#OpLove 2017: Nashville Antifascist Action Meets Community Needs through Mutual Aid

“Could I have a pair of those socks? You can never have too many socks!,” a young man, in his mid-twenties exclaims as I lift the laundry basket teeming with pairs of fresh, clean socks. “Of course, take whatever you need.” I cheerfully respond. As he inspects the socks and hygiene items we have available, I grab him a sack lunch, chocolate pudding cup, spoon, and I reach for a bottle of Gatorade. “Orange or red, what’s your preference?” I ask. “Either is fine, surprise me!” he beams. I grab an ice cold red Gatorade from the cooler and hand it to him. The weather is glorious, mid-70’s with a light breeze emanating from the Cumberland river. I invite the young man to sit and eat with me so we can talk. He tells me he has been working a temporary contract job sorting automotive parts. He has the scratches and cuts on his arms to prove it. I offer him some Neosporin, band-aids, and antiseptic wipes for his wounds, which he gladly accepts. “I’ve been working 5 weeks now. If I can make it to 90 days, I’ll get hired on with benefits and I get a $2/hour raise!” he gushes. “That sounds wonderful! I’m very proud of you.” I affirm. We make gentle chit-chat while he gobbles his lunch under the mid-day sun.

These are the typical interactions members of Nashville Antifascist Action (Nashville AFA) have when performing #OpLove, an operation pioneered by Anonymous in which we take 100-200 sack lunches to the downtown area to feed the unhoused and less fortunate. Our group collaborates with Anonymous Nashville (and surrounding areas) and Rebel Headquarters, a national liberal activist group with a Tennessee chapter (RHQ-TN). We set up a table with baskets filled to the brim with shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, mouthwash, toothpaste, tissues, maxi pads, first aid items, socks, bras, lighters, tobacco, and over the counter pain reliever medicine (such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen). We invite anyone who needs these items to help themselves and take whatever they require. Our members fill backpacks with lunches and drinks and walk around the downtown area handing out lunch to whoever needs it, or depositing sack lunches and drinks next to folks who are still sleeping on the greenspace.

It is an act of mutual aid, rooted in compassion and love for fellow human beings. On this particular day, we distribute more than 160 lunches over the course of 3 hours. Feeding the hungry is a major specific aim of this project, but the additional central goal of our operation is to restore the dignity of these folks through positive human interactions. As we hand out food, clothing, and hygiene items, we offer a gentle touch, kind words, prolonged conversations, respectful eye contact, or a warm embrace if they are inclined. The results are infectious. Many recipients finish their lunch and conversation and ask if they can take a few lunches and walk with us to aid in distribution to others.

“We should walk down to Hobo Park! There are at least a dozen people there and even some kids who would love to have some pudding!” one man exclaims. So, we trek down to the small park facing the Nashville Public Library and disseminate aid there as well. As we approached the scene, we park and begin disseminating lunches and drinks to folks. A Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officer moves his car so that we can park and unload our baskets and bins full of food, clothing, and hygiene items. The entire park was veritably surrounded by MNPD cruisers on all sides. I distributed fresh clean undergarments to a woman who tells me she is 12 weeks pregnant with twins. She and her partner are trying to get space in the Mission together so that they can be a family when the babies arrive. Mere moments later, another MNPD officer approaches us and instructs us to vacate the parking space so he can have it. A member of Rebel Headquarters attempted to reason with him, to no avail. We quickly distributed our last few remaining items and vacated the park.

As we walk back to the riverfront, one of the members of Anonymous stops to hand a sack lunch to a group of unhoused teens selling street art. He purchases a hand-sized painting of a blue skull from the group. Nearby, a dog sleeps curled-up in a guitar case belonging to a street musician. The child of a RHQ-TN member stops to give the musician a sack lunch and pet the sleeping dog. A recipient of our sack lunch asks one of the Anons if he can try on his Guy Fawkes mask. They acquiesce with alacrity, and we take turns taking pictures with him. Members of Rebel Headquarters also try on masks and take pictures.

It cannot be overstated how impactful #OpLove is to all involved. It reconnects our community and builds collaborative coalitions between leftist activist groups, teaching us how to effectively work together to accomplish worthy goals. Activism is hard, stressful, thankless work, which often has little signs of progress. #OpLove provides instant evidence of its effectiveness. Needs are met, the hungry are fed, wounds are dressed, and spirits are lifted in a matter of moments. It is worthy to note that the lunches we constructed included a complete protein, a carbohydrate source, a serving of fruit, and a healthy drink and we were able to put these lunches together at an average price of $1.10/lunch. This work strengthens the ties between members of our affinity group as well. It is important to note that while some police will be accommodating to #OpLove, many in law enforcement will likely try to obfuscate your efforts, as they did with our group. Nonetheless, we encourage all anarchist affinity groups and their affiliated collaborators to engage in #OpLove or similar actions for community support.

For more information on how we accomplished our #OpLove, feel free to send us a message at our page here..