Weekly Newsletter - October 7, 2019

Wednesday, October 9 • 6:45 – 9:00 pm
Intro to SURJ Meeting
Want to get involved with SURJ Bay Area? Come learn about our current work and activities. SURJ moves white people to act for justice, with passion and accountability, as part of a multi-racial majority. You will 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. There will also be a speaker from one of our partner organizations, Initiate Justice, that's 100% led by people impacted by mass incarceration. The group works to end mass incarceration and change California's criminal justice policy. Register today!
Location: Movement Strategy Center, 436 14th Street, Suite 500, Oakland

Wednesday, October 9 • 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Townhall: Community Input for Independent Oversight of Police
In September, The Anti Police-Terror Project (APTP) released a paper on best practices for independent police oversight based on our legal research, impacted families' input, and lessons learned from the Oakland Police Commission, with areas to improve. Join with us to learn more about the Oakland Police Commission and participate in a community conversation on APTP’s findings. Hear Police Commission Vice Chair and community representative Ginale Harris. We need to help inform the City Council as they draft a ballot measure which can make sure Oakland’s Police Commission has effective oversight.
Location: Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakland

Thursday, October 10 • 12 – 2:30 pm
Support the Campaign to #EndMilitaryOPD
We need community control to stop the tools of war obtained and used by Oakland police. Attend and speak out on the Oakland Police Department’s use of military equipment at the Oakland Police Commission, which discusses proposed legislation to require OPD to submit for approval obtaining and using tank-like vehicles, assault weapons, flash bang grenades, and other militarized weapons and gear. General public comment is at 6:30, or speak when the military equipment ordinance comes up later on the agenda.
Location: Oakland City Hall, Oscar Grant Plaza (enter on 14th Street side of City Hall)

Friday, October 11, 2019 • 12 – 2:30 pm
Merge Left: Book Talk with Ian Haney Lopez
Acclaimed author Ian Haney López, a distinguished UC Berkeley professor, offers clear insights and a way forward in his highly anticipated new book, MERGE LEFT: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, and Saving America. Endorsed by Robert Reich, Van Jones, and the leaders of the AFL-CIO, SEIU, Voto Latino, Color of Change, Equal Justice Society, among others, the book offers a powerful, truly original, and even hopeful new strategy for defeating the Right’s racial fear-mongering and achieving bold progressive goals. Free and open to the public. More details and RSVP here.
Location: David Brower Center, 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley

Friday, October 11 • 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Report Back: K-12 Teacher Trip to Palestine
Teach Palestine, a project of the Middle East Children's Alliance, led a delegation of elementary, middle, and high school teachers to Palestine this summer. The goal was to learn about Palestine firsthand, explore connections to the lives of their students in the US, and bring those insights back to their classrooms. Come hear what they learned and experienced, and how it’s changing their teaching. Palestine food and crafts, too! Wheelchair accessible. Click here to RSVP on Facebook. For more information: jody@mecaforpeace.org
Location: 518 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Monday, October 14 • 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Free Them CA: Panel of Criminalized Survivors & Letter Writing
Join Survived & Punished (S&P) CA and TGI Justice Project (TGIJP) in conversation with a panel of criminalized survivors of gender-based violence. Moderated by S&P organizer Aminah Elster, the panel will share their experiences and analyses about criminalization and their fight for freedom. The evening will include letter writing to incarcerated survivors in California prisons. All letter writing materials provided. Refreshments will also be served. RSVP and more details here.
Location: East Side Art Alliance, 2277 International Boulevard, Oakland

Saturday, October 19 • 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Human Billboard: Stop Family Separations! Asylum is a Right!
Asylum seekers caged at the border! Thousands more children separated from their families! Unrelenting inhumane conditions inside detention centers! Join us for a Human Billboard. We come together because we refuse to silently accept what is being done in our names. We are taking our outrage and grief out of our homes and into the streets and public spaces to demand an end to these atrocities. No human is illegal; no one deserves the treatment now imposed by our government for seeking asylum. Funds will be raised at the event to support Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).
Location: In front of Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland

Sunday, November 3, 2019 • 12:45 – 3:00 pm
Spill The Disabili-Tea™: A Disability Justice Workshop
What is Disability Justice? People often express feeling intimidated and ill-equipped to unpack what we've been taught about disability, and how to support and advocate for disabled people in our everyday lives. This workshop is a fabulous opportunity for you to dive into the magic of disability justice with SURJ and Alex Locust at the helm. Alex will facilitate an interactive discussion of disability justice for those committed to elevating their support for disabled folks in their community. Come join us for an afternoon of real talk, experiential exercises, group work, and lots of laughs as we all Spill the Disabili-Tea™.  Click here for tickets, sliding scale from $20-$80.
Location: Sierra Club, 2101 Webster Street, 13th floor, Oakland

Sunday, November 3, 2019 • 1:30 – 4:30 pm
Challenging Conversations About Race and White Supremacy
How do we approach difficult conversations, whether it’s about racist violence on the border, cultural appropriation, or white supremacy and racial justice in general? What is it like to have these conversations with our family, friends and coworkers with a vision for the long haul? Members of the White Noise Collective will facilitate this workshop exploring the difficult conversations in our lives around race and power. Tickets are sliding scale $15 - $85.  No one turned away for lack of funds. Preregistration is required due to limited space.
Location: East Bay Community Space, 507 55th Street, Oakland

Support Abundant Beginnings!
SURJ Bay Area partner organization Abundant Beginnings needs our financial support to continue their programs and to eventually purchase land. Please donate and/or share their donation page widely with the greater community. Abundant Beginnings is a community education and empowerment initiative that is re-imagining how communities can grow learners who think critically, live responsibly, and create meaningful change. They center the needs of those who are currently marginalized from meaningful educational experiences, with emphases on students of color, gender expansive and queer students, and differently-abled learners. Check out this adorable video and then donate HERE.

Read the Latest SURJ Blog Post
Read SURJ Bay Area member Mickey Luckey's summary of a Symposium on 400 Years of Resistance to Slavery and Injustice. The powerful event, which was held at UC Berkeley at the end of August, was filled with many memorable stories shared by an impressive group of Black scholars and performers to commemorate 400 years of resistance to slavery and injustice.

Support ACA 6 and Voting Rights for Formally Incarcerated Californians
Nearly 50,000 California voters are barred from voting every year because they are on parole. ACA 6 would restore voting rights to these individuals. If the bill passes the California Senate, it will be on the 2020 ballot. Democracy needs everyone, including people on parole who are reentering our communities. You can show your support for ACA 6 by signing this petition and sharing it with family and friends.

Support Eric Garner's Family and those fighting for police accountability in NYC
While the the firing of Officer Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD cop who killed Eric Garner in July 2014, is a small victory for the Garner family and those working to hold NYPD accountable, there is still much work to be done. You can help by reading and signing this letter of support for Ramsey Orta, the person who filmed the incident and has been imprisoned since 2016; calling Mayor de Blasio (212-639-9675) and demanding that all officers involved in misconduct and the ensuing cover-up be fired; making a donation to Justice Committee and/or Communities United for Police Reform who will continue supporting the Garner family and demanding transparency; reporting the Pantaleo GoFundMe to support Pantaleo post-firing by calling GoFundMe and/or signing Color of Change's petition.

Fire LAPD Officers Lee and Robles for the Murder of Grechario Mack
Sign and share the petition to fire the Los Angeles police officers who murdered 30-year-old Grechario Mack, father of two daughters. On April 10, 2018, Mack was in the midst of a mental health challenge inside the the Crenshaw-Baldwin Hills Mall when LAPD Officers Ryan Lee and Martin Robles shot him and then stood over him – he was still alive – and fired two more rounds into his body, killing him. Black Lives Matter Los Angeles is calling on LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore to fire the two police. Learn more about the case and sign the petition here.

Support Central Maine SURJ's Know Your Rights Working Group
Central Maine SURJ has started a new Know Your Rights working group focusing on getting Know Your Rights education in the community. Their first training, in partnership with Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, drew a record turnout of 40 people. Translations in French, Portuguese, Somali, Lingala, and Swahili were provided given that many refugees and asylum seekers there are from African countries. Central Maine SURJ is raising funds to support their efforts. Learn more about their plans and make a donation here.

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