Weekly Newsletter - July 1, 2019

Monday, July 1 • 9:30 – 11:00 am
S.F. Playdate Protest to #CloseTheCamps
This is a playdate protest that centers our kids, calling on Congresswoman Pelosi to do everything in her power to unify her party to close the concentration camps where children, families and other immigrants are suffering and dying. We'll be reading stories, singing songs, playing and making movement art. We'll also hear from families who've been directly impacted and make our voices heard all the way to Pelosi's office. Sponsored by Hand in Hand, Bay Resistance, SURJ S.F., and Rice and Beans Childcare Cooperative.
Location: 98 7th St. San Francisco - Gather in the Federal Building courtyard behind the Bamboo Asia restaurant (along Mission St).

Tuesday, July 2 • 12:00 noon
#CloseTheCamps Protest at Senator Feinstein’s Office
We've seen the images and heard the stories coming out of child detention centers. Horrifically, these conditions aren't an accident. They are the byproduct of an intentional strategy by the Trump administration to terrorize immigrant communities and criminalize immigration. While members of Congress are home for the Fourth of July holiday, protests are being organized nationwide at their local offices. Sponsored by MoveOn, United We Dream, Families Belong Together, AFSC, and others, the demands are: Close the Camps, Not One Dollar for Family Detention and Deportation, Bear Witness and Reunite Families.
Location: 1 Post St. @Post, Market & Montgomery, San Francisco

Thursday, July 4 • 10:00 – 11:30 am
Standing on this Land Together: Indigenous, Settlers & Migrants
Join members of the Indigenous Ohlone, interfaith, and immigrant communities for prayer and ceremony on sacred Ohlone territory at the West Berkeley Shellmound site to honor the ancestors and 1st nations of the Bay Area. We reflect on what it means to be a guest on Indigenous land and how invisibility, displacement, and harm towards Indigenous peoples and immigrants are connected.  After the ceremony, for those who can stay, we will walk over to the water at the Berkeley Marina and have a picnic. Please bring something to share!
Location: 1900 4th St. Berkeley

Tuesday, July 9 • 5:00 pm
Angela Davis in Conversation with SURJ
Register for this webinar featuring activist and scholar Angela Davis in conversation with SURJ national leaders. This is part of SURJ's ongoing series, "Connecting the Dots: Border Militarism, US Domestic and Foreign Policy, and the Myriad Connections of Racial Capitalism." Spread the word and share the Facebook event page with family, friends and comrades. Register for the call here.
Location: Online

Tuesday, July 9 • 6:00 – 8:00 pm
The Justice Study Report Back
Do No Harm Coalition and Anti Police-Terror Project have called this gathering to report back on the data from their community-commissioned project, The Justice Study, an investigation into the health impacts of law enforcement violence. With research teams from UCSF and Santa Clara University, the 3 year study investigates all law enforcement violence — from police to ICE to the FBI. This gathering will center those most impacted - particularly those who are Black, Brown, Indigenous, Trans, and poor, and will solicit community feedback on strategies for releasing the data prior to any publication in medical and public health literature or in the media.
Location: Red Bay Coffee, 3098 East 10th St. Oakland

Friday, July 12 • 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Compassion Has No Walls: Mend the Past, Transform the Future
Join the Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity in front of the ICE building for their monthly vigil! We will nourish our spirit and call for the dismantling of all forms of detention and incarceration. Let us turn our collective energy to mend the past, heal the present, and transform the future! We resist the detention of immigrant children in concentration camps, like what was done in the past to Jewish communities, Indigenous communities, and Japanese and Japanese Americans during World War II.
Location: 630 Sansome St. San Francisco

Saturday, July 13 • 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Transforming White Fragility and Embodying Resilience
Based on the bestselling book by Robin D’Angelo, White Fragility is a term that defines a white person's reaction to difficult conversations and criticism. This workshop will teach us how to be able to define a white fragility situation, become aware of our own fragility responses, and learn to shift into a more resilient state. The goal is to build capacity to practice embodying a more open reaction in order to stay engaged. Register online. This workshop is co-hosted by SURJ Marin and the YWCA of Marin.
Location: YWCA San Francisco Marin, 4380 Redwood Highway, #Suite A-1, San Rafael

Saturday, July 13 • 12:00 – 1:00 pm
SURJ Human Billboard - Yes to Asylum Seekers, Sanctuary for All! No to White Supremacy!
Join us as we line the streets and create a human billboard calling for human rights for all asylum seekers. We are outraged at the deaths at the border, the caging and kidnapping of children, and the horrific conditions inside the detention centers. We call for an end to family separation, an end to detention centers and an open border for all those seeking asylum. Bring your signs and your energy! Join us for an art build on Sunday, July 7th. Email mobilization@surjbayarea.org for details.  
Location: Grand Lake Farmers Market, by the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave, Oakland

Thursdays, July 18 – August 8 • 7:00 – 9:00 pm
Unraveling the Right: A Class for Organizers and Activists in the Trump Era
TODAY, July 1, is the last day to register for this course!
Does the rise of white nationalism keep you awake at night? Do you want to understand today’s right wing better and strengthen your organizing strategies to help drive it back? Join The Center for Political Education this summer for this four-session class covering the right’s ideas and goals, historical lessons from past experience fighting fascism and the right, and strategies for building a winning anti-right coalition and the particular responsibilities of activists in the Bay Area. This class will be led by CPE co-director Rachel Herzing and Revolution in the Air author Max Elbaum and feature guest speakers. Space is limited, so please fill out this application form by today's deadline, July 1.
Location: Eric Quezada Center for Culture and Politics, 518 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Sunday, July 21 • 2:00 - 6:00 pm
Alternatives to Policing 4: Transformative Justice
How do we respond to violence within our own communities without relying on the police, prisons, or other state systems? This educational interactive event will offer a basic introduction to and overview of the core concepts of transformative justice. It will be a space for participants to begin thinking about community-based responses to violence. Sliding scale donations will support the continued work of the Alternatives to Policing Coalition. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Co-sponsored by First Congregational Church of Oakland, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Oakland Peace Center.
Location: First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St. Oakland

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 • 6:45 - 9:00 pm
Introduction to SURJ
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. You’ll hear about SURJ's pathways for entering the work, including committee work, upcoming workshops, and events. We'll answer your questions and share how you can get involved in the movement for racial justice. Please RSVP - space is limited. ASL interpretation will be provided if requested by 5:00 pm on Sunday, August 4th by emailing basebuilding@surjbayarea.org.
Location: Loper Chapel, First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley

Know Your Local Immigration Hotline Numbers
Via Bay Resistance: In light of the recent news, we want to make sure that everyone is informed and prepared. Learn the phone number for your local emergency immigration hotline and call if you see any ICE activity. It's important to verify before publicizing any information; spreading misinformation about possible raids can bring unnecessary panic and stress to our communities. Find your county's hotline number, and please share widely.  #PowerNotPanic #AbolishICE

Check Out these Updated SURJ Bay Area Policy Priorities for 2019
SURJ Bay Area's Policy Working Group is working in service to, and in collaboration with our people of color-led partner organizations that work on legislative advocacy. In this update, we look at some of the bills that have successfully crossed-over to their second house (California Assembly or Senate), hopefully on their way to the governor’s desk. Learn more about the organizations we partner with and the bills we're actively supporting. You can be part of this effort by adding your name to our Legislative Action List.

Sunday July 7 & Monday, July 8 • 12:00 – 8:00 pm
Rise Against Racism: Counter CUFI
Come to Washington, D.C. and tell the world to #CounterCUFI! For too long, Palestinians have been calling for freedom, justice, and equality; meanwhile, CUFI has quietly become the largest organization in the United States driving support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. With over five million members, CUFI uses its political leverage to ensure ongoing U.S. support for Israel’s colonization and military occupation of Palestine, including imprisoning Palestinian children; bombing homes, schools, and hospitals in Gaza; massacring peaceful protestors; and confiscating Palestinian land. By its own admission, CUFI “led the charge to have the U.S. recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,” and it continues to push for unconstitutional anti-BDS legislation and illegal settlement expansion. You can help by joining the action in Washington, D.C, signing the collective statement here, or donating to help support the action
Location: Washington, D.C.

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