Weekly Newsletter - April 9, 2018

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TOMORROW! Tuesday, April 10 • 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Victories from Inside Out: Dismantling the Prison Industrial Complex
SURJ presents Taina Vargas-Edmond & Dorsey Nunn in a Live Taping of the Podcast, Speak Out with Tim Wise
Taina Vargas-Edmond, Executive Director of Initiate Justice and Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children/All of Us or None will be in conversation with author and educator Tim Wise at this live taping of his national podcast.
As leaders at the forefront of policy and advocacy work on behalf of incarcerated Californians, the formerly-incarcerated, and their families, Taina and Dorsey will look at recent victories against the prison industrial complex and look ahead to new challenges. Advance tickets sliding scale $5 - $25. No one turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds go to LSPC/AUON and Initiate Justice.                          
Location: 1st Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison, Oakland
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Wednesday, April 11 • 10:00 am
Justice 4 Sahleem Tindle
Come to this protest rally and let your voices be heard alongside Mothers Fight Back and the family of Sahleem Tindle who was murdered on January 3, 2018, by BART police officer Joseph Mateu. Demand that Mateau be fired, charged, and convicted. DA Nancy O’Malley has the power to charge Mateu and we must let her hear our voices!
Location: Alameda County Courthouse, 1225 Fallon St. Oakland

Wednesday, April 11, 2018 • 7:15 - 8:45 pm
Film Screening of The Long Shadow
When filmmaker and investigative journalist Frances Causey, a daughter of the South, set out to explore the continuing racial divisions in the U.S., what she discovered was that the politics of slavery didn't end with the Civil War. In an astonishingly candid look at the United States' original sin, The Long Shadow traces slavery's history from America's founding up through its insidious ties to racism today. See the trailer. Sponsored by Resistance Action East Bay (an Indivisible affiliate) and KPFA, SURJ members will be part of a post-screening discussion, collecting donations and plugging people into our work. Tickets: $15, students $10. Purchase online or at the door.
Location: The Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave. Oakland

Saturday, April 14 • 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Black Liberation Across Geographies
Hear three community leaders share about their work and how we can actively support projects building Black Liberation in Appalachia (Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, Co-Executive Director of Highlander Center), Haiti (Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of Haiti Action Committee) and the Bay Area (Kamau Walton, Communications Associate at the TGIJP and local leader in movements to abolish imprisonment and policing). Sponsored by Catalyst Project. Sliding scale donation of $0 - $15 suggested.
Location: Oakstop, 1721 Broadway, Oakland

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. Note: There will be an art build for this event on Sun. April 15 • 11:00 am - 3:00 pm.
Location: Provo Park, 1901 Allston Way, Berkeley

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 on 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

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, a 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 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.  You can make a DONATION here to support this massive statewide 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 us to 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.
Location: Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland

Campaign to Restore Voting Rights to People in State Prisons and On Parole
SURJ is 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. Sign up to help gather signatures, make a donation to support this critical work, and read the 2-page talking points and signature-gathering instructions here.

Support the New Poor People's Campaign
Fifty years ago last week, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis as he joined sanitation workers there who were demanding better wages and working conditions. The campaign he was working on before his life was cut short was the Poor People's Campaign, an effort to link racial justice work and economic justice work across the country.

Now, a new Poor People's Campaign is emerging. SURJ has endorsed the "Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival," which aligns with our commitment to racial justice through a cross-class movement that centers poor and working people. This Mother's Day, the Campaign will kick off with 40 days of Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action that will include education, organizing, cultural arts, coalition-building and direct action. To learn more, visit the national website.

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 our 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, and is 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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