Editor's note: This is the second installment of Kingston Wire's collaboration with Good Neighbor, a Kingston-based print-and-digital "cooperative publication celebrating all the great arts, culture, and community events happening around Kingston." To read our story about them, click here. To visit their Substack page, click here. Enjoy!

In these times, we can look to groups who’ve been dealing with the ills of our society for generations to better equip ourselves to survive.

Rent parties, sometimes referred to as eviction or house parties, happened in 1920s Harlem after the Great Migration of Southern Black folk who were charged substantially more for rent than their white counterparts, despite working for insufficient wages after arriving in New York.

Neighbors would gather around live music, dancing, food, and drinks. From the late 1920s until 1960, the writer and Harlem Renaissance legend Langston Hughes collected rent party cards, an archive that now offers us a detailed record of the culture around these informal and lively happenings. On Saturday nights in Harlem, tenants had to decide which rent party they were going to attend since multiple folks were hosting and fundraising.

The times we live in are not unprecedented for many groups. For Black and Indigenous people, immigrants, Queer, Trans, and disabled people, the modern world is designed to perpetuate immense suffering. These groups carry the memory of how to survive through genocide, slavery, and grave injustice. As the veil is lifted, the realities of patriarchy, imperialism, and capitalism can no longer be denied since they’re now impacting the masses.

On First Fridays this summer — except July — Good Neighbor invites you to NightSwim, 744 Broadway, for an evening of local music in the spirit of mutual aid. In addition to mid-20th century Harlem, our rent parties are inspired by different communal resource sharing models from around the globe.

Susus are informal, communal savings systems — typically stewarded by womxn — and originating from West Africa. Similar models are found in various indigenous cultures. What remains consistent is the inclination for us to move resources among us to meet our shared needs.

Since we started Good Neighbor nearly a year ago now, we’ve been inspired again and again by how sincerely this community wants to connect and support one another. As event planners at heart, we’re doing what we know how to do best, inviting you all out to groove. Our goal for each party is to generate $1,000-$2,000 after paying local entertainers to redistribute to support four neighbors paying their rent or mortgage, this summer.

Tickets are now live. Through the weekend, get your early bird tickets for $10. After Sunday, the price goes up to $20! There are only 30 early bird, so don’t delay.

Analise Sesay is Executive Editor for Good Neighbor, a hyperlocal, print-first publication covering Kingston. Under the moniker “Atta,” she DJs research-driven sets, broadcasts transmission art, and co-hosts the African dance party, Aw Di Body?