Who are we?

The People’s Fund - Claremont is a collective of students and community members who aim to monetarily support people building power (through mutual aid) in Sudan, Gaza, and Eastern Congo. We are grounded in anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and disability justice values. We know our comrades here and internationally withstand and resist genocides, land-grabs, and imprisonment/besiegement because of systems of oppression; capitalism, imperialism, and white supremacy.
We, as students and community members, have direct and indirect access to immense wealth. The wealth of the western world is stolen through capitalism, settler-colonialism, and imperialism. Students and community members are well positioned to redistribute a small portion of this stolen wealth to revolutionary struggles.

What do we do?
We redirect funds to comrades sustaining their communities on-the-ground. In doing so, we work to expand the scope of the pro-Palestine student movement into financially supporting mutual aid efforts. We hope that centralizing collective funds to a single system encourages more folks to return wealth to people fighting deadly battles against imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy.
Rather than asking for one time donations, we are hoping to build a long-term system by collecting recurring contributions and establishing relationships with comrades internationally. We have suggested subscription pricing on a sliding scale based on your current access to wealth and capital:
• Suggested Monthly Student Subscription (based on non essential spending)
◦ Pledge $10-20 if you’re spending $3-5 a week (equivalent to chips or snacks).
◦ Pledge $20-40 if you’re spending $5-10 a week (equivalent to boba or two coffees).
◦ Pledge $40-80 if you’re spending $10-20 a week (the cost of multiple streaming platforms).
◦ Pledge $80-160 if you’re spending $20-40 a week (the cost of DoorDash or takeout).
◦ Pledge $160+ if you’re spending $40 a week (going to a sit down restaurant).
◦ If you usually spend more and have consistent access to wealth, consider following the guidelines for community members.
• Suggested Monthly Subscription for Community Members
◦ If you make less than $40K, donate $10-20 (equivalent to spending $3-5 on snacks a week).
◦ If you make $40–80K, donate $20-40 (equivalent to $5-10 weekly on coffee/boba).
◦ If you make $80–100K, donate $40 -100 (equivalent to multiple streaming platform subscriptions).
◦ If you make $100–150K, donate $100-200 (equivalent to $25-50 weekly on delivery or take-out).
◦ If you make $150–250k donate $200-320 (equivalent to $50-80 weekly on nails/a sit-down restaurant).
◦ If you make $250–500K, donate $320+ (concert tickets).
◦ If you make $500K+, donate $2,000 (car payment/airfare).

Why Sudan, Palestine, and the Congo?

We fundraise because our comrades’ inevitable victory in Sudan, Congo, and Palestine will greatly impact global liberation struggles. Fundraising is the least we can do.

We understand people here and internationally are calling on us for monetary solidarity. At the moment, we expect to have capacity to send significant sums to 3 locations. These funds are concentrated in three contexts because building meaningful, long-lasting relationships with our comrades on the ground is necessary. This way, a significant amount of stolen wealth will be returned to each site. Since we can only sustainably send to 3 locations, our focus is on sites of great oppression and therefore great resistance. We know that in sites of great oppression/resistance, the people have the power to tip the scale in the fight against imperialism. Congo, Palestine, and Sudan are critically important sites of resistance. They are fighting critical battles, it is our role to return stolen wealth to their liberation efforts—including mutual aid.
Congolese and Sudanese people especially have identified an unforgivable lack of solidarity from comrades in the west. We understand Anti-Blackness is a driving force for the lack of international attention, normalization of Black suffering, and brutal imperial violence in Congo and Sudan. Monetary aid is one of the most basic ways to practice solidarity with Sudan and Congo.

Why mutual aid?
Mutual aid is the practice of meeting each other's survival needs by building reciprocal relationships and creating people-run systems of support. Practices of mutual aid require people power and are necessary to sustain revolutions, while other forms of aid build a culture of hierarchy and dependency.
We support mutual aid efforts for two reasons. First, redistributing collective funds is what is being requested of us by our comrades globally because of our access to stolen wealth. Second, redistributing collective funds is one way we stand in solidarity with our comrades.

We have a commitment to our comrades to care for each other unconditionally; neither humanitarian aid or charity have our best interest at heart nor will they ever save us. We wholeheartedly trust that our comrades using these funds to build power with and for their people.

The People's Fund - Claremont

Redistributing money to its rightful stewards