Emergency collaboration with La Raposa
La Raposa del Pobre Sec, a transfeminist and antispeciesist work cooperative, is a project initiated in April 2017, which turns 3 years now in a very delicate situation.
Due to the crisis generated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have been forced to close our doors and to cancel all events scheduled for the following months, the productive activity which made the project viable as well as the financial support of workers and collaborators. The measures imposed by the Royal Decree-Law fail to cover the needs of us all. This is why we are making a call to solidarity to our social networks.
Current Situation
La Raposa is a feminist bookstore and a vegan bar. A space where to generate political debate, to share experiences and to forge new projects, friendship and love bonds, which are free from patriarchal violence and animal abuse. Yet, it is not only a meeting place where to share ourselves, but also a coordinating node in the transfeminist network of Poble Sec neighbourhood and in the city of Barcelona more generally. It is a place to make visible and to support labour and artistic initiatives carried out by women, gender and sexual dissident identities, which remain on the sidelines of the heteronormative capitalist system. Besides being a source of permanent, ocasional or intermittent economic income for several homes and persons, the cooperative also provides emotional and experiential support to many.
We know these are hard times and that many people and collectives have been negatively affected by this healthcare and capitalist crisis. Just like everyone, we were caught by surprise and were forced to close our doors on Friday, March 13. The economic viability of the cooperative is based exclusively on the activity carried out at La Raposa premises. The sale of books and fanzines as well as of vegan products at the bar accompany the events scheduled at the hall, most of which are free and accessible to all. With the premises now closed, the incomes which make the cooperative viable have disappeared.
Feminist economy
The insufficient solutions proposed by the administration can only cover a small fraction of the expenses involved in the management of a work cooperative such as ours, though not all and specially not horizontally. This is why the workers and members of the cooperative have decided to collectivise all we can collect at the moment and to redistribute it in the most equitative way as possible among all of us so as to meet the different needs, regardless of whether or not they are regulated by the system.
We firmly believe that a feminist economy must offer solutions beyond what states may offer us, thereby investing our efforts in a working and experiential model capable of really putting lives at the centre.
In view of these circumstances and because we trust mutual support networks, we have launched this crowdfunding campaign and invite all of those who want and can do it, to contribute to the sustainability of La Raposa until we reopen on June1.
The collection will be used to cover:
- Permanent expenses of the premises (rent, bills and monthly fees which cannot be posponed) for the months of March, April and May: 4270 €
- Supplement to cover a monthly subsistence salary of 500 € for each one of the six active workers during March, April and May: 1765 €
- An estimated percentage for Gofundme (which charges a transaction fee of 2.9%, plus 30 $ per donation to safely process credit cards and money transfers): 265 €
Other ways to collaborate
There are several ways to collaborate: financially is only one of them. Sharing our campaign on your social networks, mentioning it in virtual meetings with friends, family and colleagues will also help us to put La Raposa back on track.
The public space has been taken away from us, but not our capacity to affect, to encounter and to care for ourselves, even at distance.
Rewards
As a symbolic gesture of gratitude, we propose the following rewards:
- All those who collaborate and want to will appear on our website.
- Among donations of more than 25 €, we will conduct a draw to win an anti-romantic dinner for three.
- Among donations of more than 50 €, we will conduct a draw to win a hamper with products from La Raposa
La Raposa is home
For many, La Raposa is a home and we want it to remain that way. May we continue to give it life, filling it with laughter and collective learning. For that to happen, we need to cover our expenses so as to be able to reopen once the pandemic passes.
We hope you are all well, as well as your closest people, friends and family – be it chosen or blood. We hope that fear, uncertainty and physical distancing won’t be able to paralyse us, that we will know how to listen and to accompany each other during this crisis and to rebuild little by little with determination and firmness what is now falling apart; to hold our hands and to look into each other’s eyes. We believe that this should be an opportunity to rethink the world we are living in, the relationships we are engaging into and the models of coexistence we all inhabit so that we may realise that we can only get through this together.
We are looking forward to meeting again and enjoy the space together. We are taking the chance these days of confinement to schedule new activities in which to share and enjoy ourselves.
The Raposas thank you and hope to see you all soon!