About Study & Action
Study & Action is back for the fall season! Now in its seventh year, this program has been designed with white audiences in mind in response to our BIPOC partners’ longstanding call: mobilize white people to do the necessary work of confronting white supremacy in their workplaces, schools, families and communities. Since then, hundreds of people have participated in our program. The program is coordinated by volunteer members of the SURJ Bay Area Study & Action Working Group.
Study & Action is back for the fall season! Now in its seventh year, this program has been designed with white audiences in mind in response to our BIPOC partners’ longstanding call: mobilize white people to do the necessary work of confronting white supremacy in their workplaces, schools, families and communities. Since then, hundreds of people have participated in our program. The program is coordinated by volunteer members of the SURJ Bay Area Study & Action Working Group.
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Throughout the program, we will be taking action with one of SURJ Bay Area’s accountability partners, CURB (Californians United for a Responsible Budget), to support their campaign to close 7 prisons in California in the next five years.
This year, for the first time, we are asking participants to pay for the program on a sliding scale, depending on what you can afford. Please know that no one will be turned away for lack of funds. |
Why Participate in Study & Action
Doing the work to unlearn white supremacy and taking accountable, principled action toward racial justice is needed now more than ever.
We are living in a consequential moment in the United States with an alarming rise in fascism, division, violence, and hate; the stripping of many of our civil rights; and the ever-closer specter of climate change. Through Study & Action, you can find purpose, joy, community, and power in fighting for what’s needed most in the world right now: collective liberation and a truly multiracial democracy. Throughout history, social movements have engaged in political education to inform how and why we organize, mobilize, and take action for justice and liberation. By studying the history of colonialism, genocide, and slavery, as well as the ongoing fight for civil rights as told through the experiences of those most impacted, we not only deepen our understanding of injustice, we also learn to become personally accountable to dismantling white supremacy and better prepared to face the challenges of our time.
This series will help you to:
Doing the work to unlearn white supremacy and taking accountable, principled action toward racial justice is needed now more than ever.
We are living in a consequential moment in the United States with an alarming rise in fascism, division, violence, and hate; the stripping of many of our civil rights; and the ever-closer specter of climate change. Through Study & Action, you can find purpose, joy, community, and power in fighting for what’s needed most in the world right now: collective liberation and a truly multiracial democracy. Throughout history, social movements have engaged in political education to inform how and why we organize, mobilize, and take action for justice and liberation. By studying the history of colonialism, genocide, and slavery, as well as the ongoing fight for civil rights as told through the experiences of those most impacted, we not only deepen our understanding of injustice, we also learn to become personally accountable to dismantling white supremacy and better prepared to face the challenges of our time.
This series will help you to:
- Examine how white supremacy shows up in your own life
- Talk to loved ones about public safety, white supremacy, mass incarceration, prison closures and reinvesting in communities
- Make powerful comments at public hearings
- Become a more confident fundraiser (for this series, we will fundraise for CURB’s prison closure campaign)
- Understand your personal stake in ending white supremacy
- Envision a future of collective liberation
- …and more!
What We Will Learn
We will host the next Study & Action series from September to November 2023.
Every week, facilitators will lead discussions and somatic exercises, and make space for small and large group conversations, journaling, and other creative activities. A portion of most evenings will be devoted to either planning for Action Week (more on that below!) or taking action to support CURB’s campaign.
Weekly sessions will be hosted on Zoom. You can register for Sundays from 9:00-11:30 am (PST).
Below is an outline of dates and what we will cover (some topics may change):
If you are interested in Study & Action but are not available for this series, please sign up to receive updates on future offerings.
Your Commitment
Study & Action participants are asked to:
We are committed to making our program as accessible as possible. If participants have other access needs, please let us know by emailing us at studyaction@surjbayarea.org.
We will host the next Study & Action series from September to November 2023.
Every week, facilitators will lead discussions and somatic exercises, and make space for small and large group conversations, journaling, and other creative activities. A portion of most evenings will be devoted to either planning for Action Week (more on that below!) or taking action to support CURB’s campaign.
Weekly sessions will be hosted on Zoom. You can register for Sundays from 9:00-11:30 am (PST).
Below is an outline of dates and what we will cover (some topics may change):
- Orientation call (Sun, 9/17, 9:00-10:00 am PST)
- Session 1 (Sun, 9/24): Examining Whiteness and History of White Supremacy
- Session 2 (Sun, 10/1): Capitalism, Slavery, and Incarceration, Part 1
- Session 3 (Sun, 10/8): Capitalism, Slavery, and Incarceration, Part 2
- Any member of a SURJ chapter can RSVP for this special training by CURB.
- Session 4 (Sun, 10/15): Black Liberation Movements
- Session 5 (Sun, 10/22): State Repression of Movements
- Session 6 (Sun, 10/29): Intersectionality, Mutual Interest, and Collective Liberation
- Action Week! (10/30 - 11/3): No official class this week, optional drop-in hours (times TBA) for questions and support
- Session 7 (Sun, 11/12): Anti-Racist Ancestors, Current Organizing, Synthesis, and Commitments
If you are interested in Study & Action but are not available for this series, please sign up to receive updates on future offerings.
Your Commitment
Study & Action participants are asked to:
- Commit to attending weekly, 2.5 hour sessions
- Have access to a computer with reliable internet to attend Zoom sessions. Every session is hosted on Zoom with auto captions with a live transcript enabled.
- Allow enough time to read/watch/listen to the weekly assignments (~2-3 hours per week). We offer captioned videos or transcripts of any videos without captions, transcripts of podcasts, and audio recordings of any text-based resources that are included as homework or during the sessions.
- Participate in “Action week” (details below)
- Set a personal fundraising goal to support CURB’s prison closure campaign and commit to reaching out to your network
- In addition to our scheduled sessions and as your schedule allows, please be open to taking action with CURB as you are able (i.e. calling or emailing representatives, making public comments at virtual hearings as the need arises, attending rallies if you live nearby, etc). None of these out-of-session actions are mandatory, as we realize it might not work for everyone’s schedule.
We are committed to making our program as accessible as possible. If participants have other access needs, please let us know by emailing us at studyaction@surjbayarea.org.
Action Details
A big part of Study & Action is to build our skills and understanding of ways to take meaningful actions in collaboration with our partners. Here are more details on what that looks like:
A big part of Study & Action is to build our skills and understanding of ways to take meaningful actions in collaboration with our partners. Here are more details on what that looks like:
- CURB Training: CURB will join us to teach you how to discuss public safety and prison closures, how to make effective public comments, the history of CURB’s work on prison closures, and more. This training is open to those who are members of any SURJ chapter, even if you are not enrolled in Study & Action. Please RSVP for the October 8th session if you are not enrolled in Study & Action.
- Action Week: Facilitators will support participants in preparing for week 7’s “Action Week”. All participants will be asked to help raise awareness about the importance of prison closures by either hosting an in-person or Zoom gathering or setting up one-to-one conversations to discuss public safety and prison closure and invite friends and family to support CURB’s campaign. You are welcome to team up for these activities!
- Fundraising Training and Goals: We will have a guest speaker host a fundraising training in order to prepare you to set fundraising goals to support CURB. You will be working towards that goal over the final 3-4 weeks of the program.
- Other Actions: You will also have the chance to email and/or call legislators, post on social media using CURB’s toolkit, and, for folks who can make it, make public comments at virtual public budget hearings with CDCR, attend rallies, and more.