Session, the organization's executive director, about what they're doing to achieve systemic solutions to the Bay Area's affordable housing crisis.

Announcing that our new book, The Response: Building Collective Resilience in the Wake of Disasters, is available now. Visit theresponsepodcast.org to get a free eBook!

This collection of interviews, case studies, guides, and personal stories is designed to deepen the understanding of community led disaster response and support deeper engagement between neighbors, family, and friends In preparation for a future together.

In this age of climate disruption and record shattering mega-fires, hurricanes, and the many other disasters wrecking havoc around the world, how do you rebuild from scratch?

Allen Myers grew up in the town of Paradise, CA and like thousands of others, lost his childhood home to the Camp Fire when it burned through 153,336 acres of the Sierra Foothills on November 8th, 2018.

Despite its name, Paradise had been afflicted by deep poverty and opioid addiction for years before the fire — it is also located in a very high danger area that regularly experiences wildfires. So, perhaps a more relevant rebuilding question is, how do you rebuild a town better than it was before? Not just recreating the old systems and structures that weren't working for most people in the first place, but rebuilding with more resilience, equity, and humanity?

After the initial fire recovery was completed, Allen set out to find answers to those questions; visiting the small town of Onagawa on Japan's Tōhoku coast.

Seven years earlier, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake sent a 45-foot high tsunami crashing into the eastern coast of Japan, washing away several towns in the process, including Onagawa. While many of the surrounding towns have been slow to rebuild and have had a difficult time getting residents to move back, Onagawa has taken a unique path through a participatory process which has been incredibly successful.

In the final episode of season two of The Response, we follow Allen's journey and explore the lessons he brought home from Onagawa and the rebuilding efforts in Paradise. It serves as a unique window into how residents are working together to build a new vision for what comes next, while fighting against the forces pulling them back towards the status quo.

Every element of a city's design, from a neighborhood's street lighting to a sidewalk's drainage to the shape of the skyline, has politics behind it. It's not always clear what those politics are, or who the decision-makers behind them were, but it's there. You just have to look closely and you'll see it.

This week we're bringing you an extended interview with author Barbara Brown Wilson, an assistant professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and the Director of Inclusion and Equity in the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia.

Her current research projects include understanding how grassroots community networks re-frame public infrastructure in more climate and culturally appropriate ways across the U.S.

In her latest book, "Resilience for All," she uncovers the politics behind our urban landscapes and lays out an alternative to business-as-usual urban design and planning.