Weekly Newsletter - April 29, 2019

Thursday, May 2 • 7:00 – 9:00 pm
FEATURED SURJ EVENT:
When We Fight We Win: Building Community Power to Dismantle the Prison System
Recent years have seen important fights and wins in the struggle to dismantle the prison system in California - from repealing sentence enhancements, to shutting down jail expansion, to working to restore voting rights to folks on parole. Come to this SURJ event, moderated by former Black Panther leader and political prisoner Ericka Huggins, to hear about victories and strategies from four frontline leaders: Sandra Johnson, Senior Organizer, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC)/ All of Us or None (AOUON); Eric Henderson, Policy Director, Initiate Justice; and Ivette Alé and Amber-Rose Howard, Statewide Coordinators, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB). Their stories will highlight the many ways you can also contribute to creating a more progressive vision of justice. Tickets sliding scale $5 - $25 to benefit LSPC/AOUON, Initiate Justice, and CURB. Info and tickets here.
Location: First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison Street, Oakland

Monday, April 29 • 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Equity Indicators & the People's Budget: Week 3 - Education
Join Community Ready Corps Allies and Accomplices for this deep dive into the Equity Indicators Report for the City of Oakland. Released last year, it clearly shows the effects of white supremacy on our community. Oakland received a failing score of 33.5 out of a possible 100 across all indicators, the lowest score of all cities that participated in this national study. This week's workshop on the Education Indicators is the third of a 6-week series to help us develop a deeper analysis and to call attention to the kinds of changes needed in the City's budget and policies. Event is free. More info about this session and upcoming sessions here.
Location: ACCE, 2501 International Boulevard, Oakland

Tuesday, April 30 • 5:30 – 8:30 pm
Justice for Dujuan Fundraiser
On June 23rd, 2018, Dujuan Armstrong died while in custody of the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Join us as we raise money to cover funeral costs and to support his two young children as his family continues to fight for justice.
Location: Private home in Oakland near MacArthur BART; RSVP and email publichealthjusticecollective@gmail.com for location and access information.

Wednesday, May 1 • 3:00 – 6:30 pm
International Workers' Day Mobilization
Rally and march this May Day under the banners “No Ban, No Wall, Human Rights and Sanctuary for All” and “No Borders, No Deportations, No Family Separation.” Organized by Oakland Sin Fronteras, the mobilization kicks off with a 3:00 pm rally at Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza followed by a march at 4:00 pm to the Lake Merritt Amphitheater for a closing rally and resource fair. There will be a designated section at the front of the march for youth and people with disabilities and Spanish translation and ASL interpretation.
Location: Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, to Lake Merritt Amphitheater, between 12th Street and 1st Avenue, Lake Merritt Boulevard, Oakland

Saturday, May 4 • 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
SURJ Marin: Conversations from the Heart
Spring is a season for so many family celebrations like graduations, weddings, and more. Many of us experience a mixture of excitement and dread, particularly if we are anticipating having challenging conversations with family and friends about race. 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’ when the national anthem is played, 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.
Location: Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Marin, 240 Channing Way, San Rafael

Wednesday, May 8 • 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Commemorating the Nakba: Movement-Building for Collective Liberation
Come out to learn about the links between Indigenous, Palestinian, and Black liberation struggles. Panelists include Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux), author and co-founder of the Red Nation, and Kristian Davis Bailey, author and co-founder of Black for Palestine. Tickets $15 - $50 to benefit MECA - the Middle East Children’s Alliance.
Location: Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center Street, Berkeley

Saturday, May 11 • 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Quest for Democracy Day Lobby Visit Workshop
To prepare for Quest for Democracy Day (Q4D), the SURJ Policy Working Group is holding this workshop where participants will learn how SURJ shows up to lobby in accountability with our partner organizations and the ways that policy combined with grassroots movements can be used as a tool for collective liberation. Workshop attendees will also learn the basics of lobby visits and how they fit into SURJ’s larger framework, practice speaking to a legislative staffer, and hear from our Policy partner, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC), on their 2019 policy priorities. Sliding scale $0 - $10 - all proceeds go to LSPC. More info and tickets.
Location: Seneca Family of Agencies, 6925 Chabot Road, Oakland

Saturday, May 11 • 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Many Stories, Shared Liberation: An Evening with Alicia Garza
As our movements for liberation grow, how do we strengthen our connections and move in solidarity inside and across communities? How do we resist the forces that try to fracture us? How do we reach out with love and curiosity and build trust? Join Alicia Garza, a founder of Black Lives Matter and Black Futures Lab, along with the Kehilla Community to explore questions of justice in our time, including the intersections within and between dismantling white supremacy and antisemitism. Tickets $30, or $15 for low income/under 35. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Location: First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, 2407 Dana Street, Berkeley  

Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 • 8:00 – 9:00 pm
The Wait Room, East Bay performance!
In partnership with Essie Justice Group, Jo Kreiter of Flyaway Productions has created an aerial dance piece: The Wait Room, a performance installation that exposes the physical, psychic, and emotional burden of incarceration for women with imprisoned loved ones. The project invokes the balancing act women have to maintain when stripped of emotional and economic support from their partners and family.
Location: East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, 339 11th Street, Richmond

Saturday, May 18 • 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Queer Trans Garden Party for TGIJP
Join SURJ Bay Area’s Queer and Trans Committee for a backyard garden party! We’ll be selling flower and herb seedlings that we’ve been growing and are ready to send off into your gardens and windowsills. There will be food, music and a raffle! This event will be a fundraiser for the Transgender, Gender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP). We are also amplifying TGIJP’s open letter on the struggle for housing security for their Black trans members. Host Contact Info: queertrans@surjbayarea.org; click here to RSVP.
Location: 1316 Harmon Street, Berkeley

Sunday, May 19 • 12:30 – 2:30 pm
Oakland Screening of “Seeds of All Things” for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
“Seeds of All Things” looks at the experiences of migrant and refugee families moving through HOPE Clinic, a community health center in Southwest Houston. Amid the backdrop of the contentious 2016 Presidential Election, HOPE Clinic serves as a haven for these new and aspiring Americans in need of healing as they navigate the extreme bureaucracy of the U.S. healthcare system. The screening, hosted by AAPCHO in partnership with the Firestarter Group, will be followed by a community conversation with director Dr. Yehuda Sharim and special guests. Pay what you can, tickets are available here.
Location: The New Parkway Theater, 474 24th Street, Oakland

Monday, May 20 • 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
2019 Quest for Democracy Day (Q4D)
Join hundreds of formerly incarcerated people, family members with incarcerated loved ones, and allied organizations, including SURJ, at the annual statewide lobby day in Sacramento sponsored by Legal Services for Prisoners with Children/All Of Us Or None (LSPC/AOUON). The day will include a training on sponsored bills and on effective legislative advocacy followed by a rally that lifts up the voices and leadership of those most affected by the prison industrial complex. After a bagged lunch, action teams will visit each legislator’s office to advocate in person. Learn more, sign up, and donate to support Q4D Day here.
Location: California State Capitol, 12th and N Streets, Sacramento

Via SURJ National: Join us in Creating a National Network of White Men
While white men benefit most from white supremacy and patriarchy, our allegiance to these systems also damages us: in exchange for dominance, we deny ourselves the ability to work in solidarity with others and permit our own exploitation by more powerful individuals and institutions. By choosing instead to stand and fight with those disempowered by white supremacy and patriarchy, we can achieve mutual interests of justice, liberation, and self-actualization. This is an affinity group: anyone, regardless of race or gender, is welcome and encouraged to join.
Our first national call will be Monday, April 29th, 8:30 pm-10:00 pm EDT (5:30-7:00 pm PDT). Please register here. On this call, we will discuss the need for this work, learn about the work people are already doing, and consider where each of us can plug in to engage our organizations, institutions, and communities.

Ask Governor Newsom to Remove Gregory Ahern from the Lottery Commission!
Please join MobCom and the Prison Abolition Working Group in calling on Governor Gavin Newsom to remove Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern from the California Lottery Commission. The California Lottery is supposed to embrace the values of integrity and transparency, but in 12 years as Alameda County Sheriff, Ahern has overseen massive growth in his jail budget even as the jail population declined by 45 percent. His office has perpetrated a stunning array of human rights abuses, including overseeing 33 in-custody deaths, punishment of people in need of medical care, pressure on women to get abortions, and other egregious mistreatment and neglect. Governor Newsom has the authority to remove Ahern as Lottery Commission chair and reduce the reach of his power. Please take 20 seconds today and sign this petition to the governor to remove Ahern from this statewide office.

In Advance of Mother's Day, Donate to National Bail Out to #FreeBlackMamas
The National Bail Out is a Black-led and Black-centered collective of abolitionist organizers, lawyers, and activists building a community-based movement to support our folks and end systems of pretrial detention and ultimately mass incarceration. Learn more at www.nationalbailout.org. With your generous support, they are able to continue to bail out community members ahead of Mother's Day and in the future, and provide life-changing supportive services and resource groups who are organizing to transform the criminal justice system.

Donate to Pine Ridge Reservation Emergency Relief
The Oglala Lakota Nation has declared a state of emergency on the sprawling Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Severe flooding there has made many roads impassible and trapped some residents in their homes for over two weeks. In response to the devastating situation, local community members founded Pine Ridge Reservation Emergency Relief, working in tandem with Oglala Sioux Tribe Emergency Management. You can help by donating to relief efforts here.

A SURJ Member’s Eyewitness Report from the Border
"Children separated from their parents, families traveling on foot for months to get to the U.S. border, people fleeing rape, gang violence, government brutality, torture, and murder..." Horrified by the stories she had been hearing about the situation at the southern border, SURJ Mobilization Committee member Lynn Levey traveled to the border with her daughter to volunteer and support asylum-seekers there. Read her moving eyewitness account of the experience and learn how you can support El Otro Lado, the amazing organization they volunteered with in Tijuana.

Free Masonique Saunders in Columbus OH
Columbus OH police killed 16-year-old Julius Tate Jr. in December and a week later arrested his 16-year-old girlfriend, Masonique Saunders, charging her with the murder the police committed in fear that she would testify against them. SURJ Columbus is working with a community coalition, demanding that Masonique be released from jail and that all charges be dropped. Learn more about the case here, sign the petition here calling on the Franklin County Prosecutor to drop all charges (you do not have to be an Ohio resident), and donate here to help with Masoniques' legal fees.

Boycott 24-Hour Fitness
Join Black Lives Matter Los Angeles in pursuit of justice for Albert Ramon Dorsey and Dennis Todd Rogers, killed by police who were called by 24-Hour Fitness employees. On December 23, 2018, more than 500 community members voiced their outrage at 24-Hour Fitness' practice of calling police on Black members. Join the boycott of 24-Hour Fitness until they meet demands to work in partnership with BLMLA to: issue a statement affirming the value of Black lives; conduct cultural competency training for all managers, workers, and franchises; and develop new protocols and alternatives to calling the police. For full details, read the letter here.

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