Solidarity Virginia

I am hoping to organize Solidarity Virginia, a solidarity-building group for my region. It will aim to foster a local counterculture of solidarity that can serve as a living alternative to our modern culture of isolation, centralization, and hyper-individualism.

I believe there are millions of Americans out there who desire a deeper relationship with their neighbors. But most people don’t know where to start — it’s too hard to live out an alternative alone. Solidarity Virginia will aim to provide that place to start: a central access point for those dedicated to weaving their communities together through the work of the hands (like the corporal works of mercy), the heart (community-building among those participating in the work), and the head (policy advocacy and institution-building around serving community needs).

I have worked on similar solidarity-building projects (like CommonPlace) in the past and have been deeply interested in historic attempts at solidarity-building, like the Solidarity movement in Poland, Jane Addams’ Settlement House movement, Dorothy Day’s Catholic Worker movement, and Alcoholics Anonymous. As I work to develop Solidarity Virginia, I hope to build on these experiences and learnings.