The North Carolina Piedmont chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Mutual Aid Carrboro established the COVID-19 Mutual Aid Relief Fund to raise money for local workers with lost wages during the shutdown. According to NC Piedmont DSA fundraising chair Danny Nowell, it’s already raised more than $40,000, which is being disbursed in $150 emergency grants to lightly screened applicants.

But Nowell says the need is so great that they’ve only been able to help half of the applicants so far. In the hopes of helping the campaign pick up steam, they’re launching a new livestream concert series featuring well-liked local musicians. It begins this Sunday, April 26, at 7:30 p.m., with Mipso violinist Libby Rodenbough, and continues on subsequent Sundays with the likes of Kate Rhudy, Chessa Rich, Anne-Claire, and Hardworker.

Because musicians are included among workers losing wages, the first $150 raised by each performance will pay them, and the rest will go into the fund for grant applicants. We chatted with Nowell about toppling capitalism, the value of need-targeted mutual aid, and more.

INDY: What does the NC Piedmont DSA do on a day-to-day, overall-mission basis?

DANNY NOWELL: DSA is the nation’s largest socialist organization, dedicated to democratically bringing about a worker-controlled economy—you know, ending the capitalist order and all that. Crucially, we’re not a political party, and one reason for that is we recognize we’re a long way away from “toppling capitalism” on a broad scale. We want local chapters to be empowered to deploy a wide range of tactics fighting corporate power, building community, decreasing the influence of money in politics, and building local structures based on equitable gender, racial, and interpersonal dynamics.

Pardon the buzzwords: Basically, DSA is intentionally a big-tent organization because we recognize that any single path toward defeating capitalism is unlikely to succeed alone, so we’re trying to fight on every front we can. But the NC Piedmont chapter has several issues that have been particularly galvanizing for our members. We’re working hard to support direct action against the Neo-Confederate racists dragging the region’s name through the mud on our campuses, at our Capitol, and in our county seats. We’re building eco-socialist campaigns against local polluters and environmental exploiters in our community, like the UNC coal plant. And of course, we’re building our capacity to support progressive candidates at every level of local elections, from town councils to county commissioners on up.

We have seen a tremendous influx of new members and new energy because of the Sanders campaign, and because we have so much of that new energy, a lot of what we try to do as a chapter is connect folks who come in looking to help out immediately with local organizations that have been in their specific fights much longer. I should mention we are always looking for more people-power, and anyone who wants to get more connected can shoot us a message at [email protected]. We’re very friendly, not least because we need a lot more boots!

What have you been doing since the COVID-19 shutdown?

We’ve really poured a lot of our efforts into this partnership with Mutual Aid Carrboro to raise funds for workers who are losing wages due to the pandemic. I think pretty much everyone has seen what a total failure the government’s response has been at every level in this country. With the exception of a few state  governments taking bare-minimum measures and local officials doing what they can, our government has really seized the opportunity to consolidate wealth among the capital class and keep workers subject to the whims of the wealthy.

Mutual Aid is the perfect antidote to that whole nightmare, and the folks we’ve worked with at Mutual Aid Carrboro have a long history of showing up for their neighbors when they’re needed. With a very simple mission of taking personal responsibility and providing help to community members who need it, they’ve expanded our sense of who our neighbors really are. They’re also living, breathing reminders of the fact that when times get hard, there’s a bunch of shit that needs doing, and you don’t build stronger communities by waiting for someone else to do it.

We recently cleared our initial goal of raising $45,000 dollars, which we’re really proud of, but one of the reasons we’re launching this streaming series is because the need is so great we still have a ton more folks who’ve applied for aid. We wanted to tap into the music scene, which to my mind is one of the Triangle’s great cultural resources, to try and generate some extra momentum for a second wave of fundraising and generally make the work Mutual Aid is doing more visible.

What kind of workers clear the bar for aid?

Any, really, though we’ve mostly relied on Mutual Aid’s deep ties in immigrant, refugee, lower-income, and service-worker communities to spread word of the fund organically. It helps if workers are in the Triangle, and certainly in the state, and we do some screening about what the funds will go toward, but our mission is to build solidarity among many different kinds of workers, and we’re trying to practice that here. 

Where do folks apply for the fund?

We were so overwhelmed by the initial wave of applications that we had to close our application portal to allow our fundraising to catch up. We’ve been able to reopen as we’ve crossed the $45,000 threshold, but we’re really relying on Mutual Aid’s grassroots network among folks who are feeling this moment the most to circulate the application. I’d encourage anyone looking for help to get in touch with us at [email protected]. We hate to add an extra step, but we’ve been really effective circulating the application among communities who need it most, and we’ll be happy to connect anyone looking for help. 

Why $150 increments?

We landed on $150 because it’s a sum that can have some pretty big impacts—a prescription for someone uninsured, a utility bill, a fairly significant grocery purchase to buy a family time—without too rapidly depleting our resources. We wanted to find a number that would allow folks to take care of some pressing needs while still allowing us to help as many applicants as we could.

How did you connect with the artists performing in the series?

So far, it’s mostly been artists that I have a personal relationship with. I play in the Durham folk-rock band Hardworker, and most of the early artists are folks that I knew had a comradely bent from sharing bills or just getting to know them over the last few years. That said, we’re really eager to diversify the genres and range of performers, and we’re talking to some artists we think will help do that about whom we’re really excited.

Where will the streams be filmed?

Every artist will be performing from their home, so as to keep things super responsible and honor social distancing. I’ve done some test streams myself and built out some tips and tricks, and we’ve sourced the equipment we need to provide to performers who don’t have the necessary setup. 

Where can readers watch them?

These will air on YouTube, starting with Libby Rodenbough’s performance this Sunday at 7:30 pm. We’d love it if folks would follow us on Facebook and RSVP to our event, but they can also view it directly on YouTube. 

Contact arts and culture editor Brian Howe at [email protected]. 

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