Palestinian Liberation Is Racial Justice

Around the world, Nakba Day commemorates the day of catastrophe on May 15, 1948, when Zionist forces began a violent campaign of ethnic cleansing and expulsion of Palestinians from their homes to establish the state of Israel. This May 15 marked 73 years of Palestinian resistance, with the world watching as the Israeli government, military, and their supporters have renewed efforts to violently displace Palestinians in Jerusalem neighborhoods and waged violence and destruction across Gaza.

At SURJ, we condemn Israel’s continued violence against Palestinians and occupation of their land, as well as the U.S. government’s $3.8 billion in military aid to Israel each year. We condemn the settler colonialism that has killed and displaced millions. We understand that critiquing the Israeli government or Zionism is not antisemitic, and we stand with Jewish people around the world demanding human rights and dignity for Palestinians. Palestinian liberation is racial justice. This squares with our own belief in collective liberation and the idea that every person has the right to safety and freedom from persecution.

To learn more, we urge you to read a joint statement on Nakba 73 from Palestinians in North America and a statement from Jewish Voice for Peace. As the joint statement says, “To this day, colonization and dispossession remain ongoing processes, where Palestinians continue to endure land theft and encroachments on their basic rights. Despite the multiple decades of Zionist brutality, our resilient people remain committed to resisting Zionist settler-colonialism and to the liberation of Palestine.”

White supremacy, violence, and oppression impact people around the world. To learn more about how our liberation is intrinsically intertwined with that of our neighbors and oppressed people everywhere, register to join us this Thursday at 8PM ET for the SURJ National webinar “Palestinian Liberation is a Racial Justice Issue.” Leaders from Arab Resource Organizing Center, Friends of Sabeel North America, Catalyst Project, and SURJ-Faith will discuss what’s going on in Israel and Palestine right now, how we got here, and how Palestinian liberation ties into SURJ’s broader vision for collective liberation.

Today is a global day of action in solidarity with the Palestinian uprising and general strike. Palestinians around the world are striking and solidarity actions are planned in cities across the US. You can join in NYC at 1pm at the Israeli Consulate.

From New York to Palestine, this is a time for us to act in solidarity as we work for a world where all people are free and can thrive for generations to come. See below for ways to get involved and take action.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. Did you know we have an emerging immigration justice group? SURJ NYC members are working with the Abolish ICE NY-NJ Coalition, which organizes to free New Yorkers and New Jerseyans from ICE detention—and, ultimately, to end detention and abolish ICE. We’ll be highlighting this work in an upcoming email, but to get involved now, attend the next meeting on May 26 or sign up for a one-on-one chat to learn more. Also join the next Abolish ICE #FreeThemAll phone zap, 12-1pm this Friday, May 21!

Unionizing Amazon Workers for Safety and Protection

When Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama made a historic drive to unionize, the company employed aggressive tactics, ultimately defeating the efforts. Although unsuccessful, the attention has galvanized workers across the country to walkout in protest of the company's sick leave policies and safety measures. The connection between racial justice and workers’ rights cannot be understated as the fight continues in Alabama and across the US. Nationwide, Black workers make up about 1 in 9 workers overall, but represent about 1 in 6 front-line industry workers. In Bessemer, the union estimates that roughly 85 percent of the warehouse’s workforce is Black.

Locally, workers across warehouses and facilities in Staten Island are trying to unionize, led by the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), an independent, worker-led group, and The Congress of Essential Workers (TCOEW), a labor-activism group founded by former Amazon worker Chris Smalls, who was fired last March after organizing protests against working conditions. Following Smalls’ class action lawsuit and broader criticism of the company’s COVID-19 response, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit in February and sent a letter in late April, stating that Amazon may have violated federal safety standards and broken state whistleblower laws in the firing of Smalls. After the organizing started last month, Amazon began anti-union campaigning in the New York facilities with warehouse TV and other messaging.

As economic inequality continues to rise, this year could be important for labor unions. Though union membership is at a historic low, workers in Bessemer, Staten Island, and beyond have come together to seek better protections. In March, the House also passed the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act), the first worker-friendly labor law reform since 1935, which expands workers’ ability to join and organize unions. And just last week, NY state lawmakers recently signed the HERO, or New York Health and Essential Rights Act, to provide additional protections for works. While these are all valuable beginnings, we know that legal protection doesn’t always mean on-the-ground protection. Unions empower workers to ensure their employers actually abide by employment laws.

Today and into the future, we need to think about where we put our money and find alternatives to big corporations. We can learn about the labor movement and make sure workers are protected by federal and local labor laws. We can lobby for politicians to increase worker protections and support those who will prioritize workers’ rights and safety in the upcoming local New York elections. As always, see below for more ways to plug in and show up.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Come Phonebank with EGG!

Last fall, dozens of SURJ members engaged in organizing white folks around electoral politics, making calls to Georgia voters about the presidential election and Senate run-offs. Through this powerful and fulfilling experience we learned that having honest and vulnerable conversations about racial justice can inspire other white folks to antiracist action at the ballot box and beyond. And we’re excited to bring this energy to the NYC mayoral election!

In 2013, the last mayoral election without an incumbent, only 20% of New Yorkers voted in the primary, and the unfortunate reality is that many white folks have already set their sights on this election as an opportunity to advance their racist and classist agendas. Ultra-rich real estate interests have spent millions of dollars mobilizing Republicans and Independents to change their registration with the aim to elect conservative Democrats who will uphold a status quo that has proved itself to be dangerous, inhumane, and unacceptable time and time again.

But it doesn’t have to be that way!

With the new and more democratic system of ranked-choice voting, two-thirds of City Council incumbents term-limited out, and dozens of antiracist, movement-aligned candidates on the ballot, we have a historic opportunity to advance racial justice in our city. If we are strategic, focused, and committed, we can elect a city government that is dedicated to the urgency of decarceration, defunding the NYPD, universal housing, desegregated schools, and so much more.

SURJ NYC is engaging in deep canvass-style phonebanking to facilitate rich conversations with our members about the issues they care about and the importance of the June 22 primary. With approximately six weeks until the start of early voting and a goal of making 2,000 calls we need all hands on deck. Specifically: we need at least 35 callers each week! Will you be one of them?

Whether you're a veteran of the chapter or you've never attended an event with us before, you’re welcome! If you're looking to flex your muscles when it comes to talking about race with other white folks and make meaningful connections with members of the SURJ NYC community, we want you to join us - maybe even bring a friend (or three)!

No training or experience is necessary, and we promise to support you every step of the way as we work to build the just, inclusive, and caring city that we all deserve.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. If you missed last night's teach-in with EGG about the Manhattan DA race tonight, mark your calendars for their next teach-in on Thursday, May 20th.

Exploring MRTA

On March 31st, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) was passed by the NY State legislature. This new law legalizes recreational marijuana use for adults over 21, expunges criminal records, and addresses social equity and community investment. The MRTA, which went into effect immediately and will continue to roll out through 2022, is a major step towards ending the war on drugs, which has disproportionately targeted and contributed to the mass incarceration of BIPOC.

Despite documentation that people tend to use drugs at the same rate regardless of race, Black and Latinx people make up a huge number of the over 1.6 million people arrested, prosecuted, incarcerated, placed under supervision and/or deported on drug law violations in America each year. At the state level, one million New Yorkers, 80% of whom are Black or Latinx, have had contact with the criminal justice system as a result of marijuana-related infractions, resulting in trauma and disruption for individuals, families, and communities. Even convictions that do not result in jail time can have disastrous effects on people's lives via loss of voting rights, child custody, employment, student aid, and access to public housing or other assistance programs.

The MRTA will address many of these issues and inequities moving forward, and past marijuana convictions will be sealed or reduced. MRTA also aims to shift business revenue to those who previously participated in the illicit marijuana market and offer micro-licenses at lower costs for small businesses to begin participating in the newly legal marijuana market. New York will invest the tax revenue generated by marijuana sales in public schools and community-based projects.

While the MRTA seems like a big win for racial justice in New York, we need to keep a close watch as it’s rolled out. We must ensure that the expungements occur as promised, that those who are released receive supportive services, and that resources are channeled properly. If you’re interested in supporting this work, check out our Anti-Mass Incarceration (AMI) Working Group that works with local and state-wide organizations on issues related to mass incarceration. Join us next Tuesday, May 4th, for a teach-in on the Manhattan DA race with the Electoral Gains Group!

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. If you’re interested in continuing to learn about alternatives to policing, we highly recommend checking out tonight’s webinar about defunding the police with Mariame Kaba, organized by SURJ national.

Let’s talk about the land we live, learn, and organize on

Note: With the release of body cam footage of 13-year-old Adam Toledo's murder by Chicago police, the ongoing trial of Derek Chauvin, and the rippling impacts of Daunte Wright's murder, we're still channeling our rage and grief for Black lives into action. If you're feeling motivated to act but aren’t sure where to start, we encourage you to attend the Beyond Policing Working Group meeting later this week to engage with ongoing efforts to eradicate police violence locally and nationally.

We’re about to say “Indigenous solidarity” a lot, so let’s start with what we mean when we say it: Indigenous solidarity is making sure our work helps achieve the vision and goals of Indigenous people who are fighting for liberation for Indigenous people and for the land they’ve lived on and taken care of for millennia.

We’re talking about Indigenous solidarity because we believe that it’s a critical piece of racial justice, and we’re ready to grow our work to meet that belief. Because while we’ve been living, learning, and organizing around other things, we’ve been on land that was stolen from Indigenous people, in violation of dozens of treaties, through horrific violence done by our ancestors.

We know that white people have more wealth and safety now because of a long history of exploitation around the world. Our ancestors profited from enslaving Black people. They also profited from viciously killing, stealing from, and forcing Native tribes off of their land so they could get at the resources the land provided.

We know that in the generations since these massacres and thefts, our people have systematically worked to erase Native people by occupying their land, removing access to their water, and narrating history as if Indigenous people used to live here. That’s why so many of us don’t know that New York City is home to the largest urban population of Native Americans of anywhere in the country.

Hundreds of you have joined SURJ NYC in the last year. We know we have the people power to integrate Indigenous solidarity into our work. All we need is you. Are you ready to dig in with us to stand in solidarity with the Indigenous community of NYC? Here’s what you can do next:

1. Join us on Monday, May 3 to learn more and get support in incorporating Indigenous solidarity into your anti-racist practice. Register here.

2. Make a monthly donation to the Manna-hatta Fund to support services and programs by and for Native people in NYC. (Make sure to write that you heard about it from SURJ NYC.)

3. Sign up here to help launch SURJ NYC’s Indigenous solidarity work. We’ll keep you posted on ways to be involved.

We can’t wait to learn and grow into this work with you.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Say their names

This week, we mourn Daunte Wright, a 20 year-old Black man who was murdered by the police in Minnesota, and Dominique Lucious, a 26 year-old Black trans woman who was killed in Missouri. Here in New York City, we remember Ramarley Graham, who would have turned 28 yesterday.

We echo SURJ National in sharing the following words from Black Visions Collective, a Black-led, Queer and Trans centering organization in Minnesota whose mission is to organize powerful, connected Black communities and dismantle systems of violence:

“This weekend, we watched our community come together to mourn another loss of Black life; Daunte Wright was 20 years old and his life was cut short on Sunday. The pain of George Floyd’s murder is still scarred into our minds and yet history continues to repeat itself because of a rotten and racist institution.

“We are tired of rogue police departments operating with little to no accountability and oversight. Again and again, they show us that every police department across Minnesota and this country is full of Derek Chauvins. Black people should not have to worry about being murdered just because we choose to live; whether it is to go jogging, or out to buy personal items, or just because we are sleeping in our homes— we are fighting for a world in which these situations do not end in a death sentence for Black people.”

You can read their full post here.

Let us turn our grief and rage into action. Let us fight harder to defund the police and dismantle anti-Blackness and white supremacy in all corners of our lives and institutions.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Understanding NYC’s New Qualified Immunity “Ban”

On Thursday, March 25th, the New York City Council passed a package of police reform bills, as well as the mayor’s police reform and reinvention plan. These bills, including one that claims to end qualified immunity, were touted as major steps in reforming policing. But many say these bills will not create meaningful changes to the NYPD.

A letter from Communities United for Police Reform to the council, signed by fifty advocacy groups (including SURJ NYC), calls for the council to reject the mayor’s plan. It states that “[nothing] in the resolution is likely to directly result in a decrease of police violence.” Critics argued that the reform plan was led by the NYPD and railroaded through committee in less than twenty-four hours, leaving little time for review by the council and the public. In reality, it expands police funding and power while failing to address police violence.

Another letter, signed by the families who have lost loved ones to NYPD violence, echoes these concerns and calls on the council to reject the plan, stating that “[they] will not stand for the Mayor, the NYPD, or any councilmember or elected official to invoke our loved ones’ names to serve their own political purposes.”

Qualified immunity makes it difficult for police officers to be sued for violating citizens’ rights, so in theory the bill prohibiting it is a step in the right direction. However NYCLU Senior Policy Counsel Michael Sisitzky clarified that the qualified immunity ban is limited to Fourth Amendment and excessive force claims and ignores misconduct related to protest rights violations, recording of police activity, and racial profiling. In sum, it “doesn’t address the core issue of qualified immunity as an actual doctrine.”

The calls from victims’ families and from SURJ NYC partner organizations Communities United for Police Reform (CPR) and Justice Committee (JC) emphasize the importance of divesting from policing and investing in “services and infrastructure for Black, Latinx, and other communities of color."

Please join us at the next Beyond Policing Working Group meeting (April 21 @ 6:30pm, register here)! We’ll be discussing the mayor’s police reform plan in the context of abolitionist work from Mariame Kaba and Critical Resistance.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. On Thursday of last week we came together as a chapter and collectively decided to pass the proposal for a new base building structure, which created two new teams: Invitation and Cultivation. See the details here. We are now recruiting to get this ship off the ground! If bringing more people into anti-racist organizing is something you’re excited about, please fill out this form and we will reach out to you very soon.

P.P.S.: New to SURJ? Attend an orientation meeting! Next one is on 4/15 from 6:30-7:15pm. Click New SURJ Member Welcome Orientation to sign up.

WE WANT YOUR INPUT!

In 2018, SURJ NYC embarked on a strategic planning process, informed by the work of adrienne maree brown in her book, “Emergent Strategy.” Out of that process, which explored the SURJ NYC theory of change, we determined to make those decisions which impacted the whole chapter by consensus.  

So what is a consensus process and why do we spend so much time on reaching consensus? Consensus is a way of making decisions that requires us to share power, upending hierarchical ways of operating, and challenging us to take collective control over the decisions that impact our chapter. We work with each other, rather than for or against each other, modeling values of equity, freedom and cooperation. Finding consensus can be hard and time-consuming, butat its heart is a respectful dialogue between equals, with people working together to meet everyone's needs. In the words of adrienne maree brown, “There is a conversation in the room that wants and needs to be had. Don’t force it, don’t deny it. Let it come forth.”  

At this Thursday’s chapter meeting, we will be discussing an exciting proposal for a new, formalized structure for base building in our chapter. A dedicated group of SURJ NYC organizers has been meeting for many months to develop an updated strategy for calling more white people into the movement, education and skill development, and building our community.

You may have noticed that we’ve been doing a lot of consensus-based decision-making recently. In October, we passed a proposal to develop a new Housing Justice working group; in February and March we decided on a structure for engaging around the 2021 NYC elections. And the work doesn’t end here -- we also have a group coalescing around Education Justice which we’ll discuss in the coming months, and immigration justice work forming.

There’s a really exciting reason for this: our membership is growing a lot. Over 1600 people have attended a SURJ NYC event in the past year, and many of those joined during the uprising for racial justice last summer. Our chapter has dedicated members who have been active since the chapter’s founding five years ago; organizers who joined last year ; and many in between. We are excited about the potential that this growth holds for expanding our work, deepening support for existing BIPOC partners, and redistributing money.

Participating in consensus is a necessary part of our work together. This is how we co-create how we want to move and take action.

We hope you read this proposal, and then come out to chapter on Thursday. Help us to get better at bringing more white people into this work. Bring your questions, concerns and creative ideas about how to improve our ability to make change. Even if you are new to the chapter, your input matters. Read the proposal, come with your thoughts and work with us to find consensus!

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. If you’re new to SURJ, make sure you sign up for a Welcome Meeting. It’s a great place to get started—we cover what SURJ is, how and why we work the way we do, and where the right place for you (yes, you!) might be.

THE GENDERED VIOLENCE OF THE ATLANTA SPA SHOOTINGS

After last Tuesday’s mass shooting in Atlanta we ask all of SURJ NYC to hold space for the victims - Hyun Jung Grant, Xiaojie Tan, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Daoyou Feng, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue. Elcias Hernandez Ortiz was also shot but survived.

The motive for this attack, one of nearly 4,000 incidents of anti-Asian racism reported in the last year, lies at the intersection of racism, sexism, xenophobia, and anti-Asian sentiment. Though it’s not known whether the women targeted engaged in sex work, the fact that the shooter referred to them as a "temptation he wanted to eliminate" reflects the dangerous fetishization and racialized misogyny Asian women face in America. This gendered racism can be seen throughout society, often leaving Asian women, especially those like massage parlor workers and others engaged in low wage work, subject to violence.

In response to the attack, many cities, including Atlanta and New York, have increased police presence in Asian communities. But with NYC reporting a ninefold increase in anti-Asian hate crimes last year, it’s clear policing does not to provide an effective or just response to violence against sex workers, body workers, and immigrants. Furthermore, the police and media, as agents of white supremacy, tend to downplay race violence and refuse to acknowledge hate crimes.

We encourage everyone to read Red Canary Song’s statement in response to the shooting, which specifically rejects the call for increased policing and advocates for the decriminalization of sex work in order to provide safety for sex workers, massage workers, and sex traffic survivors.

In NYC the decriminalization of sex work made headway last month as the Walking While Trans ban was repealed. The repeal is just a small step of progress, with decriminalization becoming a major issue in both the upcoming mayoral and DA races.

We must provide safety for all workers, sex trafficking survivors, and immigrants. We can combat sex worker criminalization and anti-Asian violence via bystander trainings and supporting Asian-owned businesses. And we can move money and continue to attend actions, both online and in person.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

There Is #EnoughForAll: Did you get your stimulus check?

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

Get Involved in City Elections with EGG!

At the March chapter meeting, the Electoral Gains Group (EGG) presented a proposal about how SURJ NYC might engage with the 2021 city elections. We conducted a chapter-wide decision-making process and the proposal passed with consensus at 91%!  

The EGG will form in the short term to coordinate electoral work across the chapter leading up to the June 2021 primary election, to educate, organize, and mobilize white NYC voters in support of racial justice. EGG is seizing the opportunity in these June elections to shift the city in a more progressive direction - there won’t be an electoral shift in NYC this significant for at least another 8 years!  

EGG will focus on four strategies: 1) education and calling in on Priority Racial Justice Issues to engage and organize anti-racist voters 2) create and build on existing hyperlocal teams for SURJ NYC members to organize in their neighborhoods or Council Districts; 3) engaging and educating white people about the Manhattan District Attorney race and how it impacts racial justice and 4) engaging in 3-5 selected City Council races, to block or unseat racist elected officials and support BIPOC or anti-racist candidates in districts where we could make a difference.

Check out this slide presentation or the full proposal for details about these strategies, proposed activities, overall goals, how the EGG aligns with SURJ values, and will have accountability to BIPOC people in our communities and the SURJ NYC chapter.

GET INVOLVED!

Sign up here to attend EGG’s first teach-in on Thursday, March 11th - learn about NYC government, politics, budgeting, and power.  

EGG will be meeting the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30-8:30pm. Fill out this form to tell us what you’re interested in and we’ll send you zoom information for the first meeting, this Wednesday, March 10th.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

What happened in TX could happen here, too

As we continue to grasp the size and scope of the systemic state-wide failures that devastated Texans after last month’s storms, it is crucial to understand that such failures, which left countless residents without heat or water, are not unique to Texas. These types of outages occur all too often in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing, disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities--a direct result of structural racism here in NYC.  

Last year sixty-four percent of NYCHA developments experienced some sort of outage, less than half of which were related to routine maintenance. A gas outage at the Astoria Houses knocked out an entire building for more than three months last fall. During December’s big snowstorm, the heat and hot water at the Woodside Houses in Queens failed for several hours; in January a utility outage left twelve of their apartments without gas.

Want to learn more? Here are some articles we recommend as starting points!

Medium Reads:

• How New York Must Respond to New Covid-Related Challenges as Communities of Color Face Deadly Summer Heat (Gotham Gazette)

It’s not just snow and storms that can create unsafe conditions; heat can also become deadly for people who can’t access locations with cooling systems. This op-ed explores the need for systemic solutions to the dangers posed by heat, especially given the added challenges posed by COVID.

• New York Public Housing Commits to Electrification and Decarbonization (Rocky Mountain Institute)

In October, NYCHA announced a strategic plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, committing the agency to electrifying its buildings by 2050. This matters not only in terms of climate change, but also in terms of the health of NYCHA residents.

Longer read:

• NYCHA Villages: Building a Community Vision of Health and Sustainability in New York City Housing Authority’s Dyckman Houses (We Act for Environmental Justice)

This community-driven roadmap for the future of NYCHA’s Dyckman Houses focuses on three main areas for recommended improvements: environmental, social, and economic.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

RACIAL JUSTICE AND NYC SCHOOLS

It’s Black History Month, and New York City schools recently marked the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Racial justice and equity in education are at the heart of the anti-racist movement, but NYC schools still have a long way to go before they can be said to represent these values.

One way in which the NYC public school system harms children is by testing them early and often, supposedly to group students by merit and ability. The truth is that resource inequity and racial bias in testing ends up contributing to the city’s notoriously segregated schools. On January 27th, the mayor’s Panel for Education Policy (PEP) voted not to renew their contract with Pearson, the company that administered the city’s Gifted and Talented test, hopefully marking the beginnings of change to this system.

2021 is a major election year in NYC. The mayoralty and the majority of City Council seats are up for grabs, and Bill De Blasio will leave office with many education policy decisions hanging in the balance. The next administration will determine the fate of the Gifted and Talented program, diversity planning, culturally responsive curriculum, and middle and high school screens. It will also need to address the many inequities illuminated and exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.

The Education Justice Group is exploring ways to take action on these fronts, taking our lead from the incredible work of majority BIPOC-led groups like Teens Take Charge, The Alliance For Quality Education, and Black Lives Matter at School. Meanwhile, interest groups such as PLACE NYC are hard at work maintaining the educational structures that uphold inequity and segregation, allowing white parents to hoard resources and exert an outsized influence on policy. We invite SURJ NYC members to join us as we amplify the voices of BIPOC education activists, fight back against those who wish to suppress justice and progress, and work toward securing an equitable and joyful future for all children.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

The Myth of the Benevolent North

Yesterday was Presidents’ Day, a federal holiday commemorating Washington’s birthday and generally thought of as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents. It is an opportunity to reexamine our past.

We often think of the Civil War as a fight between the free North and the slaveholding South, but this dichotomy obscures Northern states’ history of violent racism, including here in New York City. New York City’s economic dependence on Southern cotton led business interests to urge reconciliation with the Confederacy. At the same time, working-class white immigrants competed for jobs with Black workers, and anti-war politicians and newspapers stoked white fears of losing work to newly freed Southern slaves.

Against this backdrop of conflict and racist propagandizing, the National Conscription Act of 1863 set off the most violent five days of rioting in U.S. history. White working-class New Yorkers who couldn’t pay $300, or about a year’s wages, to avoid the draft were angry that otherwise qualified Black men were exempt from the draft since Black people were not considered citizens. On July 13, 1863, white workers began by attacking government buildings but soon moved on to violently targeting Black New Yorkers’ homes and businesses. Known as the New York Draft Riots, this revolt left an estimated 1,200 people dead and led to the long-term displacement of nearly a quarter of the city’s Black population from Manhattan to Brooklyn and New Jersey.  

The intertwining of economic and class interests with white supremacy persists to this day. Historically racist redlining, highway creation, and city planning efforts continue to cause violence against and displacement of BlPOC New Yorkers. As white people we need to know the history of the land we live on so we can better understand how the system and city has been built on violence against BIPOC communities.

As always, see below for ways to plug into the work for racial justice. And take good care.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Celebrating the Repeal of the Walking While Trans Ban

On Tuesday, February 2nd, New York’s statute 240.37--known as the “walking while trans” ban--was successfully repealed, thanks to years of ongoing organizing. The law was enacted in 1976 and made it illegal to loiter for the purposes of prostitution. In practice, it functioned as a modern version of vagrancy laws, which have been used since the sixteenth century as a carte blanche for police to arrest anyone they like under the guise of trying to prevent crime. Police used statute 240.37 to target anyone they suspected of prostitution based on appearance--especially trans women and women of color. 85% of those arrested between 2012 and 2015 were Black and/or Latinx.

This law was just one of many examples of systemic justifications for violence against Black trans people in the United States. A survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that trans and gender nonconforming folks face discrimination in highly disproportionate numbers compared to the general population.

The statute repeal can serve as a jumping-off point to address both discrimination against trans people and the criminalization of sex work. Police tactics allegedly geared toward human trafficking are used to harass, arrest, and convict sex workers, their customers, and those falsely accused of being involved in the sex trades. While 65% of New York sex workers report that their clients are white, most people targeted by police as johns are Black. According to a ProPublica data analysis, African Americans make up 89% of those charged with prostitution and 93% of those accused of purchasing sex in New York.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced last week that he would decline prosecution of or dismiss all open prostitution and loitering cases. Still, current laws drive sex workers underground and into dangerous environments while failing to address human trafficking. Effective advocacy for sex workers needs to begin with decriminalization.

So, as we celebrate the wins, we harness that energy and joy into continuing the work towards racial justice. Read on for more ways to plug in and show up!

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

A Message from the Beyond Policing Working Group

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, NYPD officers violently attacked peaceful Black Lives Matter protesters gathered at City Hall. Officers continue to use illegal chokeholds almost seven years after Eric Garner was murdered by Daniel Pantaleo. In fact, since 2014, the Civilian Complaint Review Board has substantiated 40 instances of officers using banned chokeholds, yet not a single officer has been fired as a result. Meanwhile, Mayor de Blasio continues to tout a meaningless “disciplinary matrix” that is not legally binding and gives the police commissioner ultimate authority in the disciplinary process.

Days before the NYPD crackdown on MLK Day, NY Attorney General Letitia James announced that her office was suing the NYPD over their response during the summer uprising that followed the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The lawsuit itself may be historic, but the wording—which says that police violence was a result of “poor training and supervision”—ignores the fact that the NYPD is doing exactly what it’s designed to do. Committing violence with impunity against BIPOC is fundamental to policing, and no amount of training or supervision can change that.

With this understanding—resulting from years of educating ourselves and listening to and reading works by BIPOC organizers who are trying to build a world without police—we in the Police Accountability Working Group have decided to change our name. We recognize that “holding police accountable” is not a complete description of the work we need to do. Police will always evade accountability. Policing has its origins in slave patrols and union busting and was designed to uphold class inequality and racial capitalism. A “safer, better” version of policing will never be possible, so we would like to begin imagining a future without it. We also wanted our name to express that we are working to reject policing in all its forms, including the ways that we, as white people, police ourselves and our communities.

We had several discussions in order to brainstorm and discuss new names, and we agreed on the Beyond Policing Working Group (BPWG). We will continue to work with our partners at Communities United for Police Reform and Justice Committee and the families of New Yorkers who were killed by the NYPD in their fights for accountability, but our work will continue to evolve in support of abolition.  

Some ways to get involved in the BPWG’s efforts:

• Mondays - call blasts to Mayor de Blasio’s office to demand the firing of Officer Wayne Isaacs for the killing of Delrawn Small

• Fridays - call blast to Ask the Mayor on The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC for Delrawn Small

• Every third Wednesday of the month - BPWG monthly meetings

• Stay tuned for how we are supporting calls from our partners to defund the police in the next city budget

In solidarity,

Beyond Policing Working Group (BPWG)

The Biden Administration's First Week

Many of us breathed a sigh of relief last Wednesday as Joe Biden was inaugurated and the Trump era finally ended. It was heartening to hear Biden to invoke racial justice in his inaugural address with unprecedented directness (mentioning white supremacy!), and it was wonderful to see National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman recite her poem “The Hill We Climb” acknowledging an ugly history and providing hope for a way forward. Yet the role the Democratic Party and, historically, Biden himself have played in upholding white supremacist institutions and policies (including the lack of acknowledgment of being on stolen Indigenous land throughout the ceremony) make this moment more a starting point than a victorious finale. We will need to hold Biden and the Democrat-led Congress accountable and work hard to push them in the direction of racial justice.

The executive orders Biden signed on his first day in office provide some hopeful jumping-off points. Rejoining WHO, initiating mask mandates, and organizing vaccinations can help control COVID, which disproportionately affects BIPOC. The Muslim ban was rescinded, DACA was bolstered, the border wall construction was halted, the 1776 commission was cancelled, and the eviction moratorium may be extended through September. On Friday, Biden was said to be planning a federal workforce minimum wage increase to $15.00 an hour.

It will still be necessary, however, to keep the pressure on the Biden Administration. Student loan debt cancellation, which would have a significant impact on Black Americans, is in need of a further push. Biden's plan is a good start, but Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senator Bernie Sanders have been among the leaders of a push for complete loan cancellation. An aide to Senator Warren stated that student loan cancellation would have the biggest impact on the racial wealth gap of any legislation enacted since the civil rights era.

Pressure is also needed to extend the COVID-19 aid package. While much can be done via executive order, presidential power has its limits. Much of the work needs congressional support and, by extension, our pressure on congress. New Yorkers are well aware that having Democrats at the helm is not a panacea. Again, the Democrats at large (and the new president in particular) have done much to uphold white supremacy. Change is possible, but only if we fight for it.

Hopefully a Democratic president who claims to stand for racial justice and a Democratic congress will grant us the space to push all that much harder for a more just and equitable nation.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Equity and the Vaccine

he political chaos of the past few weeks has drawn much of our focus away from COVID-19, but the fact remains that we’re still in the middle of a deadly pandemic. While the vaccine has brought some hope, its slow rollout and inequities in access are a major source of concern.

Though the pandemic has affected all of our lives, COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on non-white communities. In November, the American Heart Association found that nearly 60% of people hospitalized for COVID were Black or Hispanic despite the fact that only 20% of folks in the surrounding area identified as Black and/or Hispanic according to the census. Another study found that the COVID-19 death rate among Black Americans is nearly three times higher than that among white Americans.

Correctional facilities have also been brutally affected by COVID-19, where Black people are disproportionately represented. In December, the NYS Department of Corrections reported a 71% increase in COVID cases. Yet help is not coming soon enough--only half of US states are prioritizing vaccine distribution to incarcerated people ahead of the general population. In NY, political leaders have been sending mixed messages about whether or not the incarcerated population will be prioritized in phase 1B of vaccination.

In response, organizations such as the Center for Community Alternatives, Release Aging People in Prison, the #HALT Solitary Confinement Campaign, and FWD.us have all called on the New York State Dept. of Health to ensure that all incarcerated New Yorkers have early access to the vaccine.

As white people fighting for racial justice we must advocate for vaccine prioritization in minority and low-income communities and in prisons as well as support organizations working to increase awareness and access in these communities. This week, among other things, try jumping onto the #FreeThemAll phone zap on Friday, get involved with our Anti-Mass Incarceration working group on Monday, or join the People's Campaign for Parole Justice for a virtual advocacy day next Wednesday, January 27, in support of the Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole bill initiatives.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

About last week: reflection and action with SURJ NYC

January 6th began as a celebratory day for Democrats as Rev. Raphael Warnock and, later in the day, Jon Ossoff were declared victorious in Georgia’s runoff elections, securing a slim Democratic majority in the Senate. However, on Wednesday, white supremacist Trump supporters, many wearing clothing or carrying signs with racist and antisemitic language or symbols violently stormed the Capitol to disrupt the congressional election certification and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The insurrection resulted in five deaths and scores of arrests, while Senate leaders demanded that Pence invoke the 25th amendment and members of Trump’s cabinet began to step down, and House Democrats reportedly plan to vote to impeach Trump tomorrow.

Although many may have been shocked by the attempted coup, signs of a planned action proliferated across social media networks for months, and media coverage of the rally and planning was broadcast across alt-right websites, social media, and message boards. Trump has spent his years in power setting the stage for this threat to our democracy, convincing his supporters that their votes and opinions matter more than the majority of voters who chose to elect Joe Biden; if they didn’t receive everything they felt entitled to, it was because it had been unfairly taken from them, and there would be no consequences for their actions.

This belief in zero consequences reflects the racist double standard of policing in America. Despite the clear knowledge that there was a threat, calls for the National Guard were denied both before the rally and for over two hours during the violent insurrection, while Capitol police clearly limited their use of force against the mostly white crowd breaking into the Capitol. This show of restraint was shocking given the violent police responses we saw across the country toward unarmed protestors at this summer’s protests against systemic racism and police brutality. A stand needs to be made to investigate state compliance, hold instigators and collaborators accountable, and set up structures to prevent further threats to democracy.

Biden couldn't be more wrong when he proclaims that this action “[did] not reflect a true America.” While the majority of Americans voted against Trump, white rage has always been a part of our country’s history, from the Civil War to Jim Crow laws to the backlash to the civil rights movement, and it continues through to today. To move forward, we need to break down structures of white supremacy that brought the insurrection and other such events of organized racial violence to fruition.

Read on for more ways to take action together and call in white folks in the coming weeks.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about the events of January 6th in a historical context, check out SURJ national’s webinar, White Backlash: why it happens and how we fight back, on January 13th at 8:00pm, led by activist and scholar Robin DG Kelley.

SURJ NYC Wraps Up 2020

It goes without saying that 2020 has been a completely unprecedented, difficult, and overwhelming year. The loss and anguish experienced by so many in our communities cannot be overstated. We’re incredibly thankful to all of you who have dedicated time and energy toward the fight against white supremacy. Whether you were one of the many new folks who joined this year or you’ve been with us from the beginning, we’re grateful for your work this year and look forward to moving into 2021 with you.

To wrap up 2020, we’ve pulled together highlights from our six work areas, which are the driving force behind much of SURJ NYC’s work. The five working groups hold monthly open meetings that all SURJ members are welcome to attend, and meetings for the parent/educator/youth project area are always posted in this newsletter. If you’re interested in getting more involved in any of these efforts and have already attended an orientation, you can email surjnyc@gmail.com for more information.

Anti-Mass Incarceration

This year, the Anti-Mass Incarceration (AMI) working group deepened our relationship with Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) and started a new relationship with the Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement (CAIC). We phone banked, wrote letters, showed up at rallies, and educated ourselves on aging in prison, solitary confinement, and other aspects of the prison industrial complex.

Base Building/Deep Phonebanking

Deep Phonebanking continued to experiment with engaging people who are signed up for SURJ and began to track how many people we speak with. From June to December, DP called more than 1,000 people and had conversations with nearly 400 of them.

Communications

The communications team makes the work happening at SURJ visible. 2020 saw a tenfold increase in followers across all our platforms with hundreds of new people stepping forward to volunteer in meaningful ways. Working round the clock, our comms team created and shared meaningful and educational content, drove a $100k redistribution effort, turned people out for Black-led protests, and moved resources to Black-led grassroots mutual aid projects.

Housing Justice

Beginning as an organizing effort of SURJ NYC rent strikers in May, the Housing Justice Working Group became official in September. We’ve advocated for Albany to #CancelRent, stop evictions, and raise the housing voucher. We’ve also supported eviction defense citywide and fought to keep homeless residents safe in hotels during COVID-19.  

Parent/Educator/Youth Group

Since launching in July 2020, the Parent/Educator/Youth Group has met nine times to discuss racial inequities in schools during COVID, DOE’s Diversity Plan, “unscreening” schools, and the elections’ impact on education. We’ve also facilitated practice sessions on how to talk to children about racism and how to talk to other white parents about the impact of individual choice on school segregation. Members have taken action with AQE and BLM At NYC Schools.

Police Accountability

This year, the Police Accountability Group:

• Welcomed many new members as a result of the uprising this summer

• Made calls to Albany to Repeal 50A and pass the other bills in the Safer NY Act in support of our partners at Communities United for Police Reform

• Made calls to city councilmembers to defund the police for #NYCBudgetJustice

• Doubled the amount we raised last year for Justice Committee and increased their number of monthly supporters

• Organized weekly call blasts for the Justice for Delrawn Small campaign

In 2021, we will continue calling in white New Yorkers about defunding the NYPD, while following the lead of BIPOC and queer organizers who started this movement. We hope you’ll join us!

We hope your last few days of 2020 are restful, and we’re excited to enter the new year alongside you with a sense of possibility and a renewed commitment to the fight against white supremacy.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC