Wednesday, November 6: RAPP Coalition Meeting
SURJ members joined Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) for their monthly coalition meeting. Every month RAPP organizers and members catch attendees up on their work, as well as upcoming events that you can attend or support. Oftentimes attendees break up into small groups where people who live in the same borough can brainstorm ways to organize together and immediate steps they can take in the coming month. Whether new to RAPP or already familiar with their work, all were welcome to the meeting!
Thursday, November 7: Chapter Meeting with Special Guests from SURJ National
SURJ NYC celebratd 10 years of Showing Up for Racial Justice! We welcomed SURJ Director Erin Heaney and Southern Organizing Director Evelyn Lynn, who helped us dig into our ideas about the US South, do some political education on the Southern Strategy, and spoke with our chapter about SURJ's new national 2020 strategy–including grassroots organizing to challenge white supremacy in elected office. Dinner was provided and there was an orientation for new members from 6:30-7:00pm.
Thursday, November 14: Fundraiser for Justice Committee 7pm
The Justice Committee (JC) supports and organize families who have lost loved ones to the police, empower low-income New Yorkers of color to hold the police accountable, and build safe, healthy communities without relying on law enforcement. SURJ’s Police Accountability Working Group hosted a fundraiser for JC to specifically help them with their goal of increasing their number of monthly donors by the end of the year. Monthly donors play an invaluable role in sustaining JC’s work to fight police violence and systemic racism in New York City. Consider becoming a monthly sustaining donor to Justice Committee here.
Sunday, November 24: Prison Industrial Complex Abolition 101
SURJ members joined the New York City chapter of Critical Resistance to discuss what Prison Industrial Complex abolition means, the relationship between the carceral state, racial capitalism, and PIC abolition, and how an abolitionist vision and framework is essential to organizing.
Sunday, November 24: Immigrant Rights Ally Training
Cosecha NYC and Close the Camps NYC held an ally training to reflect on what it means to practice allyship in the immigrant rights movement, the history of the immigrant rights movement and where we are today, and how to get more involved in immigrant rights organizing as an ally.