Warm Up Boston

We refuse to run reading groups for years before taking action, and we refuse to ignore the vast knowledge left to us by the revolutionaries of the past. If you’re interested in the intersection of theory and practice, DM us and come to distro!

We know that theory becomes purposeless if it is not connected with revolutionary practice. We also know that endless practices walk in circles in the dark until its path is illuminated by revolutionary theory.

At every reading group, we have discussed the theory through the lens of our weekly practice, where we spend countless hours ensuring that our twice weekly distros that serve 100+ unhoused members of our community happen every week without exception.

Every day, our most dispossessed neighbors face harassment from special bodies of armed men at the orders of the ruling class.

Large text reads "State and Revolution, V.I. Lenin” in the middle left of the graphic. Above this text is the quote written in white: "The supersession of the bourgeois state by the proletarian state is impossible without a violent revolution." A cut-out image of the books laid out on a coffee table with refreshments, from when our members met up to read, is on the right. A filtered image of warmup volunteers is on the bottom left of the graphic.

Right now, we are working through Lenin’s State and Revolution. We are learning about the State as an element of violent repression of one class by another, and discussing how we see this truth show up in our work.

Large red text reads “Combat Liberalism Mao Zedong”. Below is a picture of the printed out readings with a filtered image of warmup volunteers overlaid at the bottom of the slide. The quote “Liberalism is extremely harmful in a revolutionary collective. It is a corrosive which eats away unity, undermines cohesion, causes apathy and creates dissension.” is in the center of the graphic.

- Mao’s “Combat Liberalism” to help us correct mistaken ideas in ourselves and our comrades, in order to maintain the working class character of our organization so that we can best serve our people.

Large red text reads “Mass Work, Communist Party of the Philippines”. Below the text is a picture of the printed readings with a black silhouetted and filtered image of warmup volunteers overlaid. The quote “The fundamental teaching of mass line is for us to have complete trust and reliance on the masses. It opposes pinning one’s hope on a handful of leaders, geniuses, heroes or saviors. It upholds the view that the masses, and only the masses, are the makers of history.” in white text is at the bottom of the graphic.

- The Communist Party of the Philippines’ “Mass Work” to learn about the Massline. In our context, the Massline is the idea that we must learn the needs of our neighbors from our neighbors, take the best solutions we have to our neighbors, learn from their critiques/feedback.

Large red text reads “ON PRACTICE, Mao Zedong”. Below the text is a picture of printed out readings with the book "Affected Works of Mao Zendong" on top of them. Overlaid is a black silhouetted filtered image of warmup volunteers. The quote “In order to have a real grasp of Marxism, one must learn it not only from books, but mainly through class struggle, through practical work and close contact with the masses” in white text is at the bottom of the slide.

- Mao’s “On Practice” to understand the proletarian theory of knowledge that liberated 500 million people.

At the top of the slide, the 5 heads of Marxism (the heads of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Mao) with an all-black filter. The background is bright red. Overlaid on the 5 heads is the quote “If you want knowledge, you must take part in the practice of changing reality" in white text. Below is the red text “Warm Up Boston Marxist Reading Group Recap”. The text is in between a white Hammer and Sickle symbol and the Warm Up Boston logo. A silhouetted and filtered picture of warmup volunteers on a distro is on the bottom. Below the volunteers white text reads: "Swipe to see what we've been reading" with a right-pointing arrow.

Read Up, Boston! We're a revolutionary left wing multi-tendency organization, and we're committed to furthering our knowledge of revolutionary theory in order to sharpen our revolutionary practice. Over the last few months, our Reading Group has been taking off! We've read....

Overall landscape of the encampment, including a rocky base path, some camping chairs, and black plastic bags of belongings. Text overlay reads: “LOOKING TO HELP? We appreciate any spare change you’re willing to provide. These contributions go towards purchasing tents and other critical survival supplies for our neighbors. We accept Venmo @warmupboston or via the ko-fi in our linktree”

Our Venmo is
@warmupboston
and our Kofi is ko-fi.com/warmupboston. And please feel free to DM or email us with any questions, concerns, or to volunteer with us.

A pile of belongings gathered into plastic bags and bins, including cooking supplies, tents, and hygiene items, which all had to be moved due to the sweep or else risked getting thrown out. This pile comprises the entirety of a person’s belongings. Text overlay reads: “We are a working class organization that fights to reduce the harms of capitalism being faced by the most oppressed members of our class. An attack on the unhoused is an attack on everyone that works for their bread. We’re able to continue this level of support through mutual aid, a survival tactic that the working class has been forced to utilize since wage labor emerged.”

We're able to continue this level of support and increase the efficacy of our weekly distros through mutual aid and we would greatly appreciate any spare change you may be willing to send our way. These contributions would go towards purchasing tents and other vital supplies.

Belongings in plastic bags are scattered across the ground. Text overlay reads: “Just a week & a half after that first sweep, our neighbors were displaced AGAIN, this time by BU Police and WITHOUT ANY NOTICE. This aggressive sweep started at 6 AM on a Friday morning, upending residents’ living spaces just as they had started to replace their necessities and regain some sense of peace. Cops told residents to pack up everything in 5 MINUTES or risk it bring thrown out. Could you pack up all your essentials in 5 minutes, after being woken up before sunrise by armed men yelling at you?” A quote from a resident: “We’re Human People, we’re Human Beings”

-- move while “clean up crews” destroyed their homes. Are bullets and handcuffs a public health intervention?
We are a working class organization that fights against the harms of capitalism. An attack on the unhoused is an attack on everyone that works for their bread.

Group of 4 policemen talking only to themselves on the grounds of the encampment. Text overlay reads: “The State wields power through the police and military. This is seen when 5 men armed with guns and 60+ rounds of ammunition each come to force our neighbors to move while destroying their homes. Are guns and handcuffs a public health intervention?”

The State wields this power through special bodies of armed class traitors with a monopoly on violence: the police and military. We were forced to face this fact during the sweep, when 5 men armed with guns and 60+ rounds of ammunition each showed up to force our neighbors to --

Let us be perfectly clear: the State is an organ of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another. This is no clearer than at a sweep. The State is an illusion of so-called “order”, which legalizes and enacts this violence against workers.

A Warm Up Boston volunteer pulling a large steel trunk on wheels as they help move vital belongings during the sweep. Text overlay reads: “Warm Up Boston was able to physically help residents move their most needed survival supplies and deescalate cops’ verbal attacks on residents. We provided 20 burritos, cases of water, and other small measures for comfort.”

Warm Up was able to deescalate some of these verbal attacks on our neighbors, but the stress and trauma from this violence inscribes itself into the body. We were able to enlist help to change wound dressings and refer folks to the hospital as well.

Residents of the encampment were forced to stay awake for THREE DAYS in order to have a chance at keeping their belongings. All the while, armed police officers yelled at them to pack up and leave or risk further "intervention” from the State.

Three cop cars as well as a truck for taking away belongings. Text overlay reads: “This sweep happened the first week of September. Residents were forced to stay awake for 3 DAYS in order to keep their belongings while being threatened by the police. The “choices” presented were: Leave (to where?), or Be arrested and have all your belongings thrown out.”

Warm Up Boston spent $500 and ~100 volunteer hours to try and mitigate the harm caused by this violence. We were able to physically help residents move, transport some of their belongings, and provide food and water.

A bulldozer and removal personnel with shovels clearing away belongings from our unhoused neighbor’s homes. Text overlay reads: “Another month of state violence: This past month, the State spent $40,000+ destroying everything that our poorest neighbors need to live: tents, stoves, beds, IDs, phones, all...“

SWEEPS ARE VIOLENCE.
This past month, on September 3rd and September 19th, the State spent tens of thousands of your tax dollars to steal and destroy the basic survival items that our poorest neighbors need the most.

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Red title text reads: "References". White text list reads: "[1] Shira Hassan; Saving Our Own Lives [2]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24374889/ [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38128362/ [4]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29934549/ [5]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01859.x[ [6]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38335867/". Beneath the text, a sketchy dark grey hand holding a bubble pipe peeks out from the bottom left of the slide.

References

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Sparse red paint splatters adorn the border. Yellow title text reads: "Policies that divest from harm reduction and invest in the prison system are policies of systemic, mass murder." White paragraph text reads: "Mayor Wu’s War on Drugs, Josh Kraft’s even worse “Mass and Cass Plan”, and Trump’s new executive order “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” will, without a doubt, kill people who use drugs. It will disproportionately kill poor people and people of color."

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. White paragraph text reads: "Harm reduction programs create spaces for marginalized folks where community and empowerment can grow. This will always be a threat to fascists and NIMBYs alike. Harm reduction will never be enough under capitalism, as capitalism and fascism cannot survive without one another." Yellow bottom text reads: "And still, harm reduction is one hell of a good place to start."

Administrations can cut funding and limit legal scope, but they cannot stop us from fighting to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. Their policies will kill, and we will do everything we can to limit that. Please, support your local harm reduction programs.

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Yellow title text, with white subtext, reads: "Harm Reduction Works! (some of the many successes)". White text bullet points read: "- Syringe Service Programs reduce transmission of HIV and blood borne infections among people who inject drugs [2] -Injection alternatives (sniffing, smoking, boofing) reduce injection related overdose, illnesses, and injuries [3] - Medication-Assisted Treatment (like methadone and buprenorphine) reduce opioid overdoses and other causes of death [4]".

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Yellow title text, with white subtext, reads: "Harm Reduction Works! (some of the many successes)". White text bullet points read: "- Safe consumption sites reduce overdose, needle sharing and reuse, and discarding of needles in public places [5] - Safer supply programs reduce overdoses, improve physical and mental health, and improve quality of life among clients [6] - Overdoses were down 24% in 2024, thanks in part to naloxone and evidence-based prevention and treatment programs [7]".

For those of us who use drugs and those of us who love people who use drugs, harm reduction is a beacon of hope in dark times. Harm reduction came from the people who needed it and has been maintained by those same people.

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Another gray sketchy hand peeks in from the top right side; it holds a needle. Three thin yellow squiggle lines "come out of" the fingers. White paragraph text reads: "Harm reduction is a set of evidence-based practices that empower us to reduce the negative consequences that result from criminalized and stigmatized behaviors, life experiences, and survival strategies."

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. A slightly diagonal-skewed title callout, with white text and a yellow underline, reads: "Bodily Autonomy is Key." Paragraph white text reads: "This means we all have the right to make decisions about our own bodies and our own lives. Bodily autonomy for marginalized folks is in direct opposition to fascism, which only believes in bodily autonomy for an elite few."

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Paragraph white text reads: "Liberatory Harm Reduction has, from its origin, been based in transforming the root causes of harm in our lives. This includes active opposition to capitalism, racism, misogyny, the prison industrial complex, and other fascist tools of control [1]." A block-color light grey broken chain decal is pictured below the text.

Very dark grey, almost black, background color. Red title text reads: "Harm reduction doesn’t encourage (Or discourage) drug use". Paragraph white text reads: "Harm reduction sees that drug use can have both benefits and consequences. It empowers us to identify patterns and create outcomes we want, focusing on what we want to add or provide, not what we want to take away [1]. For some this can mean a form of recovery. For others it could mean something like more community involvement, deepening connections with loved ones, or improving self-care."

Policy failures kill. The increase of exterminationist policies by both the Trump administration and our local government is killing people who use drugs. Failed policies based in the racist War on Drugs will kill people who use drugs and incarcerate so many more.

Gray background color with distressed, concrete-like texture. Sparse red paint splatters adorn the border. A sketchy dark grey hand holding a syringe and needle peeks out from the top left of the slide. Black text reads: "Harm Reduction is a Threat to Fascism. And it isn't Going Anywhere."

Harm Reduction is a Threat to Fascism 🧵

Text overlay on top of original poster image reads: "EVENT CANCELLED - Due to unforeseen circumstances, we will be postponing this and all future kit packaging events for the rest of this summer. We will be back in the fall!"

Unfortunately, our kit making event will not be occurring tomorrow (Saturday 8/16). We’re sorry for any inconvenience this may cause to folks planning to attend. Another kit making event is in the works. Date coming soon!

Hi! I will ask the team and get back to you on this :)

Thank you for mentioning us!!💕

Mustard yellow background color with a small WUB logo in the bottom right corner. This is the references page. Black text reads: "Much of the knowledge referenced in this post comes from the lived experience of encampment residents and Warm Up volunteers. For claims that come from other sources, we provide references below. [1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17474916/ [2] https://www.aclusocal.org/sites/default/files/aclu_socal_oc_shelters_report.pdf [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31228636/ [4] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254362874_Safer_Outside_A_Qualitative_Exploration_of_Homeless_People%27s_Resistance_to_Homeless_Shelters [5] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1473325010369025 [6] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10612-024-09775-3 [7] https://denverite.com/2023/07/30/denver-trash-service-for-some-sidewalk-encampments-and-a-sweep/ [ 8] https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23891220-2023-hand-trash-services-survey-1-data-analysis/ [9] https://clanfear.github.io/Camps Policing/presentations/nuffield_22/slides.html#46 [10] https://homelesslaw.org/criminalization/police-brutality-statement/ [11] https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/the-crime-and-safety-blindspot-do-homeless-populations-pose-an-increased-risk-to-public-safety/ [12] https://nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/NHCHC-encampment-sweeps-issue-brief-12-22.pdf [13] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9585118/ [14] https://www.apha.org/policy-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-briefs/policy-database/2024/01/16/displacement-of-encampments [15] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321522000269"

References

Mustard yellow background color with a small WUB logo in the bottom right corner. Black text reads: ""Encampments are the solution to homelessness.""

Background image depicting a parking lot and road in the winter time with various vehicles parked in said lot. Barren trees branches are sprinkled with snow. A large mustard yellow text box is overlayed on top of that image. Black text reads: "People want to live in homes. While many prefer the relative freedom of encampments over the carcerality and restrictions of shelters, no human being wants to be constantly criminalized by police and forced to move all their possessions on short notice [5, 12]. No one wants to be freezing cold or too hot to survive. People want stability and comfort. While we call for an end to criminalization of encampments now, we call for appropriate housing for every single person in the longer term."

Mustard yellow background color with a small WUB logo in the bottom right corner. Black text reads: ""With enough sweeps and policing, people will eventually be convinced to go to a shelter or leave the area permanently.""

Background image depicting a park area. The sky is blue and sunny behind green tree leaves. Bare dirt ground with sparse grass patches is framed by concrete bridge structures. A large mustard yellow text box is overlayed on top of that image. Black text reads: "People do not disappear. With more frequent sweeps, they will be further displaced from the services available to them, like healthcare and housing support [12, 13, 14]. For unhoused people who live in Boston or Cambridge, this is their home and they belong here we unequivocally reject NIMBYism*. And every sweep is inherently deeply traumatic for encampment residents [12, 13, 14, 15]. Repeated sweeps and increased policing only causes harm. *(NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard)"

Everyone deserves a home.

Mustard yellow background color with a small WUB logo in the bottom right corner. Black text reads: ""If you love homeless people so much, why not let them camp on your property?""

Background image depicting an active sweep happening. People gather to haul away belongings and a bulldozer stalks them on the dirt ground. A large mustard yellow text box is overlayed on top of that image. Black text reads: "If zoning laws and rental agreements allowed for it, many of us would! However, continuing to move people around from camping spot to camping spot will not solve homelessness. Public land that sits empty and idle can at the very least serve as a final place of refuge for those failed by the predatory capitalist housing market. We demand access to ample, affordable, zero-threshold, permanent housing. Homelessness can not be solved on the individual level - it must be solved collectively."

Everyone deserves more than survival.