Defund NYPD for #NYCBudgetJustice


Defund the police.

These words have powerfully entered mainstream American consciousness over the past couple of weeks. They’ve been spoken on TV, yelled at protests, and printed on signs and in headlines. The idea, which is not new, has also been getting backlash from people and institutions who argue that what we really mean is reform the police. We know reforming the police does not work because it has been tried over and over again.

As we grieve and demand justice for even more Black people murdered in recent days, including Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau, Dominique “Rem'mie” Fells, Riah Milton, and Rayshard Brooks, we follow the lead of organizers who are fighting to end police brutality as one manifestation of the violence of white supremacy.

We’re part of a movement that’s demanding that the NYPD budget be cut by at least $1 billion this year. We do mean defund the NYPD. We mean invest in communities instead.

We’ve been told the police serve and protect. But policing as an institution in the United States was not created to keep people safe. Policing in the South emerged from slave patrols, and throughout the country it was designed to protect private property, control the working class, and maintain white supremacy. (For more, see Alex S. Vitale’s book The End of Policing, which you can download for free here.)

So it should not be surprising that for as long as policing has existed in the United States, cops have harassed, brutalized, and outright killed Black people, brown people, Asian people, Indigenous people, LGBTQ folks, disabled people, poor people, and immigrants.

Even beyond the NYPD’s deeply violent response to protests over the past couple of weeks, their response throughout the pandemic has provided one more example of how the NYPD works: handing out masks to white people while violently attacking and arresting Black and brown New Yorkers for social distancing violations. Violence and disdain for Black lives should not be paid for and shielded by our tax dollars - especially when those tax dollars have been siphoned out of our social services that do serve and protect New Yorkers.

And yet, in the midst of this pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed an executive budget that slashes and eliminates funding for essential education, health, and social services across the board. What’s not cut is the NYPD’s bloated funding. New Yorkers depend on these services to be healthy and safe, and are critical to Black, brown, and low-income New Yorkers —the very same communities most harmed by the NYPD.

In response, our friends at Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) are demanding #NYCBudgetJustice, and that City Council Defund NYPD by at least $1 billion in fiscal year 2021, which begins July 1, 2020.

We’re closer than we’ve ever been to taking this crucial step towards budget justice: on Friday, New York City Council proposed to cut $1 billion from next year’s budget. This is a rock-bottom minimum. It comes in response to massive organizing by movement leaders, and it’s going to take continued pressure to make sure that City Council follows through. As CPR said in their statement:

“Our hundreds of coalition member groups… want to make clear that public safety requires a minimum in $1 billion in NYPD cuts that includes not only a hiring freeze and reduction of officers, but also a complete removal of police from schools and social services, including homeless outreach, mental health response, and youth programs and outreach… New Yorkers must continue to protest, march, and call their City Council Members and Mayor de Blasio to let them know that we won’t settle for less than $1 billion in NYPD cuts - and that these funds must be reinvested in real community health and safety in the neighborhoods devastated by both the pandemic and violent policing – our Black, Latinx and other communities of color. This is not a time to let up....”

Join us to take action for for #NYCBudgetJustice. The budget deadline is June 30, so the time is now.

Call, email, and tweet your City Council Member to lift up CPR’s demands. Click here for call scripts and more information. (Not sure who your Council Member is? Find out here.)

Finally, a reminder that organizing works: Last week organizers across New York celebrated passage of the Safer NY Act, a series of bills that boost police transparency and help increase accountability in New Yorkers’ encounters with police. CPR, Justice Committee, and families with loved ones killed by police in the past 30 years led the push for these laws, while making it clear they’re still fighting for justice for the murders. This legislative win is a victory for the organizers and families who had been fighting for this for years. We at SURJ NYC are grateful for each of you who made calls demanding the repeal of 50a.

Unprecedented public pressure matters.

Together, our next goal is to make sure that the NYPD budget is cut by at least $1 billion this year. Please join us in keeping the public pressure up, and moving our collective energy towards the budget!

And as always, see below for more ways to show up.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Why organize with white people?

If you’re new to SURJ, a huge welcome from all of us.

In the past week, so much has happened. We are in the middle of an uprising.

Today, the New York State Senate reviews the bill to Repeal 50a, the police secrecy act. Yesterday, they passed the Police-STAT Act. The Minneapolis City Council committed to disbanding their police department and creating a transformative model for cultivating safety in the city. In New York City alone, hundreds of thousands of people have marched for liberation. Right now we are all holding rage and grief for continued state-sanctioned violence targeting Black lives; we are also holding love and hope for every person joining in the movement.

This week has shown how powerful action is. But unless we also dismantle the white supremacy we carry with us and around us, no policy change will ensure justice.

One of the key reasons we organize with white people is that rooting out our internalized white supremacy is a lifelong project requiring difficult emotional work, but it can’t be the centerpiece of our anti-racist efforts. Learning must be in support of action, not a substitute for it. Nor can we expect multiracial organizing spaces to help us with discomfort, shame, or the other negative feelings associated with this effort—there is more important work to be done in those spaces.  

In SURJ, we can support each other in understanding and countering white supremacy in ourselves and in the world around us, while also showing up in multiracial spaces responsibly and sustainably.

The SURJ commitment to taking action in relationship with Black and POC-led organizations allows us to fight together for collective liberation, following and being held accountable to their movement leadership. Doing both kinds of work together—and calling more and more people to join us—is how we undermine large-scale white support for white supremacy and build real justice.

This model for organizing serves other purposes too. There are as many reasons to organize with white folks as there are white folks organizing together. Here are a few more from our members:

  • “For me, anti-racist action is also a spiritual path. In the process of our organizing, SURJ NYC is also a peer group where there is loving space for me to process the fear, shame, and despair which often come up when I try to put my anti-racist values into words and into practice.” - Tom

  • “I have 50 years of whiteness to understand and parse through. Cousins to collect. Family to work with to understand our privilege. My work is calling folks in so future generations don't repeat our mistakes. This is white people work for white people to do.” - Westlake

  • “New York State legislature is often divided by "Upstate vs. Downstate," which is just coded language for "white/rural vs. black/urban," and the passage of a law is often contingent on what people think of it "Upstate." As white people organizing alongside people of color to build the future we want to live in, we have a responsibility to move a critical mass of our fellow white people in order to build a multiracial majority with enough power to win electorally, legislatively, and beyond.” - Ryan

  • “My most useful skills are leadership skills. But as a white person, I feel clear that it’s not my place to lead in this movement. To dismantle white supremacist systems, we have to take the lead from the people who know what’s needed, and that’s the folks who most directly experience systemic, racist violence and harm. In SURJ, our partners tell us where white folks are most useful to them in order to win, and I use my skills to get as many white folks there as possible. That’s how my labor can have the biggest impact." -Grace

Whether SURJ turns out to be your long-term organizing home, or we just help you get what you need to do this work elsewhere, we’re glad you’re with us today, and we’re here to support you in moving into lifelong, multiracial action for racial justice. There’s a lot more to do.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Let this moment radicalize you

First of all, hello. If this is your first time here, welcome. This is a powerful moment to join the movement for racial justice. If you've been here for a long time, we’re glad to be in this with you, learning how to be actively anti-racist and fight for collective liberation.

It’s been a weekend of uprising throughout the country against the continued murders of Black people and police violence.

Again and again we have seen that police exist to protect the property, convenience, and comfort of white people at the expense of Black lives and livelihoods. This is not “safety.” It is white supremacy.

Each time a white woman like Amy Cooper puts on a performance of distress, each time a gentrifier calls in a noise complaint, and each time a white liberal critiques righteous rebellion because of property damage, they are flaunting and enforcing their white supremacy. White supremacy creates a system where white people can call on the state to disrupt their Black neighbors’ lives, even to the point of brutality and death, to avoid even a moment of discomfort or personal accountability.

White people have been raised to see the police as an all-purpose solution. This is an idea that has been increasingly reinforced in NYC with disastrous consequences. It is visible in the Mayor's proposed NYC budget, which responds to the pandemic by maintaining approximately $6 billion in NYPD funding while slashing $2 billion from social services, healthcare, and education. This is all while the NYPD has displayed ongoing brutality to New Yorkers during COVID-19 homeless sweeps and social distancing enforcement, roles that police officers are not trained for and should never have been assigned.

Now, as our city rises up in rage and mourning for Black folks including George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, David McAtee, Eric Garner, Delrawn Small, Saheed Vassell, and centuries of white supremacy, the NYPD is escalating with extraordinary violence.

When the police have been increasingly empowered with military equipment, bloated budgets, and an absence of consequences for repeated brutality and murder; when they have been directed to target Black, brown, and low-income communities; and when white people have been encouraged to see their violence as the “correct” way of handling every public dispute or social concern, this violence is the unavoidable outcome.

Let this moment radicalize you.

Commit to learning, unlearning, and taking action with accountability.

Here are a few pieces of recommended reading (or listening!) around policing and how to show up responsibly to protest.

** If you download for free, consider donating the cost of the book to a bail fund. See below.

We invite you to join SURJ NYC's chapter meeting on Thursday, and commit to taking daily anti-racist action and joining the long-term movement to dismantle white supremacy, internally and systemically.

Read on for more information on that, as well as other ways to show up.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Bail Funds and Protest Support

While we’ve tried to keep this list up-to-date, several of the most prominent bail funds across the country are saying they’re received an influx of donations and urging folks to direct money elsewhere, and things are moving fast. So please do a little research to see if bail funds you’re supporting are still actively soliciting donations (most have Twitter accounts with up-to-date information), and prioritize bail funds coming from Black-led organizations.

We're going on strike (rent strike)

As we approach another month, we’re coming up on another day rent is due. And that’s rent that many New Yorkers are unable to pay.

The New York universal eviction moratorium is set to expire June 20th: the moratorium through August 20 is currently extended only to tenants who qualify for unemployment benefits or who are experiencing a “financial hardship” as a result of COVID-19.

Evictions at any moment are dangerous, and we know that housing is one of the most glaring racial justice issues in New York City. That's not new! But the #CancelRent strike is a critical moment to take personal action in mutual interest with our neighbors.

We’re got some short stories from two SURJ NYC members who have joined the rent strike:

Greg: “As May approached, my roommates and I spoke and decided to reach out to the other tenants in our small building in Bed-Stuy, who we did not know well. On a conference call, we started off simply: ‘How are you?’ We listened to people’s stories about declining income, job uncertainty and the monthly stress of rent. Someone said of the economic and employment crisis: ‘It’s not our fault, or particular to our building. Tens of millions of Americans cannot pay rent.'
Two days before the first of the month, we decided to form a small tenant association and join the strike: we did not pay in May, and we sent a certified letter to our management company demanding they cancel rent. They started calling all of us to scare and intimidate us, but we’ve learned not to answer any individual communication. If they want to communicate, they have to use the tenant association email: we’ve shifted the power dynamic and will not be bullied. We’re fighting in alignment with millions of New Yorkers facing eviction, homelessness and health crisis. We refuse to pay to uphold a system that puts landlords’ and investors’ profit ahead of people’s well being.

Jennifer: I have lived in El Barrio for 10 years. I’ve tried to organize in my building, but so many long-term tenants have been displaced, and now I have health reasons that prevent me from interacting much. But in mid-April I posted signs on my door and window saying I was gonna go on strike and to contact me if you want to. On Met Council calls I found other East Harlem tenants to connect with. The morning of May 1, I saw photos of a “CANCEL RENT” banner drop and felt not alone. I sent my check with ‘cancel rent’ written on it and an email CCing my council member, assembly member and state senator. And I got one other tenant in my building to agree he would go on strike in June. Landlords claim 25% of tenants did not pay in May. We need more to join us in June to pressure owners to pressure Cuomo and create an impossible to evict situation.

If you are personally still able to pay the rent, joining the strike is a powerful way to take meaningful action in solidarity with those who cannot. The more folks who go on strike, the more power we can build: this keeps all of us safer against retaliation, and also makes us all more likely to win. We need to come together to withdraw consent, withhold rent and assert our collective power to demand Cuomo #CancelRent and all utility bills, freeze increases and grant automatic lease renewals.  

We’re starting a SURJ NYC Rent Strike group to organize for housing justice, share resources, and support one another. We know June 1 is close, but there is still enough time to organize!  Sign up here! Whether you’re coming with “But HOW do I do this?” or “‘Ahh this is really scary!” - we’ve got you.

In addition to our own SURJ NYC Rent Strike group, we encourage all tenants to learn more about the rent strike by attending community Zoom calls of any of the Housing Justice for All coalition groups:

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Two actions for NYC budget justice

We’re going to keep it short this week: we’ve got a couple of concrete actions for you to take.

There’s a crucial fight going on over the New York City budget. City Council is conducting hearings before they pass the budget, so it’s time for us to weigh in. Right now, we have an unprecedented opportunity to shift the conversation around where and how the city invests in safety.

Mayor de Blasio’s proposed budget includes cuts to essential social services across the board, and outright cancellation of the summer youth employment program. What’s not cut, though, is the NYPD’s bloated funding. This is not just a crisis response but comes against a backdrop of consistently increased spending on policing under de Blasio—from $4.6 billion in 2014 to $5.6 billion in 2019—even as crime has dropped to historic lows. The services the Mayor wants to cut now are services New Yorkers depend on to be healthy and safe, and are especially critical to Black, brown, and low-income New Yorkers —the very same communities the NYPD criminalizes, abuses, and locks in cages while leaving alone white and higher-income New Yorkers. There is also a real danger that the budget as currently proposed will result in the police being more integrated into social services—which we know is especially dangerous for communities of color.

As Joo-Hyun Kang, director of Communities United for Police Reform, said, “Budgets are moral documents, so now is the time to step back and assess what our priorities should be.”

We must take action this week to refuse the city’s prioritization of violent, racist policing over crucial public services. Please join us in taking these two actions:

  1. This Thursday, the NYC City Council will hold the only hearing including a chance to testify on the Mayor’s Executive Budget. Please submit an online testimony! You have 72 hours after the hearing finishes to submit. And tune in at 9:30am on Thursday to watch the hearing; testimony begins at 11:30am. We’ll be watching together on Zoom, so please come join us to yell and tweet together! Amplify the testimonies on social media using #NYCBudgetJustice.

  2. Call and email your City Council member for #NYCBudgetJustice! Some City Council members have already suggested a willingness to cut the budget for police and jails, so we need to call them to see how serious they are and push them to hold the line. Use the call script here and report back here. We also need people to call other SURJ NYC members and ask them to call their Council members.

And, as always, read on for more ways to plug in and show up. Take good care of yourselves.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Policing and the violence of white supremacy

It’s been a hard week. The news has been filled with images of attacks on Black lives, from violent NYPD incidents and arrests to murder.

On a national level, we’ve seen the country stand and grieve with the family of Ahmaud Arbery. We also want to say the names of Nina Pop, a Black trans woman who was murdered in her home in Missouri; and Breonna Taylor, a Black woman and EMT who was shot and killed in her bed by the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky.

In New York City, the Brooklyn DA’s office released stats on social-distancing enforcement: of the 40 people who were arrested for social-distancing violations from March 17 through May 4, 35 were Black, four were Latinx, and one was white. We’ve seen video after video of NYPD officers attacking and violently arresting people of color throughout the city, while they hand out masks to white people.

These actions are connected.

We are heartbroken, and we are furious. And yes, we are sometimes overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness and shame. But we cannot let those feelings allow us to look away or disengage. As SURJ National Director Erin Heaney writes, “At SURJ, we know that systems of white supremacy and other oppression rely on keeping white people and communities silent or actively opposed to movements for racial justice. We know our work is to break silence and organize more of our people into movements for racial justice and against white supremacy.”

Let this moment activate you.

The work of dismantling white supremacy needs to happen on both internal and systemic levels. Symbolic actions are not enough.

For some self-reflection, we encourage you to read “The Empathy Crisis of White America.” The piece asks us to consider why and how the national media pays attention to the murders it does:
“... it’s crucial for us to interrogate why it often takes video evidence of such senseless brutality in order for us to believe the victims’ families, or feel sympathy for their deaths. Are our feelings only activated when we ourselves can bear witness to brutality—when we can, from the safety of our own homes and the comfort of our white skin, replay these horrific tragedies on a loop?”This week, we’ve seen this in the different ways the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, and Breonna Taylor have been covered by national media - and, maybe, our own social media.

On a city-wide policy level, the Mayor’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year includes continued overinvestment in policing -- but significant cuts to social services, including public housing and education. Prioritizing policing over people is dangerous at any time, but especially in response to this pandemic. Read on for action you can take from home to advocate for a fair and equitable budget (under Calls to Make, below!).

Finally, read and review these alternatives to calling the police, made by Equality for Flatbush, and check out Justice Committee’s guide for how to CopWatch during COVID-19. There is a lot about the NYPD that we cannot control, so it is essential that we align our actions with our values in the ways we can.

Take good care, friends.


In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

We won't go back to normal

This week, several states across the country are beginning to reopen. Even in New York, where we’re still on PAUSE, people are beginning to settle into routines and talk about getting “back to normal.”

We think back to normal is impossible. And it’s also not what we want.

Normal has been living under white supremacy and racial capitalism. In New York City, normal has been a system where poverty, homelessness, criminalization, and now death all fall disproportionately on Black, Latinx, Asian and Indigenous New Yorkers because of structural attacks and exclusions.

You may have heard people talking about Arundhati Roy’s powerful piece “The Pandemic is a Portal” (and if you haven’t, have a read!). As we consider where this portal could take us, we also encourage you to read “No return to normal: For a post-pandemic liberation” by Max Haiven. The piece visions possible futures: one that digs into increased corporate greed, authoritarianism, and hyper-capitalism; and one grounded in mutual aid, solidarity, and re-learned cooperation and communal care.

At SURJ, we’re committed to fighting for the collective liberation of the latter. And in order to do that, white folks are going to need to refuse a “new normal” that remains rooted in a white supremacist status quo. We cannot shrug our shoulders and say well, that’s just how it is. We can’t stay complacent, or look away.

Just last week, Gotham Gazette reported that the City’s proposed budget for next year includes huge cuts to public housing, education, and delays the plan to close Rikers Island. While the Mayor has said these cuts are sad but necessary, we don’t agree: this public health crisis has shown how necessary it is to adequately resource communities.

We’ve got some concrete actions you can take to fight for a transformative future:

  • Come to our May chapter meeting this Thursday to continue this conversation! Read on for more information.  

  • Today is #GivingTuesday, and that’s a great reason to support our partners and movement leaders who are organizing hard to build a more just and liberated future. Several organizations have match offers that are active today only! See below and follow us on social media for links.

Take good care of yourselves, friends.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

2019 Year-End Event Highlights

Police Accountability Working Group

In 2019, the Police Accountability Working Group threw down to fight for justice for the family of Eric Garner, doing trial support, fundraising, and direct action to escalate pressure to #FirePantaleo and all the other officers involved in the murder and coverup. We also showed up to support the families of Delrawn Small, Saheed Vassell, Mohamed Bah, and more people killed by NYPD.

Another focus was to move money toward two orgs leading this work, CPR and Justice Committee. We supported over 5 fundraisers between the two orgs, including holding down all lunch costs during the Pantaleo trial and throwing our own house party fundraiser for JC.

We supported ongoing legislative work in Albany to #Repeal50a and pass the #SaferNY package of bills.

Finally, our little PAWG community grew and thrived this year with a solid base of committed organizers sharing in political education, personal development, and ongoing work.

Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group

The Anti-Mass Incarceration working group spent much of 2019 mobilizing SURJ members to attend lobby days in Albany and make calls to Governor Cuomo and state legislators in support of our partners JLUSA's FREEnewyork campaign and RAPP's parole justice initiatives. We shared political education on pretrial laws and the parole board in our meetings, and held workshops in our communities to base build and mobilize people around the campaigns.

We also engaged in conversation to discuss what our role should be in response to NYC's borough-based jail construction plan and the #CLOSErikers campaign, while still attempting to mobilize turnout when requested to various hearings, rallies, and lobby days over the course of the multi-month ULURP process.

We held a fundraiser for RAPP at the end of the summer that recruited new monthly donors, and continue to volunteer in support of their base building efforts by flyering at events, phone banking at their office, providing data entry for research projects, and more.

Deep Canvassing

The Deep Canvassing crew began 2019 creating a script on police accountability and using it to hold conversations with folks in white, wealthy neighborhoods. In the fall, we took a deep look into our group and decided to try a new project—moving people to action within SURJ NYC. Now a Phonebanking group, we’re calling up folks who are on the verge of getting involved, starting conversations about our relationships to anti-racist activism, and inviting these folks to the next SURJ NYC events.

And more!

Alongside these working groups, SURJers organized in neighborhood working groups, ran calling-in workshops, and collaborated with SURJ National. All the while our Coordinating Committee, Communications, and Basebuilding teams worked to keep SURJ NYC organized, strategic, and welcoming.

November 2019 Event Highlights

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.

October 2019 Event Highlights

Thursday, October 3: SURJ NYC Monthly Chapter Meeting: The 1619 Project 

At this month's chapter meeting, we did some political education and dug into (parts of) The 1619 Project: "The 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are." You can read the project here. 

Wednesday, October 9: American Indian Community House Meeting / Strategy Session 

SURJ members joined the Friends of AICH meeting / strategy session, while AICH still has space on the Lower East Side. Info was shared on upcoming events, political directions & ways to get involved. This meeting was welcome to all who want to support AICH & build community as/with local indigenous folks. 

Additionally, please consider donating to the Manna-hatta Fund which is an ongoing source of financial support for the American Indian Community House, NYC’s Indigenous hub. For 50 years, AICH has been a space of Indigenous sovereignty, culture, community, activism, arts, and wellness services. This is an opportunity for us to directly support Indigenous Peoples. All funds go directly to AICH.

Sunday, October 13 and Monday, October 14: 5th Annual Indigenous People's Day Celebration and Columbus Day protest on Randall’s Island.

SURJ members attended the protest, described as: “FREE and open to all, the two-day event dedicated to Indigenous cultural preservation, spiritual resistance and the celebration of over 527 years of survival since Columbus made landfall, serves as a supportive space for those looking to stand in solidarity, learn and find belonging.” 

Wednesday, October 16: Rally to repeal 50-a

On Thursday, Oct 17th, the Senate had a hearing regarding the law known as 50-a, which covers up NYPD misconduct. SURJ members showed up for a rally the day before to demand a full repeal. 50-a is a law that the de Blasio administration has interpreted very conservatively, claiming that the public doesn’t have the right to know when cops break the rules. SURJ members mobilized to fight for this crucial change to police transparency. 

Friday, October 18: Justice State of Mind, 90s Hip Hop Party to benefit Justice Committee

SURJ members joined our partners at Justice Committee (JC) for a night of great music, food, dancing, and company. Funds from this event helped JC support 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. 

Sunday, October 20: SURJ Upper Manhattan Community Potluck w/ RAPP 

For this gathering, we were joined by members of the RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison) Campaign, who shared with us their work around parole justice and ending life imprisonment. RAPP is one of SURJ NYC's Accountability Partners, and members of SURJ NYC have been in relationship with them since the beginning of the campaign several years ago. Folks learned about their work, and the various ways SURJ members can be supporting it with our time, labor, and/or money! 

Tuesday, October 22: National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality

Folks stepped out for the 24th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation! This coalition has been mobilizing every year since 1996 for a National Day of Protest on October 22nd to expose the epidemic of police brutality. There was a rally at 3:00pm at Union Square, and a march to Times Square at 5:00pm. 

September 2019 Event Highlights

Saturday, September 7: Equality for Flatbush Gala  

Equality for Flatbush (E4F) is a visionary, member-led grassroots organization that does anti-police repression, affordable housing, and anti-gentrification organizing Brooklyn-wide. Since 2013, E4F has effectively organized hundreds of tenants, small businesses, homeowners, and those impacted by police violence to stop evictions, win repairs, save small businesses, and build people power through trainings and community-led campaigns. SURJ members joined E4F on the dancefloor to raise $50K for Equality for Flatbush and celebrate with Imani Henry - founder and lead organizer - as he turns 50 this year! If you cannot attend, you can support E4F’s work by   making a donation here, or making a monthly sustaining donation here

Sunday, September 8: Deep Canvassing for Police Accountability 

When does a “hero cop” become a villain? We canvassed to ask folks about the Eric Garner case, more broadly and deeply exploring what accountability means to us, and how that connects to the politics of policing. Deep canvassing means sharing vulnerably about our own stake in the issue, and listening curiously to the people we meet. Conversations tend to be long, in-depth, and responsive to what arises--not just angling toward an “ask.” Because of that, they have the potential to transform both our targets and ourselves. And when we encounter folks who are aligned with us, we support them in taking action. As always no prior knowledge was needed, we learned and practiced together! 

Saturday, September 14: #NoBusinessWithICE: CLOSE THE CAMPS! 

SURJ members joined Close The Camps NYC in a march and a direct action targeting a company that profits from ICE’s abuse of immigrant lives. As part of a broader campaign to say NO to the concentration camps on the US border, #ClosetheCampsNYC has the following  demands of private companies: “Stop being complicit in the horrific violence against immigrant communities. Cancel all contracts with ICE and withdraw all support that allows the violent institution to continue to carry out its bloody mission.” 

Wednesday, September 18: Ending Life Imprisonment Panel   

The panel discussion featured Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis, authors of “The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences;” Jose Saldana of RAPP, and Saleem Holbrook of Pennsylvania’s Campaign Against Death by Incarceration (CADBI) and the Abolitionist Law Center. Both Jose Saldana and Saleem Holbrook are formerly incarcerated long-termers working to end life imprisonment.

Saturday, September 21: RAPP Fundraiser 

Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) works to end mass incarceration and promote racial justice by getting elderly and infirm people out of prison. RAPP challenges a fundamental pillar of mass incarceration: reliance on a system of permanent punishment, a culture of retribution and revenge rather than rehabilitation and healing. SURJ planned a fundraiser for RAPP so they can pay directly impacted organizers throughout New York state. If you weren’t able to attend, please consider supporting RAPP’s work here.

Monday, September 23: United in Outrage: The Resistance March

Donald Trump wasin NYC to address the UN General Assembly on September 24. The evening before, SURJ members joined our friends at Rise and Resist to come together and march peacefully to protest the many injustices of the administration, its accomplices, its supporters, and the harm done in its name. Folks brought signs and banners proclaiming their fight, their issues, and the change they are working toward. Read more here 

Wednesday, September 25: SURJ National Webinar: 10 Years of Racial Justice

SURJ National held a webinar with Patrisse Cullors, Makani Themba, Carla Wallace, and Pam McMichael to discuss the past, present, and future of SURJ as it relates to the broader movement for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice. Pam McMichael and Carla Wallace are long time movement organizers and co-founders of SURJ. Patrisse Cullors and Makani Themba are revered movement leaders who shared their perspectives of how SURJ's work fits in a broader context and what is needed moving forward. This was a public call, open to all.

August 2019: SURJ NYC Unendorses the #CLOSErikers Campaign

SURJ NYC is committed to mobilizing white New Yorkers to decarcerate our city by closing Rikers Island and shrinking the population of our jails and prisons. 

Over the last several years, we have done this work alongside our accountability partner JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), supporting their #CLOSErikers campaign. Following Mayor DeBlasio’s commitment to close Rikers Island, there has been disagreement among various players in NYC about the Mayor’s plan to replace part of Rikers' capacity with one new and three expanded borough-based jails. In response, several campaigns have developed distinct demands and strategies. Most significantly, the #CLOSErikers campaign is advocating for approval and improvement of the Mayor's plan with what they believe to be transformative conditions, while the #NoNewJails (NNJ) campaign demands the closure of Rikers without building any new jails under any circumstances. 

Over the past few months, some of SURJ NYC’s individual members have been strongly supporting NNJ, some have been organizing powerfully with JLUSA, and we have been struggling together to come to an agreement about a collective way forward for SURJ NYC. Members have been particularly concerned about the seeming contradiction of organizing against white supremacy while supporting new or expanded jails, the urgent need to improve the conditions faced by currently incarcerated people, and the fear that Rikers may not close if the Mayor’s plan is rejected. There is also concern that the logic behind the Mayor's plan, implying that Rikers can only close if other jails are built or expanded, creates a false binary and normalizes incarceration. We have also put much thought into what it means to be a responsible partner to organizations we work with—many of whom have taken differing stances in this moment. In the resources linked below, you can read more about the nature of our members’ perspectives, the substance of the disagreements, and the conversations we’ve had at chapter meetings about this issue. While these discussions have happened with a great deal of respect, they have not moved those aligned with either campaign to a shared understanding of how SURJ NYC should move forward with regard to the Mayor’s plan.  

Because of the deep, substantive division within SURJ NYC about how to mobilize the power we’ve built in this crucial moment, SURJ NYC has decided to formally unendorse the #CLOSErikers campaign. SURJ NYC is currently endorsing neither campaign. 

While we cannot responsibly continue to endorse the #CLOSErikers campaign when so much of our membership opposes its strategy, we are unified in our commitment to working in partnership with JLUSA. We are proud of the work that we’ve done to stand in solidarity with JLUSA members, and of the relationships and trust that we’ve built with their organizers. We will continue to commit to that relationship, and to use our structures to support JLUSA’s #FREEnewyork and #2MillionVoices campaigns.

We will also continue to move our members into meaningful work and action to decarcerate our city.

We will provide political education that supports our membership to understand the ways that our carceral system is rooted in, and perpetuates, white supremacy. We will share resources on abolitionist theory and practice, making space for differing perspectives, and centering the perspectives of directly impacted people. And we will equip our members to take immediate and meaningful action by sharing calls to action, events, and information from both the #NoNewJails and #CLOSErikers campaigns, ensuring that members are aware of every opportunity to support this work. 

To learn about political education and campaign events, make sure you subscribe to our eblast, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter. To learn more about abolition and this issue, start with some of the resources below.

 

On Abolition

On the Campaigns

From #CLOSERikers supporters:

From NNJ supporters:

June/July 2019 Event Highlights

Wednesday, June 5th: RAPP (Release Aging People in Prison) Monthly Coalition Meeting

On June 5th at 6pm RAPP hosted their monthly coalition meeting by phone. On the call, they discussed updates, actions and next steps for all of RAPP’s initiatives (Elder Parole, Fair and Timely Parole and fully staffing the Parole Board) as the end of the state legislative session on June 19th was approaching.

Thursday, June 20: World Refugee Day Rally and March

We joined the African Communities Together (ACT) and the City of Refuge Coalition for their third annual World Refugee Day Action. Hundreds of New Yorkers from dozens of refugee, immigrant, religious, and community organizations staged a march from the New York Public Library and rally in front of Trump World Tower and the United Nations. Read more about the action and RSVP on Facebook. 

Tuesday, June 25: Project Reach Art Show Fundraiser

One Art Space hosted an exhibit that raised funds for Project Reach as rent continues to rise in Chinatown.

Thursday, July 11: SURJ NYC Chapter Meeting

While SURJ NYC is clear about the necessity and urgency of closing Rikers Island, there has been debate both among SURJ’s membership and groups we are in relationship with–especially the CLOSErikers and NoNewJails campaigns–about the best way to reach that goal. At July’s chapter meeting, we discussed various proposals around potential next steps. If you’re unfamiliar with the matter, we recommend watching the Manhattan hearings on the Borough-Based Jail Plan to learn more. You can watch Part One here, and Part Two here through Gale Brewer’s Facebook page. 

Thursday, July 18, 6:00-8:00pm and Saturday, July 20, 12:00pm-2:00pm: Nonviolent Direct Action Training

Our friends at Cosecha and coalition partners planned a direct action on August 10 in NYC to say NO to the concentration camps on the US border. There was a series of non-violent direct action trainings leading up to the action.

May 2019 Event Highlights

Saturday, May 4th: NYC Cannabis Parade and Rally

The NYC Cannabis Parade and Rally's mission is to end the prohibition of cannabis at all levels, recognizing the profound effects that discriminatory enforcement of drug laws has had on communities of color. The event’s coalition partners included Empire State NORML and the New York office of the Drug Policy Alliance, which is working on a number of campaigns to shift New York’s drug policy away from the criminal justice system and towards a public health and safety approach. Whether you marched or not, the organizers ask you to support advocacy organizations like the Start SMART campaign, working to “stop the ineffective, racially biased, and unjust enforcement of marijuana prohibition and to create a new, well-regulated, and inclusive marijuana industry that is rooted in racial and economic justice.”

 

Saturday, May 11: Deep Canvassing for Police Accountability

When does a “hero cop” become a villain? On this day, canvassers asked folks about the Eric Garner case, and more broadly and deeply exploring what accountability means to us, and how that connects to the politics of policing. Deep canvassing means sharing vulnerably about our own stake in the issue, and listening curiously to the people we meet. Conversations tend to be long, in-depth, and responsive to what arises--not just angling toward an “ask.” Because of that, they have the potential to transform both our targets and ourselves. We also recruited folks for the trial (see below!). No prior knowledge was needed, we learn and practice together.

 

Monday, May 13th - Friday, May 24th: Showing Up for the Family of Eric Garner

NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleo faces charges for the murder of Eric Garner in an administrative disciplinary hearing with the Civilian Complaint Review Board. His family needs lots of volunteer support over these two weeks to ensure that there is some accountability for his death. During this time, SURJ members showed up to help pack the court, take notes, cover lunch for the family, and more.

Monday, May 13th: Our Plan: #CLOSErikers Bronx Community Forum

At this forum, directly impacted leaders from the #CLOSErikers campaign articulated their plan to close Rikers on the fastest possible timeline.

Wednesday, May 29th: Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group Meeting

SURJ’s Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group met to discuss ways to move into action against mass incarceration in NYC, New York State, and beyond. This month, we talked about criminalization and incarceration of pregnant people in the context of recent abortion bans passed in states across the country.


April 2019 Event Highlights

Wednesday, April 3: #Justice4Saheed Rally and Thursday, April 4: Saheed Vassell Memorial Vigil

In light of the news of the Attorney General not bringing charges against NYPD officers responsible for killing Saheed Vassell, we joined Saheed’s family, Communities United for Police Reform, and Brooklyn Movement Center to demand accountability for his murder. If you were unable to join, you can still help amplify Saheed’s family’s demands for justice via social media by following and sharing @changethenypd, @BKMovement and #Justice4Saheed content on Twitter.

The following day, we brought love and joined Saheed’s family to mark one year since he was killed, at the site where he was killed. Saheed was gunned down at roughly 4:45pm.

Thursday, April 4: April Chapter Meeting: So You’re a Gentrifier. Now What?

This month's chapter meeting addressed the issues of gentrification and displacement–what it is, what it means to be a gentrifier, and how to make choices that mitigate your harm to working class, POC, and immigrant communities. We also highlighted ways to actively support anti-gentrification efforts around NYC, including by supporting POC-led grassroots organizations like VOCAL-NY, Equality for Flatbush, and Queens Neighborhoods United.

Thursday, April 11: Moral March for Housing

In recognition of the upcoming expiration of tenants’ rights, we joined community, faith, & labor leaders to fight evictions. There was a rally at Abyssinian Baptist Church, followed by a march to the State Office Building to hold a vigil for those who have been evicted thanks to weak tenants' rights and unaffordable rent. 100 New Yorkers are evicted every day. It's now or never for housing justice— We need Universal Rent Control!

Tuesday, April 16-Wednesday, April 17: Scholars’ Academy & Project Reach’s Intensive Anti-Discrimination Clinic: Unpacking Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, and Transphobia

This 12-hour, city-wide, Anti-Discrimination Training brought together a diverse community of 30-40 educators, service providers, social workers, administrators and parents/guardians from schools and community-based organizations in Queens. Speaker Corey Johnson, the New York City Council, and Project Reach seek to establish community and school-based Intergenerational Anti-Discrimination Teams of young people and adults trained to address bullying, implicit bias and discrimination in their communities. Drawing from 40 years of anti-discrimination and social justice training, Project Reach offered a unique opportunity to individuals, organizations and schools to experience its most successful and impactful workshops. All adults who work with young people and are committed to ending discrimination and fighting for social justice were encouraged to attend.

Monday, April 29: Call to Organize White Men Against Patriarchy and White Supremacy

This video call was a step in creating a national network of white men organizing other white men to be more effective accomplices to People of Color, women, femmes, trans and gender non-conforming folks in the struggle for collective liberation. While white men benefit most from white supremacy and patriarchy, our allegiance to these systems also damages us: in exchange for dominance, we deny ourselves the ability to work in solidarity with others and permit our own exploitation by more powerful individuals and institutions. By choosing instead to stand and fight with those disempowered by white supremacy and patriarchy, we can achieve mutual interests of justice, liberation, and self-actualization. This is an affinity group: anyone, regardless of race or gender, is welcome and encouraged to join. On this call, we discussed the need for this work, learn about the work people are already doing, and consider where each of us can plug in to engage our organizations, institutions, and communities.

Tuesday, April 30th: #HALTsolitary advocacy day in Albany!

CAIC (Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement) traveled to Albany on April 30th for a day of action/advocacy.  We are at a critical moment in the push to pass the HALT (Humane Alternatives to Long-Term) Solitary Confinement Act, A. 2500/ S. 1623 to keep all people out of isolation in New York State prisons and jails. The Assembly passed HALT last year and the Senate has the votes to pass HALT now.  People in solitary are subjected to inhumane treatment known to cause devastating psychological damage: 22-24 hours a day in a cell the size of an elevator with no meaningful human contact or programs & recreation alone in a cage.  


March 2019 Event Highlights

Thursday, March 7: Monthly Chapter Meeting: Interrogating Intersectionality

Traveling from academic papers to everyday tweets, intersectionality has evolved into quite the social justice buzzword. Many of us have heard the term used by friends, teachers, celebrities, or have used it ourselves. The term, though, was coined by Black feminist legal theorist Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 as a framework to describe the oppression experienced by Black women: Crenshaw defined intersectionality as “a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects.” With the misuse of the term widespread–particularly among white people in social justice circles–we dedicated our monthly meeting to understanding the term in its origins as articulated by women of color in order to transparently and thoughtfully explore its meaning and how it applies to our work in SURJ.

Wednesday, March 13: Understanding and Organizing to End Racial Capitalism

SURJ works to undermine white support for racism, and broaden the base of white folks showing up for racial justice as part of a powerful multi racial movement for transformative change. But what about this unjust economic system? How does racism help keep capitalism in place? SURJ National and leading activist scholar Robin DG Kelley held a webinar on what racialized capitalism means for our work and how class impacts white people’s role in the fight to end oppression.

Thursday, March 14: #CLOSErikers Manhattan Community Forum, and Wednesday, March 20th: #CLOSErikers Brooklyn Community Forum

In the many months since announcing its plans to close Rikers, the City has not shown a commitment to decriminalize and decarcerate as fast as is actually possible, which is major marker of where New York City is on moving toward racial justice. JustLeadershipUSA and its partners demand further decarceration and a faster route to decarceration. In March there were two community forums to hear directly from the experiences of formerly incarcerated leaders and to understand why they feel approving borough based facilities that prioritize shrinking the citywide jail system is urgent while continuing to fight for decarceration, improving conditions for incarcerated people in New York City, and ensuring that every last individual is free from Rikers Island as fast as possible.

Monday, March 25: Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group Meeting

SURJ’s Anti-Mass Incarceration working group met to learn about ways to plug in the campaign to end mass incarceration in NYC and across the state. This month, we discussed how to end cash bail and decarcerate jails while also ensuring that survivors of harm or violence are protected.

Ongoing: Call Your Electeds about Universal Rent Control

Help stop homelessness and gentrification by asking your legislator to sign onto bills for universal rent control in New York City! Read more about the platform here. You can find your New York state senator here and your assembly member here.

February 2019 Event Highlights

Tuesday, February 5: New Sanctuary Coalition Pro Se Clinic

New Sanctuary Coalition runs a weekly clinic staffed by non-attorney volunteers and supervised by experienced immigrants rights organizers and immigration lawyers. The clinic helps people identify ways to get relief from deportation and detention; access other immigration-related benefits; understand their rights so they can fight their own case; apply for asylum; prepare for court appearances or interviews; and much more. They’re seeing tremendous growth in the number of immigrants seeking help and are looking for new volunteers—no previous or legal experience is necessary. This clinic is held every Tuesday.

Thursday, February 7: Chapter Meeting: Stopping Gentrification: What You Need to Know About NY Rent Laws

SURJ-NYC’s February chapter meeting focused on learning how to fight gentrification in NYC. New York State rent laws expire this year, creating an opportunity to win stronger renter protections for all of us. In our city, landlords exploit loopholes in rent laws (and poor enforcement of laws) to push out tenants of color and low-income tenants so they can raise rents and profit off of gentrification. Mid- and high-income tenants are sometimes unwitting accomplices in this process—but don’t have to be! Folks learned about the rights and responsibilities we have under current New York State rent laws and how we can support a campaign to improve rent laws in Albany this spring.

Sunday, February 10: #FREEnewyork Workshop on Bail & Discovery Reform

New York is on the verge of addressing its jail crisis, with Governor Cuomo and Democratic lawmakers speaking out in favor of bail and discovery reforms this year. However, this momentum makes it essential that we put pressure on them to do things right, and in order to do that we need to have a clear understanding of what we want bail and discovery reforms to accomplish. Members of SURJ-NYC and the Village Zendo co-facilitated a workshop to help our communities understand the issues of bail and discovery, and how the two work together to fill jails across the state with primarily low-income black and brown people. It was an afternoon of political education (and snacks!), and folks left with the tools needed to join the fight to #FREEnewyork in 2019.

Monday, February 18: Canvass for Universal Rent Control With The Metropolitan Council On Housing

Folks joined the Metropolitan Council on Housing to canvass for Statewide Universal Rent Control, which calls for an end to vacancy decontrol, makes preferential rents last for the duration of the tenancy, and the elimination of the 20% vacancy bonus, as well as permanent rent hikes caused by MCIs (major capital improvements) and IAIs (individual apartment increases).

February 14-15: Project Reach’s City-Wide Intensive Anti-Discrimination Clinic

This 12-hour, city-wide, Anti-Discrimination Training brought together a diverse community of 30-40 educators, service providers, social workers, administrators and parents/guardians from schools and community-based organizations in all five boroughs. Speaker Corey Johnson, the New York City Council, and Project Reach seek to establish community and school-based Intergenerational Anti-Discrimination Teams of young people and adults trained to address bullying, implicit bias and discrimination in their communities. All adults who work with young people and are committed to ending discrimination and fighting for social justice were encouraged to attend.


January 2019 Event Highlights

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Sunday, January 13: Court Watch NYC Training

Court Watch NYC is a collaborative project of VOCAL-NY, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, and 5 Boro Defenders. By joining Court Watch NYC, you will be the eyes and ears holding District Attorneys accountable in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Court Watch NYC holds regular trainings for people to learn how to collect real-time data of what is actually happening in courtrooms, record narratives that are not captured by the data, and contribute to accountability actions.  

Monday, January 14: #FREEnewyork Lobby Day with Alliance for Quality Education  

The #FREEnewyork campaign partnered with Alliance for Quality Education for an Albany Lobby Day. Together, we demanded jail decarceration and education justice! The day included lobby visits, speakouts, a press conference, and direct action calling on New York to divest from incarceration and instead invest in schools.

Monday, January 28: Webinar: Connecting the Dots: History of Policing with Andrea Ritchie

SURJ National had its the first webinar in the 2019 series "Connecting the Dots: Border Militarism, US Domestic and Foreign Policy, and the Myriad of Connections to Racial Capitalism." Andrea Ritchie joined for an overview of the history of policing in the US and how that history continues to impact the role of policing in the US today. Read more about her and her work here.

Tuesday, January 29: Parole Justice Advocacy Day

RAPP, the Parole Preparation Project, and others from around NY State met with NYS elected officials, march and rally to demand: 1. A fully staffed Parole Board with Parole Commissioners who have professional backgrounds in rehabilitation; 2. Elder parole, which allows all incarcerated older people, aged 55 plus an opportunity for parole release after serving 15 consecutive years in prison; 3. A parole process that centers change and transformation instead of punishment and re-sentencing. Free transportation was provided from NYC and made available in other regions of the state as needed. Food was also provided.

End of 2018 Event Highlights

The end of 2018 was marked by lots of parties and social gatherings bringing together organizers and raising money for organizations run by and for people of color.

Friday, November 9: Screening of Ava Duvernay’s 13th at MINKA Brooklyn

SURJ members came together to view Ava Duvernay’s documentary on mass incarceration, participate in a group discussion, and build community. Co-hosted by MINKA and the Brooklyn Center for Sacred Activism.

Thursday, November 15: Parole Preparation Project Welcome Home Party and Fundraiser

Folks came together to celebrate the homecoming of the many Parole Preparation Project applicants who were recently released from prison after serving decades inside. There was food, drinks, music, and great company! Tickets were sold sliding scale, starting at $25.

Saturday, December 8: Rage Against White Supremacy: A Fundraiser with SURJ Central Brooklyn

The SURJ Central Brooklyn chapter danced out all our fury at 2018 while raising money to support organizing in our neighborhood! All donations went directly to the Brooklyn Movement Center, who are building black and brown power in Central Brooklyn and leading efforts in our neighborhood to fight gentrification and police violence.

Sunday, December 9: Send Them Home for the Holidays: A Letter-Writing Party

SURJ members joined Survived and Punished NY for "Send them Home for the Holidays," a holiday card writing party for those behind prison walls in New York State. Sending cards and small gift packages is one way that we can lessen the loneliness experienced during the winter time.

Thursday, December 13: Welcome Home Fundraiser

This merry everything holiday party raised funds for people leaving prison on parole, in association with Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) and the Parole Preparation Project (PPP). It was a night of food, drinks, stories, music, and some wealth redistribution! Tickets were sold on a recommended sliding scale of $25-$100, but no one was turned away for lack of funds. Check out this video clip of the event to see more!

October 2018 Event Highlights

Wednesday, October 3: Bronx Public Scoping hearing re: Mayor's Borough Based jails plan

From September 20th - October 3rd, the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice held Scoping Hearings on their proposal to close Rikers and move to a system of borough-based jails, one each in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. Supporters of the #CLOSErikers campaign showed up at these hearings with a strong and coordinated voice that grounded the conversation in the humanity of the people currently and formerly incarcerated on Rikers Island, and the human rights violations they face on a daily basis there.

Thursday, October 4: SURJ NYC October Chapter Meeting: What’s Class Got To Do with It?

This month’s chapter meeting was a conversation and reflection about how class in the US class system supports white supremacy, and what we can do to challenge and undermine intertwined systems of economic exploitation and racism. This meeting included two parallel conversations: one on the intersection of class and race generally, focusing on the stereotypes of the white working class that have gained steam after the 2016 election, and a separate conversation about how operating in a more class-conscious way could improve SURJ NYC’s work specifically.

Sunday, October 7 and Monday, October 8: Indigenous Peoples Celebration

With Redhawk Native American Arts Council, this event honored water protectors and featuring performances, vendors, guest speakers, and more! Please also consider making a donation to support the event, and the movement to change outdated holidays.

Sunday, October 21: Make Calls, Raise $ Money with SURJ Central Brooklyn

SURJ Central Brooklyn had a night of political engagement! At this meeting, we worked on two sets of projects: 1) phonebanking for Andrew Gounardes, who is running in Brooklyn for a key state senate seat, and 2) fundraising for the Brooklyn Movement Center. We also had pizza, got to know each other, and learned how to plug into SURJ’s work!

Tuesday, October 30: SURJ National Indigenous Solidarity Networking Call

At the national level, SURJ’s Indigenous Solidarity Working Group organized a call to connect local activists who want to help deepen the dialogue around Indigenous sovereignty and anti-colonial work in their various organizations and movements. This group will aim to work in solidarity and in mutual interest to learn the histories of the land we live on; our own histories; and to protect water, life, and land; and come into ways of relating that are not based on erasure, theft, and genocide, but instead upon humility, reciprocity, responsibility, respect, and mutual care for all forms of life, the planet, and future generations.