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The lasting impact of immediate support: mutual aid's mark after Helene and Chantal. Plus, a history of mutual aid among Black Southerners.

Saxapahaw Rivermill in the wake of Tropical Storm Chantal on July 7, 2025.
Matt Ramey
/
For WUNC
Saxapahaw Rivermill in the wake of Tropical Storm Chantal on July 7, 2025.

“Mutual aid” is a phrase that received renewed attention during the Covid-19 pandemic. But the United States has a long history of mutual aid. Leoneda Inge talks with two scholars about some of that history, and explores how mutual aid has been deeply intertwined with the social, political and economic lives of Black Southerners.

Then, Jeff Tiberii talks with two helpers with Triangle Mutual Aid about their responses to recent disasters like Chantal and Helene, and how those efforts go beyond traditional volunteering.

Guests

Blair LM Kelley, President and Director, National Humanities Center; author of Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class

Tyesha Maddox, Associate Professor, Department of African and African American Studies, Fordham University

Virgo, co-founder and helper, Triangle Mutual Aid

Heather Hall, helper, Triangle Mutual Aid

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Jeff Tiberii is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Jeff joined WUNC in 2011. During his 20 years in public radio, he was Morning Edition Host at WFDD and WUNC’s Greensboro Bureau Chief and later, the Capitol Bureau Chief. Jeff has covered state and federal politics, produced the radio documentary “Right Turn,” launched a podcast, and was named North Carolina Radio Reporter of the Year four times.
Rachel McCarthy is a producer for "Due South." She previously worked at WUNC as a producer for "The Story with Dick Gordon." More recently, Rachel was podcast managing editor at Capitol Broadcasting Company where she developed narrative series and edited a daily podcast. She also worked at "The Double Shift" podcast as supervising producer. Rachel learned about audio storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Prior to working in audio journalism, she was a research assistant at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC.