This website and the associated zine are meant for frontline populations responding to crises. It is based on years of experience working with frontline populations, sometimes interfacing with formal groups but often not. We hope to relieve your cognitive load during trying times by telling you about models that have worked in the past. If you have capacity after things have died down a bit, give us a holler at disasterzine@bl00cyb.org to tell us how to improve or add to things.
The Cluster System
We have structured the website and zine under the cluster system that has been broadly successful in community organizing, including for Occupy Sandy’s large and complex response. The ones represented thus far are:
- Care – you’ll be caring for yourself and others. Here are a few places to get started.
- Evacuation – in case you need to GTFO, you’ll probably want to go together.
- Governance – how you structure yourselves as you work together. Talking about this some (but not a lot) will help everything else run more smoothly and bring clarity to who makes what sorts of decisions.
- Communications – about how you talk to each other and others.
- Situational Awareness – you’ll need to know what’s going on and be safe enough while doing so.
- Technology – enables you to do all these things more effectively. Choose wisely.
- Liaison – you’ll be talking with other folks about what you and they are up to in order to coordinate resources and effort for optimal impact across the region.
- Legal – sometimes it’s good to know what you might get in trouble for, and what your rights are.
All these clusters will coordinate internally, but will also talk with each other. See more on the flow of information article.
Contributors
Authors List
Much of what is here was contributed on a volunteer basis. Other parts were paid for because we’ve all got to survive under capitalism.
Distribution
We are ok with folks printing their own for themselves and neighbors or selling at a small profit at book fairs. Everything on this site is listed as cc-by-sa 4.0 with the permission of the authors. External links do not follow the same licensing.
The zine, when printed, should be stored in plastic bag on your book shelf for safe keeping in adverse conditions and for easy finding when things might literally be on fire.
You are welcome to sell this at up to twice the cost of producing a copy.
Dedication
To Alex, who made it practical, and to Pablo, who made it fun. I wish you could have seen it.
