WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - December 3, 2018

Tuesday, December 4 • 6:45 - 9:00 pm
Intro to SURJ Meeting
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. SURJ moves white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority. You'll hear about SURJ's pathways for entering the work, including committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We'll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice. Please RSVP - space is limited.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster Street, Suite 1300, Oakland

Saturday, December 8 • 9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Emergence-See: White Fragility and the Criminal Injustice System
Building on the powerful debut of "9-1-1, What's Your Emergency?" - a play exploring white fragility, personal narrative, and systemic racism - the playwright Jovelyn Richards and SURJ Bay Area are co-hosting this all day workshop for white folx who identify as women and those who have been socialized as women. The goal is to deepen individual and collective understandings of what may drive white women to call the police on people of color; on the immediate impact those calls can have; and how healing is necessary for collective liberation. Space is limited. Register here.
Location: Will be emailed to registrants, Oakland

Saturday, December 8 • 7:00 - 9:00 pm
People's Assembly for Migrant Caravan Solidarity
What are the root causes of the mass migration of Hondurans and other Central Americans to the U.S. border? What are the ways people and organizations here in the Bay Area can support the material and political goals of the migrants who are seeking asylum? These questions and more will be addressed at this evening of sharing and action as we make collective sense of the recent caravans and take action in solidarity of their participants. Convening organizations include SOA Watch, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Pueblo Sin Fronteras, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, Task Force on the Americas, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, among others.
Location: First Presbyterian Church, 2619 Broadway (at 27th St.), Oakland

Sunday, December 9 • 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Conversations from the Heart - with SURJ Marin
Whether you’d like to share your current interest in racial justice, talk with your loved ones and neighbors about changing the name of the Dixie School District, discuss what it means to ‘take a knee’ during the national anthem, or engage in conversation about our country’s treatment of migrants and asylum seekers, SURJ Marin is offering an opportunity to practice these conversations in a safe and supportive space. Come learn how to engage and respond more effectively through deep listening, finding common ground and speaking from the heart.
Location: Marin Horizon School, 305 Montford Ave. Room 201, Mill Valley

Sunday, December 9 • 5:00 - 10:00 pm
20 Years of Strategy and Struggle for Abolition
Critical Resistance invites you to this community celebration, highlighting 20 years of dismantling the prison industrial complex and building for the world we need. Author, educator and activist Angela Y. Davis will be in conversation with Black liberationist organizer Kamau Walton (Critical Resistance), anti-imperialist organizer and former political prisoner Linda Evans (All of Us or None), and firebrand Southern freedom fighter Mary Hooks (Southerners On New Ground). The evening includes a dinner, reception, and program. Tickets $15 - $45. More info.
Location: First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St. Oakland

Wednesday, December 12 • 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Democracy Needs Everyone Fundraiser for Initiate Justice
Initiate Justice is hosting an awareness-raising fundraiser with an interactive art walk, music, video screening, and raffle. Show up in support of IJ and learn about the newest phase of their Free the Vote campaign, to restore voting rights to those on the inside and on parole. IJ has asked SURJ to help cover the cost of the venue rental so if you can, please make a donation here.
Location: Qulture Collective, 1714 Franklin St. Oakland

Saturday, January 20 • 12:00 - 6:00 pm
People Get Ready II Conference (Rescheduled)
How do we take up the often difficult task of balancing our revolutionary imagination with the brutal realities we face - war, right-wing terror, racist state policy, environmental devastation, etc. Sponsored by the Center for Political Education, this one day conference (rescheduled from November 17 which had been cancelled due to dangerous air quality) on analysis, strategy and the fight for our future features visionary speakers and sessions to understand where we are, what we’re up against, how to fight back, build strength, and shift power — now and into the future.
Location: Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

Support Immigrant Families Affected by Recent Fires and Rural NorCal SURJ
People who have suffered due to the most recent California fires still need our support, especially our most vulnerable neighbors - particularly immigrant community members, day laborers, and domestic workers. While others may be able to receive FEMA aid, undocumented status prevents many immigrants from getting the help they need when they’re forced from their homes. Support immigrant families by making a donation to 805 UndocuFund Fire Relief. And the Rural Northern California SURJ Chapter in Butte County is fundraising to support fire survivors there who've lost everything and need money for lodging, food, gas, and basic living expenses. Please donate here.

Support All of Us or None Community Giveback For Children of Incarcerated Parents
It’s that time of year again when All of Us or None, a project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, organizes an event to give bikes and other gifts to children with parents in jails and prisons throughout California. The Annual Community Giveback is 100% supported by donations and volunteer time so please support this event by sponsoring the purchase of a bicycle here. You can also mail a donation to: LSPC/Community Giveback, 4400 Market St. Oakland CA 94608.

Tell Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom We Want Criminal Justice Reform
Governor-Elect Gavin Newsom is gathering feedback on what California's priorities should be and he did not list Criminal Justice Reform for consideration. Our partner organization CURB is asking us to please respond to Newsom’s survey and list Criminal Justice Reform in the “Other” category. California's incarceration budget keeps rising, wasting billions that can be more effectively used on education, environmental protection and building out community-based alternatives to incarceration (such as mental health facilities, housing, job training, substance use treatment, etc.).

Pledge to Have a Bold Conversation at Your Holiday Table This Season
Calling all white people - instead of avoiding conversations about race around the holiday table, this year pledge to have a bold and courageous conversation about race with family and friends. Watch some tips on how to do that from Color of Change in collaboration with SURJ, featuring actor and SURJ Connector Matt McGorry (Orange Is the New Black and How to Get Away With Murder) in a video on why those conversations are so crucial in the struggle against white supremacy.
Support Central American Migrants and Asylum Seekers at the Border

Nationally, SURJ is supporting efforts to find sponsors and fundraise for asylum seekers at the border. There are many ways you can get involved! Learn more about who these refugees are and why they are coming in this blog post by SURJ member Micki Luckey. Find out how you can become a sponsor here. Make a donation to support sponsorship efforts here. Support the work of Families Belong Together which opposes the cruel, inhumane and unjustified separation of children from their parents at the border. Support the fundraiser organized by Pueblo Sin Frontera which is accompanying the Central American migrant caravan. Consider going to the border with the Sanctuary Caravan which includes faith, labor and community leaders. Meet Cosecha at the border to greet migrants and asylum seekers. Here is a directory of the many ways you can support groups at the border.

SURJ Faith Resources on Anti-Semitism and White Supremacy
SURJ-Faith curates a "Countering Anti-Jewish Oppression" resource list. There are general resources at the top of the list; the rest of the list provides resources particularly for addressing anti-Semitism/Anti-Jewish Oppression in Christian tradition and other religious/spiritual traditions that utilize the Bible and aspects of Christian theology.
This past February, SURJ-Faith offered a webinar led by members of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ) on anti-Semitism and intersections with Christian hegemony and white supremacy. Find that webinar here.
Dove Kent, Former Executive Director at Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, has collected some of her work on anti-semitism on Medium. Her most recent piece is a collaboration with Rev. Jennifer Bailey drawing the connections between the violence of racism and anti-Semitism.

SURJ Bay Area Chapter - Join us! Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. Learn more at www.surjbayarea.org. SURJ Bay Area is one of 150 chapters and affiliates nationwide. Learn about SURJ National and our mission, vision, and values HERE.
Want to support our work? You can make a donation for SURJ's organizing and educational efforts with over half of what we raise going to Black and people of color-led partner organizations. Make a one-time donation or become a monthly sustainer HERE. Contributions are tax-deductible.

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Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Bay Area c/o PO Box 22748, Oakland CA 94609