10.2b Collective Behavior with More Positive Elements

Collective behavior, such as fads or mutual aid, can be more positive. A fad occurs when so many people begin taking part in something that it temporarily becomes extremely popular, for example, playing Pokémon Go in 2016 or using Stanley tumblers in 2024.

Mutual aid is when people and communities help each other through a crisis. Mutual aid is characterized by giving aid to everyone without eligibility requirements and having all group members make decisions rather than leaders (CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, 2023). One of the most famous examples of mutual aid is the Black Panther Party’s Breakfast for Children Program, which addressed the issue of hunger among children in their community (see Photo 10.4). More recently, during the 2025 Los Angeles fires, existing mutual aid groups and others sprang into action to provide their neighbors with food, water, clothing, and safe places for their animals.

Photo 10.4

A Flyer for the Black Panther Party’s Breakfast for Children Program

A flyer advertising the Black Panther Party's free breakfast program for children. It reads "Now that school is open, we find it is necessary to expand our Free breakfast Program to another location in order to better serve the people of Washington, D.C. community. The Washington D.C. Chapter of the BLACK PANTHER PARTY is constantly working in the Black communities striving to provide a higher level of living for our people. These capitalist PIGS who oppress us are the cause of our starvation in America and throughout the world. The Free Breakfast Program provides a free, hot meal each morning for our children. Youth are our future, and they must be strong and beautiful to deal with the world when we leave it."
Black Panther Party free breakfast. Washington Area Spark, 1970, Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126224470). Public Domain.
Continue to Section 10.3

Study Resources for Chapter 10

🔑Key Terms

🎓Review

🔤Glossary

📚References