Weekly Newsletter - April 16, 2018

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​Tuesday, April 17 • 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Kayla’s Birthday Celebration at Provo Park
This year marks the five year anniversary of Kayla Moore’s death at the hands of Berkeley police. So the community is throwing Kayla a great big party to keep her memory alive! There will be food, music, and art in celebration of her life and to lift up the campaign to seek justice for Kayla Moore.
Location: Provo Park, 1901 Allston Way, Berkeley
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Thursday, April 19 • 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Land & Freedom: Sovereignty, Right to Return, Anti-Displacement
What do organizers and activists need to learn and think about in how the state seeks to repress the right to land, movement, and sovereignty, from the streets of Oakland to Indigenous Territories to Palestine? Panelists from the Native community, the Black Community, and Arab/Palestinian groups are featured in this event hosted by the Center for Political Education and the National Lawyers Guild.
Location: East Side Arts Alliance, 2277 International Blvd. Oakland

Sunday, April 21 • 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Performance of Solitary Man: A Visit to Pelican Bay State Prison
Solitary Man, a powerful two-man play about solitary confinement, features Charlie Hinton and Fred Johnson (pictured). The performance will be followed by a panel of experts on the struggle against solitary confinement and mass incarceration. Tickets are $10 - $20 to benefit The San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper, an independent publication that reaches thousands of incarcerated people each month.
Location: Black Repertory Group Theater, 3201 Adeline St. Berkeley

Sunday, April 21 • 4:00 - 6:00 pm
Revolution in the Air with Alicia Garza and Max Elbaum
Max Elbaum, author of the new edition of Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao, and Che, will be in conversation with Alicia Garza, co-founder of Black Lives Matter and author of the new edition's foreward. This intergenerational dialogue draws on the book’s critical lessons in building organizations and movements. Sponsored by the the Center for Political Education.
Location: First Congregational Church, Collins Chapel, 2501 Harrison St. Oakland

Sunday, April 21 • 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Poor People's Campaign: East Bay Mass Meeting
Join the Poor People's Campaign, a National Call for Moral Revival. All are welcome to this East Bay mass meeting - activists, people of faith, and all those who care about justice. Learn about the 40 days of Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action that kicks off this Mother's Day that will include education, organizing, cultural arts, coalition-building and direct action. To learn more about the campaign, visit the national website.
Location: Taylor Memorial United Methodist Church, 1188 12th St. Oakland

Tuesday April 24 • 6:00 pm
Save the West Berkeley Shellmound: Berkeley City Council Meeting
Come to the Berkeley City Council meeting to help save the West Berkeley Shellmound, the oldest Ohlone sacred site. Show up at the beginning of the meeting, submit for public comment, and state that you are in support of the Shellmound and want them to take action to save it from development. The Shellmound is at risk of desecration by a five- story condo and shopping development. The site continues to be a cultural resource for Ohlone people today, who gather at the site for prayer and ceremony.
Location: City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley

Wednesday April 25, 2018 • 6:45 - 9:00 pm
Introduction to SURJ Meeting
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities including new pathways for entering the work, including Study and Action groups as well as committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. Featured Speaker: Sandra Johnson from All of Us or None, an organization fighting for the rights of formerly- and currently-incarcerated people and their families, and a project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. Please RSVP.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St. 13th Floor, Oakland

Thursday, April 26, 2018 • 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Winning Digital Sanctuary in the Trump Era
How are communities of color engaging and resisting tech companies in a digital age? Join local movement and tech leaders for drinks, dancing, and a keynote dialogue between thought leaders Catherine Bracy of Techquity and Lateefah Simon of Akonadi Foundation and the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board. Tickets $20 and up, to benefit the Center for Media Justice.
Location: Complex Oakland, 420 - 14th St. Oakland

Saturday, April 28 • 9:00 pm - 12:00 am
Fundraiser and Social for Mario Woods Remembrance Day
Wealth and Disparities in the Black Community - Justice 4 Mario Woods is sponsoring this event featuring spoken word, live music, art, poetry, raffle prizes, DJ’s and more to raise funds for the 3rd Annual Mario Woods Remembrance Day. Mario Woods was a young black man killed on December 2, 2015, by five SFPD officers in an execution style shooting. Donate here if you cannot attend.
Location: El Rio, 3158 Mission St. San Francisco

Monday, April 30 • 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Join us in Sacramento for Quest For Democracy Day 2018
Every Spring, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children/All of Us or None organizes a large-scale statewide lobby day for formerly-incarcerated people, family members with incarcerated loved ones, and allied community activists. Quest for Democracy Day supports pending legislation that affects people impacted by incarceration and this year,

SURJ is mobilizing too and we're being asked to lobby alongside LSPC/AUON members coming from all over California. The day will include a training workshop on sponsored bills and effective legislative advocacy. Then Action Teams will visit each legislator’s office to advocate in person, followed by a rally on the Capitol steps that lifts up the voices and leadership of those most affected by the prison industrial complex. Join us!
More details here where you can also RSVP.  
If you can't attend, you can make a DONATION here to support this massive mobilization.
Location: State Capitol, N Street at 12th, Sacramento

Tuesday, May 1 • 3:00 - 6:00 pm
Oakland May Day: March for Immigrant and Worker Rights
Join with SURJ Bay Area in this year's May Day as we rally and march for migrant and worker justice! This annual march for International Workers’ Day is sponsored by Oakland Sin Fronteras and endorsed by Anakbayan East Bay, Anti-Police Terror Project, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, Critical Resistance, Mujeres Unidas Y Activas, VietUnity East Bay, Xicano Moratorium Coalition, and SURJ, among others. The SURJ contingent will gather at 2:30 pm - RSVP here and march with us!
Location: Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland

Campaign to Restore Voting Rights to People in State Prisons and On Parole
SURJ has been supporting the work of Initiate Justice and their Voting Restoration and Democracy Act (VRDA) campaign. The VRDA would restore the right to vote to approximately 160,000 people in state prisons and on parole in California. If you've been helping gather signatures, all petitions need to be mailed, by Tuesday, April 17, to: Initiate Justice, PO Box 4962, Oakland CA 94605.

Join the SURJ - Faith National Campaign
Invitation to Prophetic Imagination: Community Safety for All
SURJ - Faith is organizing a national campaign that asks faith/spiritual communities to examine their relationship to policing and police violence. This campaign is an act of accountability to people of color who are asking white people to join them in imagining and taking action toward a world without policing. It's also aligned with the Vision for Black Lives. Learn more about the campaign. There are also resources and information that people can share with their faith communities.

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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