Weekly Newsletter - August 10, 2020

Monday, August 10 & Friday, August 14 • 12:00 – 1:00 pm
SURJ Action Hour
Feeling rage and deep sadness about racism and white supremacy, but not sure what to do? Join SURJ for an hour of action! We'll meet over Zoom on Mondays and Fridays at noon to provide concrete steps you can take—calling elected officials, signing petitions, etc.—to combat racism against Black and Indigenous people and communities of color. Register to reserve your spot! Register here for August 10. Register here for August 14.

Wednesday, August 12 • 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Virtual Film Screening: MAJOR!
Join SURJ’s Queer and Trans (QT) Committee for a virtual screening of MAJOR!, a documentary about the life and activism of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a formerly-incarcerated Black transgender elder and activist. She is a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion and a survivor of Attica State Prison, a former sex worker, an elder, and a community leader and human rights activist. This is the story of one woman’s journey, a community’s history, and how caring for each other can be a revolutionary act. This event is free and we will also be fundraising for the Transgender, Gender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project. Learn more and register here.

Thursday, August 13 • 1:45 – 8:45 pm
Sacramento Caravan: #SayTheirNames & Bring Our Loved Ones Home
Join the Ella Baker Center, Initiate Justice, Essie Justice, CURB, and others for an action at the State Capitol Building followed by a car caravan to the CA Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), and a candlelight vigil at night to honor lives lost to COVID-19 behind bars. We demand that Governor Newsom, CDCR, and the CA State Legislature take emergency action to decarcerate and save lives NOW! This event is FREE. More info - register here.
Location: CA State Capitol, 1315 10th St. Sacramento

Saturday, August 15 • 10:00 – 11:30 am
SURJ Contra Costa Virtual Planning Session
SURJ Contra Costa County is growing fast. We are committed to strengthening our work to move white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority. Join us as we launch new ways to get engaged, including collaborative action, educational opportunities, and expanded outreach to mobilize more white folks in today's movement for justice. Please sign up by 8:00 pm on Friday, August 14, to receive your Zoom Link to attend. Sign up here!

Saturday, August 22 • 2:45 – 5:00 pm
Intro to SURJ Virtual Meeting
Interested in learning about how SURJ Bay Area moves white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority? Hear about our current work and activities at this virtual introduction, including SURJ's pathways for engaging in the work such as Study & Action, committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We'll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice. Register today!

Tuesday, August 25 • 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Interrupting White Supremacy at the Root - Part II
This workshop is intended for anyone who is loving, nurturing, caring for, and raising up white children. It is an invitation for participants to root deeply in mutual liberation by developing their capacities to have more meaningful conversations about race, racism, and white supremacy with the children and young people in their lives. In part two of the series, we will be diving into practicing conversations with our kids and teens around racism, oppression, and mutual liberation. Having participated in part one of this workshop is helpful but not required. Register here.

Actions You Can Take This Week!

SIGN A PETITION:

Divest from Police Foundations – Police foundations are private, corporate-sponsored groups that enable cops to terrorize Black people. They supplement police budgets outside of public oversight. They give cops weapons to “test” on Black and Brown communities. And they’re funded by some of the largest corporations in the world. Help take the public pressure campaign to the next level and demand that these corporations divest from police foundations now.

Support the BREATHE Act on Social Media – In early July, the Electoral Project of the Movement for Black Lives introduced a visionary bill, the BREATHE Act, which will divest our taxpayer dollars from brutal, discriminatory policing and invest in a new vision of safety and justice: a vision that allows all people to thrive and be represented and free. Publicly support the BREATHE Act today by posting on your social media platforms. You can find examples and graphics in this toolkit.

Pressure UPS, Ford, and Humana to support Justice for Breonna – Three companies with large Louisville offices—UPS, Ford Motor Company, and Humana—employ more than 50,000 of the area's residents. Each one's executives have expressed some support for the Black Lives Matter movement, but have stopped short of demanding justice for Breonna. These companies have a lot of power over public life in Louisville. Sign this petition to demand that their executives take a stand and push for the firing, arrest, and charging of the LMPD officers who murdered Breonna Taylor.

JOIN OUR LEGISLATIVE ACTION LIST:

Join SURJ Bay Area's Legislative Action List to receive alerts to call your policymakers! You'll receive your policymaker's contact info and a script when we need to advocate for racial justice bills for things like police brutality, mass incarceration, and housing justice. All you will have to do is make a phone call—it'll just take 5 minutes!

DONATE:

Support SURJ - Do you work in a major corporation or know someone who does? Many big companies participate in the Benevity giving program. Employees can donate to SURJ Bay Area and the company will match the donation. Call in your friends and colleagues to show up for racial justice by donating to SURJ Bay Area through Benevity and DOUBLING the amount of the donation!

Support the San Francisco Bay View Newspaper – The SF Bay View is a historic Black-led and prisoner-led newspaper that covers worldwide racial inequality and political repression. This valuable resource, published daily online and monthly in print, is the only newspaper read widely both inside and outside prison. All donations will be used to keep the paper in print.

PUT UP A BLACK LIVES MATTER SIGN:

SURJ has Black Lives Matter lawn and window signs and postcards available for pickup. These are free but if you want to help cover costs, donate here. Grab some for friends and family, too! Pick them up at one of these locations:
• Marcus Books, 3900 Martin Luther King Way, Oakland, Monday - Saturday, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm and Sundays 12:00 – 4:00 pm (window signs and postcards only)
• World Grounds, 3726 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, 7:00 am - 2:00 pm, 7 days a week
• If you are in Berkeley area and want signs, please email fundraising@surjbayarea.org to make arrangements to pick-up.
• Zocalo Coffeehouse, 645 Bancroft Ave, San Leandro, 8:00 am -1:00 pm, 7 days a week (window signs and postcards only)
• ¡NEW! Cafe Zoe, 1929 Menalto Ave, Menlo Park (intersection of Menalto and Gilbert), Monday - Saturday 8:00 am - 1:30 pm (window signs only)

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.

Follow SURJ Bay Area on Social Media: Facebook • Twitter • Instagram

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