The Triad’s Really, Really Free Markets fight capitalism, encourage mutual aid by giving things away for free, really

Featured photo: Kathy Clark, pictured here at a past Greensboro market, has been organizing these events for more than 15 years. (courtesy photo)

The first time Kathy Clark helped organize a Really, Really Free Market in Greensboro, she remembers watching a little boy sink further and further into a white loveseat couch as he sat in a black toboggan, black-and-orange windbreaker, jeans and white sneakers.

“The best thing in the world ever was at the first Really, Really Free Market,” Clark remembers. “Somebody brought a couch and a little kid sat on the couch the entire time and he was like, ‘This is my couch.’ And eventually the couch went home with him.”

That was 16 years ago in 2008. This year, Clark is planning a Really, Really Free Market in Winston-Salem this Friday at Mothership Studios, an artist collective and gift shop off of Acadia Avenue. In Greensboro, the GSO Mutual Aid group will hold its own market the same day at 1312 Glenwood Ave. 

“I loved the idea of offering people an alternative to mass consumption,” Clark says, “and to provide goods and workshops to people who may not have a lot of money or income.”

The idea for these markets, in which people bring and take stuff for free, started in 2003 in Miami and Raleigh during protests against the limiting of international trade within the Americas. Soon, the markets began popping up in cities across the country and even expanded abroad to Australia, Singapore and Russia.

Often, they are held on Black Friday as a direct response to the consumerist wave that takes place on the holiday.

“The mission is important because we live in an abundant world where there are more than enough resources for everyone’s needs to be met,” says Greensboro Mutual Aid organizer Saya’ka, who is helping to host Greensboro’s Really, Really Free Market this year. They preferred to use just their first name.

Clark agrees.

“There’s so much stuff that we have already that we can upcycle or re-gift,” she says. “I’m just trying to get people into the mindset of pro-upcycling, pro-recycling, pro-gifting economy and have fun with it.”

The idea is simple. Anyone from the community can bring items they no longer want to the market and drop them off. Then, others can come and “shop” the market and take things they want. People don’t have to donate to shop, and those who give things away don’t have to take anything if they don’t want to.

“It’s kind of like a multi-family yard sale, but it’s free,” Clark says. “It’s very loosey goosey.”

In the past, Clark says she’s had people come up to her during the markets and ask how much certain items cost.

“And I’ll tell them, ‘It’s free!’” Clark says. “And then they’ll just look at me like, What?!”

The idea of giving and receiving things without the exchange or expectation of money is still a rather taboo idea for many. And that’s because of the society we live in, says Saya’ka.

“We have always been fed a scarcity mindset that resources are limited,” they say. “Capitalism teaches us that we must hoard resources even if we don’t need them, but just in case.”

But the Really, Really Free Market pushes back against those deeply embedded ideas.

“We know together that we have all we need, and the Really, Really Free Market is just a living embodiment of that,” Saya’ka says. “When we combine our resources together, give and take freely, our needs can and will be met.”

At this year’s market in Greensboro, organizers are also calling attention to the ongoing genocide in Palestine as a way to keep the suffering of those in Gaza at the forefront of people’s awareness. The organizers won’t be donating any of the items to Gaza but hope that just raising awareness will remind attendees of what’s going on.

“We believe we won’t be free until we are all free,” Saya’ka says.

For Clark, she hopes that “shopping” at the market reduces the stress of gift giving this time of year.

“It’s more happy than going out into a busy shopping center,” Clark says. “The market is an attempt to alleviate the stress of the shopping season with an alternative way to acquire goods.”

In the past, items like furniture, dishes, beds and even fake Christmas trees have been dropped off. Every year and every market, there’s new and different stuff. That’s part of what makes the events so exciting.

“You don’t know what to expect,” Clark says.

In addition to the variety of objects that get donated to the market, the events draw a diverse crowd. According to both organizers, the markets draw people from all ages, cultural, race and ethnic groups.

And that’s important to Clark because it shows how easy being in community with others can and should be. She points to how quickly people came together to support one another in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the western part of the state.

“The community came forward to lift them up,” she says. “I think there will be more instances where more of that is needed climate-wise and economically speaking. I think we need to build that mentality of help your neighbor without expectation.”

In the aftermath of the presidential election when many are feeling lost and scared, Clark says that the market can be a light that restores faith in humanity.

“Because there’s much hatred and division, anything nice that can be put into the world, to build friendship, to build community, to do something to make someone’s world a little brighter,” Clark says. “We’re going to need more of this in the coming year.”

The Winston-Salem Really, Really Free Market takes place on Nov. 29 from 12-4 p.m. at 239 W. Acadia Ave. The Greensboro market will take place on Nov. 29 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at 1312 Glenwood Ave. The market will move to 1310 Glenwood Ave. if it rains.