Weekly Newsletter - January 2, 2018

Thank you for supporting SURJ's Annual Fundraising Campaign! 

Thank you to all our supporters for showing up in 2017 and for donating to SURJ Bay Area's #12DaysToShowUp Fundraising Campaign. We raised over $21,000 to fund powerful racial justice organizing throughout the East Bay and the country. One quarter of funds raised will be used for SURJ Bay Area's organizing in 2018 and one quarter will support rural and under-resourced SURJ chapters nationwide.
Half of funds raised will be distributed to powerful people of color-led local organizations which we are humbled to support. We encourage you to learn more about and support them: Abundant Beginnings, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, All of Us or None, Anti-Police Terror Project, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Causa Justa:Just Cause, Community Ready Corps, Essie Justice Group, Initiate Justice, Restore Oakland, Sogorea Te' Land Trust, Stop Urban Shield, and TGI Justice Project.
To you and yours: thank you! We are honored to do this work with you and grateful for your contributions!
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Saturday, January 6 •  2:00 - 4:30 pm
Film "City Rising:" Public Land for Public Good
Please join First Congregational Church of Oakland and KCET City Rising for a screening of "City Rising," the new documentary examining gentrification. The film will be followed by a discussion about the use of public land in Oakland with a group of local advocates from the Citywide Anti-Displacement Network.  
Location: First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St, Oakland • More info

Monday, January 8 • 5:00 - 7:00 pm PST
SURJ Faith Webinar for Community Safety for All Campaign
SURJ Faith and Soulforce are hosting this webinar, “The Snatch Back: When Christian Supremacy is Stealing Your God," which will explore the important role of the church in reclaiming the Divine from systems of power and violence. Topics of discussion include: How is God being co-opted by systems of power (like white supremacy and heteropatriarchy) that perpetuate violence and death, especially in policing? How have churches been complicit or coerced into participating in the policing system, and what is the role of churches to change this disturbing reality and to create a different future that is truly in line with our politics, ethics, and theology? Webinar is free but you must register.
Location: Online or via phone • More info/RSVP

Tuesday, January 9 • 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Deport ICE: The Resolution To End OPD Cooperation With ICE
Oakland's Public Safety Committee will debate a resolution from City Council members Desley Brooks and Rebecca Kaplan to end all Oakland Police Department cooperation with ICE, after OPD assistance in an August 16 raid violated the city's sanctuary policy. Come out to help get it through the full Council.
Location: Oakland City Hall, 14th & Broadway, Oakland • More info

Tuesday, January 9 • 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Restore the Vote: Overturning Voter Suppression Workshop
This workshop will provide the context for the Voting Restoration & Democracy Act of 2018, including essential understanding of voter suppression history in the United States and California. Learn concrete actions you can take over the next several months to help restore voting rights to 162,000 incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated individuals in California. This effort is led by Initiate Justice. Free but please RSVP.
Location: Warehouse, 955 7th St., Oakland • More info/RSVP 

Wednesday, January 10 • 6:45 - 8:45 pm
Introduction to SURJ Meeting
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities! You'll also hear about SURJ's new pathways for entering the work, including Study and Action groups as well as committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We'll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice. Featured Speaker: Troy Williams, editor of the monthly, San Francisco Bay View, a national Black newspaper which has been publishing since 1976.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St. Suite 1300, Oakland • More info

PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE & TIME
Thursday, January 11 • 8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Mobilization to Sacramento to Repeal Costa-Hawkins
A first hearing on the bill to repeal the state restriction on rent control - the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, AB1506 - is scheduled for this date. Join the Housing Now! CA coalition (of which SURJ is a member) in Sacramento to tell our lawmakers we need REAL rent control to combat gentrification and displacement. RSVP to join other SURJ members at the hearing. We'll be coordinating rides from the Bay Area. And if you can't make it, call your legislators beforehand using this call script!
Location: Sacramento State Capital, 1315 10th St, Sacramento • More info/RSVP

Thursday, January 11 • 7:00 - 9:00 pm
SURJ Queer Trans (QT) Committee Film Screening, "I Am Not Your Negro"
SURJ Bay Area's QT Committee invites you to this free film showing of "I Am Not Your Negro," a powerful documentary based on the work of James Baldwin that dives deep into white supremacy and resistance. This screening is on the eve of APTP's 96 hours of Direct Action to Reclaim King's Radical Legacy and members of QT Committee will encourage attendees to participate in actions January 12-15th, including the MLK Day march on Monday, January 15th.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St. Suite 1300, Oakland • More info/RSVP

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 

Friday, January 12 - Monday, January 15
96 Hours of Direct Action to Reclaim Martin Luther King Jr.’s Radical Legacy
For the fourth year in a row, the Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) is calling on people and organizations to stand in solidarity and say no to white supremacy, no to state-sponsored terror, no to development over people, no to misogyny, homophobia and transphobia, no to the targeting of immigrants and Muslims. Each day of the mobilization, there will be actions focused on different issues:
  • Friday, January 12 - State-Sponsored Violence
  • Saturday, January 13 - Housing
  • Sunday January 14 - Indigenous/International Solidarity
  • Monday, January 15 - the 4th Annual March to Reclaim King's Radical LegacySURJ Bay Area will be kicking off its participation in the #96Hours with a morning rally and human billboard:

Friday, January 12 • 7:00 - 10:00 am
MLK Morning Wake Up Call
Join SURJ at Rockridge BART where we’ll be holding up signs and banners and passing out flyers to morning commuters that focus on the theme of the day - state-sponsored violence - by highlighting alternatives to calling the police, including BART police, as well as looking at their role in upholding white supremacy. Come for a short shift or stay the whole time.
Location: Rockridge BART Station, 5660 College Ave., Oakland • More info/RSVP 

Monday, January 15 • 1:00 - 4:00 pm
4th Annual March to Reclaim King's Radical Legacy
The week-end of activities will culminate in a mass mobilization through the streets of Oakland. This family-friendly march will focus on this year's theme of #NonCompliance with the Trump/Schaaf corporate agenda. SURJ will be organizing a contingent and all are welcome to march with us as we show up in solidarity with Black and Brown communities.
Location: Gather at Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th St. & Broadway, Oakland • More info

Wednesday, January 24 • 7:30 - 9:30 pm
Hear Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrice Cullors Speak
Los Angeles-based activist and civil rights leader, Patrisse Cullors, will speak on the occasion of her new book release, When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir, co-written with award-winning author and journalist asha bandele, who will also appear. The powerful and inspiring evening, to benefit KPFA, will be moderated by KPFA UpFront co-host and APTP co-founder Cat Brooks. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door.
Location: First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St, Oakland • More info/Tickets

Sunday, January 28 • 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
SURJ Difficult Dialogues Workshop
How do we approach the challenging conversations in our lives, whether it’s about confederate flags, Donald Trump, cultural appropriation, Palestine/Israel, or even just racism and racial justice in general? This workshop is an opportunity to dive in much deeper with structured time to practice a range of difficult conversations around highly-charged racial issues. We will be sharing some basic skill-building tools in how to approach conversations, and then explore scenarios relevant to the lives of participants. Tickets are sliding scale $15 - $25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster St. Oakland • More info

Sunday, February 11 • Two sessions: 10:15 am - 1:00 pm and 1:15 - 4:00 pm
SURJ Bystander Intervention Workshop 
We've all been there. Someone in a public place says or does something to another person that makes us feel uncomfortable or even scared for that other person. Learn how to intervene in those situations, including tactics from de-escalation strategies to some basic self-defense. This workshop will provide a baseline for reducing harm and acting in effective solidarity with people being harassed or assaulted. Tickets are sliding scale $10 - $20. No one turned away for lack of funds. For ticket requests or questions, contact basebuilding@surjbayarea.org.
Location: Suigetsukan Dojo, 103 International Blvd., Oakland • Info on 10:15 session  Info on 1:15 session

Let's Get REAL Rent Control in CA - Repeal Costa-Hawkins! 
Housing Now! CA (of which SURJ is a member) is leading an exciting campaign to pass AB1506, which would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. AB1506 is in the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development. AB1506 is in the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development.We'll be mobilizing to Sacramento on January 11th for the bill's first hearing, but in the meantime, here are two important actions you can take to support AB1506:
•  Sign onto this letter to Speaker Anthony Rendon and/or call him at (916) 319-2063
•  Email or call your assemblymember, especially if they are one of the bill authors: Rob Bonta: (916) 319-2018; David Chiu: (916) 319-2017; Richard Bloom: (916) 319-2050, or if they sit on the Committee on Housing and Community Development (full list here).
Sample call script: "Hello, my name is [X] from [city]. I support AB1506, which would repeal Costa Hawkins and allow real rent control in California, and urge you to make sure it passes through committee and gets a floor vote without amendments." Housing Now!'s goal is 1000 calls this week - help us get there!

Join the Campaign to Restore Voting Rights to 160,00 People in State Prisons and On Parole!
Sign up for a shift with SURJ to gather signatures to get the Voting Restoration and Democracy Act on the California ballot in November 2018. The VRDA, spearheaded by Initiate Justice, would restore the right to vote to approximately 160,000 people in state prisons and on parole in California. Once you sign up for a shift, we'll email you a few days beforehand with the name and contact info for your team lead, as well as an exact meet-up location. We'll provide a brief on-the-spot training, but you can also read the 2-page talking points and instructions here. Feel free to bring friends.

Justice for Kayla Moore
Kayla Moore, a Black trans woman with a mental health diagnosis, was killed by Berkeley police in 2013. Four years later, her family and community are still working to hold the City of Berkeley and Berkeley police accountable with a civil suit. Pack the court (check Facebook for updates) to support the Moore family and demand an end to the criminalization of and violence against Black, trans, and disabled people. You can also sign up for Text Alerts - text justice4kayla to 33222 to receive up to 8 updates a month. More info

Black Lives Matter Signs Available at Marcus Books
SURJ's Black Lives Matter window signs are now available at Marcus Books, an historic Black-owned independent bookstore that, since 1960, has specialized in titles by and about Black people. Pick up your window sign and shop for books for children, teens, and adults. Net proceeds from sign sales go to Black Lives Matter Bay Area. Marcus Bookstore is located at 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Oakland. More info

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.