I’m in North America. I’ve recently moved to a new city for a decent job. Not a big city, but not a small town either. Not gonna say where due to safety concerns and whatnot. The place is kinda racist, kinda xenophobic, and more-than-just-kinda conservative. I’m basically reduced to being a cryptocommunist to keep my ass out of danger. But I want to organize. Get out there, do something useful. I’ve been slowly catching up on my theory thanks to this site, but I have enough time that I could also be out there being useful to both the people in my community and the cause in general. I can’t donate money, not more than I already do, but I can donate time and effort. Sadly, I have exactly zero idea of how to do it usefully. Or safely.

I know some basic things I can do. Building mutual aid from the ground up, joining a party, pamphleting, educating people, etc. However, if I’m being entirely honest, the local communist org seems kind of useless (think of the book club in Disco Elysium, for lack of a better comparison), the local aid orgs I’ve seen are tremendously reactionary (church-adjacent, and not the “love thy neighbor” kind of church), and I am a minority.

Seems like this community has a lot of well read people, so instead of direct advice, I came here to ask if there’s any good readings on the topic that you would recommend. I’d like to get started on the right foot, and with some knowledge of why I’m doing what I’m doing. Most of all, I want to be safe while still doing something worthwhile. Ngl, with the crazy ass situation being what it is, I’m not super comfortable rubbing shoulders with people who might want me gone from their sight one way or another if they realize I’m a communist. In other times, I’d remind myself that good revolutionaries work with people they don’t like all the time… These days? I fear that those guys might well Do Something About It. I’m new in town. I don’t know how actively hateful the vibe is here, and it’s not like the government or the police would side with me.

Anyhow.

Any good reads on “How to Be a Cryptocommunist Without Just Sitting on Your Ass at Home Doing Nothing”?