On Dec 16, 2015, 10 years ago today, SURJ NYC went public holding our first open meeting at Project Reach in Chinatown. Are we allowed to celebrate? Commemorate? Share? Honor? Remember? Learn?
In 2015, Bill de Blasio was the NYC mayor and SURJ National had already been around for 6 years, since 2009, when there was racist backlash after the election of President Obama.
It took a year of prework and relationship building to get to that first meeting. Some of that was shared in a newsletter from November. Some was recorded in a slideshow that was shown at the December Chapter Meeting. At Project Reach, approximately 100 people crammed into the space, and anyone who was interested was invited to join the core. We met again in January at Resource Generation’s office. They agreed to have monthly chapter meetings at Project Reach and the steering committee would also meet monthly too.
So much has happened in the city, the state, the country and the world since then. SURJ NYC has adapted and changed. So many people have come through SURJ NYC.
I don't think I would have survived the last ten years without it having some white folks who were also struggling to understand how we can abolish white supremacy and all the vestiges of our horrible history and the ongoing and new harms being done every day.
Even Mamdani’s organizing campaign staff mentioned the Khader El Yateem campaign. That is when SURJ NYC sent door knockers and now a co-founder, Kayla Santassuoso, was elected to the seat.
Connections to SURJ NYC like these, even if short lived, have sustained my glimmer of hope. Thank you all.
Over the next year, I will be collecting stories, videos, photos, basically memories and lessons in any form. Here’s a Google form you can fill out, but I also welcome folks just reaching out and sharing.
I still believe that we will win!
In solidarity,
Jennifer H. & SURJ NYC