The new stimulus bill has now been passed and some people will soon be getting a second stimulus check. You may be one of them!
This time last year, this community got together and together pledged to redistribute $120,000 from our stimulus checks. After the uprisings this summer and the pandemic that laid bare the depth of racism and injustice in this country, SURJ NYC membership swelled tenfold. So: we are aiming to double the amount we are pledging to redistribute to $200K by Mothers Day.
Throughout a year of pandemic, white workers have been disproportionately likely to have jobs that let us work from home, so many of us were able to stay employed. We’ve seen that many of us can exist just fine on furlough pay, savings, or with help from family to weather job losses; nationally, the median wealth of white families is 10 times that of Black families. But for too many New Yorkers, this check won’t go nearly far enough towards meeting basic needs—or even be received at all.
That is why we want you to join us in pledging to redistribute your stimulus check.
At SURJ, one of the key values guiding our organizing is that “there is enough for all.” There are enough resources in the world for everyone’s basic needs to be met. The problem is that they’re distributed unfairly. Our society, with its culture of white supremacy, teaches us to believe there’s a shortage of resources, so we need to hoard, avoid sharing, and compete with others. But living in a world with greater wealth equality and more mutual support is good for all of us.
After the uprisings last summer, and the inequalities showing the impacts and disparities caused by white supremacy, it’s on us to ensure that as many people as possible have enough to get through these next months, as the government has barely helped over the winter.
If your basic needs are met, join us in passing along all or part of your stimulus check to Black and POC-led grassroots organizations, groups, and relief funds that work directly with people most affected by this pandemic. If you can, we urge you to give more than what you receive from the government. And if your income is high enough that you won’t be getting a check, we encourage you to give at least $1400 from your own resources.
Tell us here what you’ll be pledging, and where you want that money to go. We’ve highlighted some organizations providing direct support to communities in NYC, if you’re looking for inspiration.
We’ll send you an update next week: we’re hoping that at least 100 people will have pledged to redistribute their check by then! Join us?
And as always, see below for more ways to take action in the coming weeks.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC