WEEKLY NEWSLETTER - DECEMBER 10, 2018

Tuesday, December 11 • 4:45 - 8:30 pm
Demand Accountability at Oakland City Council
Join our partners ACCE and APTP in resisting Oakland’s attempt to push through a repressive agenda -- OPD pay raises, unrestrained development, defunding affordable housing, etc. -- before the newly elected City Council is seated.
At 4:45 pm ACCE will hold a press conference in Oscar Grant Plaza to present better solutions. From 5:30 pm we will demand accountability in the outgoing City Council’s last meeting. The Women of the Housing and Dignity Village are also calling on the community to speak up against their brutal eviction.
Location: Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, 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

Tuesday, January 1 • 12:00 pm
10th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil
Come to the vigil to honor Oscar Grant who was murdered by BART policeman, Johannes Mehserle, in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009. Featuring special guest speakers, singers, dancers, dignitaries and the Community. Come out and support Oscar Grant's mother, Wanda Johnson and his family.
Location: Fruitvale Bart Station, 3401 E 12th St. Oakland

Sunday, January 3 • 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Injustice towards Black Trans Women and the First Trans Cultural District
Join speakers Janetta Louise Johnson and Honey Mahogany in a conversation about injustice towards black trans women in our criminal justice system and the formation of the nation's first transgender cultural district - the Compton's Transgender Cultural District! There is a definite energy in the air around the movement for serious criminal justice reform in the United States. In the midst of all of this, who is being helped and who is left out? Our two experts will focus on the importance of centering incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black trans women in the movement for criminal justice reform. Hosted by Manny’s and TGI Justice Project (TGIJP)
Location: Manny's, 3092 16th St. San Francisco

Sunday, January 13 • 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Supporting The Movement 4 Black Lives Policy Platform: Grassroots Legislative Strategy Workshop
This legislative strategy session and workshop will demystify the legislative process and build our legislative capacity. Eric Henderson, Policy Director for Initiate Justice will be joining us to talk about IJ's 2019 legislative priorities. This workshop is for anyone who is passionate, curious, or wants to learn more about the ways that policy combined with grassroots organizing can be used as a tool in the movement for racial justice and collective liberation. Sliding scale $0 - $10.
Location: Seneca Family of Agencies, 6925 Chabot Road, Oakland • More info/register

Sunday, 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. Free but please register here.
Location: Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley

Monday, January 21 • 1:00 - 4:00 pm
The People's March - 5th Annual Reclaim King's Radical Legacy
Save the date for the 5th Annual People's March to Reclaim the Radical Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a mass mobilization called by APTP - the Anti Police-Terror Project. On this federal holiday, we will highlight not the sanitized version of Dr. King, but the militant leader whose ideas and political organizing on issues of white supremacy, political power, capitalism, and U.S. imperialism increasingly called for a radical restructuring of the economic and social systems in the U.S. More details coming soon.
Location: Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland

Sunday, January 27 • 2:00 - 6:00 pm
Challenging White Male Supremacy Workshop
Hosted by STAND: White Men for Racial, Gender, and Economic Justice, this workshop will explore how white men can show up with integrity, imagination, and their whole selves and leverage their position as a white man to help create a world that’s more equitable and less oppressive. Event is free, though participants will be asked for donations for the Sagorea Te' Land Trust.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St. Suite 1300, Oakland

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