Voting Rights in New York and Beyond

This month's 6-3 Supreme Court decision to uphold two voting provisions in Arizona was a major blow to the rights of BIPOC voters and dissolved much of what remained of the civil-rights-era Voting Rights Act. The decision came shortly after a Republican filibuster in June blocked the For the People Act, which would have significantly expanded voting rights.

The White House has responded to these threats to democracy with a $25 million DNC initiative to register voters and combat voter suppression. However, both the Black Voters Matter Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund are criticizing the Biden administration for moving too slowly and not following through on promises for an extensive presidential speaking tour to tackle the issue.

Meanwhile, New York is facing its own election crisis. The mayoral primary last month brought scrutiny to the Board of Elections (BOE) when 135,000 sample ballots were inadvertently included in the tally of partial results. The error gave ammunition to Trump allies who used it to justify voter suppression legislation in other states. Mitch McConnell blamed the snafu on ranked-choice voting, which is unpopular among conservatives. Despite these criticisms, exit polls from Common Cause and Rank the Vote NYC show high levels of trust in the ranked-choice system, and primary results have the city council poised to be the most diverse in NYC’s history.

Advocates of ranked choice voting defend the practice, raising the alternate concern that NYC’s Board of Elections is made up of politically appointed commissioners who are rarely held accountable for ongoing failures. They have called for an amendment to adequately fund the election administration and to introduce merit-based hiring, with the goal of a BOE composed of experienced non-partisan election officials.

It is vital that we advocate for an expansion of voting rights and elections transparency at all levels. Voter education efforts won’t matter if people are turned away at the polls or discouraged from even trying in the first place. We need to ensure folks know their rights and options for voting, and here in NYC, lobby our officials for BOE reform. Action doesn’t end at the ballot box, but voting is a crucial mechanism for change that should be as easy and accessible as possible.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC


P.S. EGG will be meeting the week of July 18th to reflect and discuss the EGG initiative. In the meantime, could you please fill out this survey to collect your thoughts while they are still fresh in your head? Thanks! And thank you for your participation in this new endeavor.

Grappling with the Climate Crisis

As the nation is hit with multiple deadly heat waves this summer we are reminded of the intersection of climate change and racial justice. This past week the NYC area has had multiple days of heat advisories with New Yorkers being asked to conserve power as the grid was pushed to the brink. This has raised serious questions about infrastructure both locally and throughout the country. The homeless, the elderly, and migrant farmworkers are especially vulnerable as are those currently in prison, where extreme heat is often fatal.

Across the country climate change and pollution are shown to more severely impact Black and brown communities than the general population. Last week, many people noticed that power outages were far more common in neighborhoods with primarily non-white residents, with the majority of outages in Queens, Brooklyn, and East Harlem. Moreover, heat deaths are much higher among BIPOC populations. Black people account for close to half of the heat related deaths in the city between 2000 and 2012.

New York, which has the nation's highest rate of building emissions and fossil fuel consumption, is failing in its climate change response. While NYC often bills itself as a leader on climate related issues, climate scientists and organizers point to shortcomings in its response to extreme heat. Cooling centers, a necessary life saving measure for vulnerable populations, fell short during this most recent heat wave. Pressure must be applied on the local level as a new mayor and city council members are soon to be seated.

Current record-breaking heat waves are expected to worsen as the climate crisis intensifies. With climate crises becoming the norm we need national, state, and local leadership to address the issue with the urgency it deserves. Dozens were arrested last week when Sunrise Movement demonstrators blockaded the White House, calling for a more robust plan to tackle climate change as part of Biden's Infrastructure Deal. Globally, Indigenous communities, who are also disproportionately affected by environmental destruction, are seeking a place at the table to address climate change. Now more than ever we must understand that Climate Justice is Racial Justice.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Reconsidering American Freedom

With Independence Day approaching on the heels of Juneteenth, we’re going to be hearing a lot about American freedom -- and we want to question the nature of that “freedom.” Who was considered “free” in 1776? What does “independence” mean today to people who are incarcerated, Indigenous, or whose ancestors were enslaved? The Fourth of July was a declaration of economic freedom and a testimony to capitalism, but that economic “freedom” of America was built with slavery. As the rest of the world in the eighteenth century was moving away from a slave economy, America was doubling down by breaking ties with Europe and tightening its grip on an economy based on treating human lives as property.

While Juneteenth reminds us that chattel slavery in the United States did eventually end, we must acknowledge the modern iteration of the slave economy: prison labor. The majority of incarcerated Americans are people of color being put to work making things like office furniture and military equipment for negligible pay. Indeed, some prisons themselves were former plantations.

The echoes of slavery do not end with the prison industrial complex. They reverberate across every element of our working reality. Perhaps you’re reading this email from your desk. Maybe you work for a multinational corporation that runs like a machine: you report to someone, and someone reports to you. Everything is tracked, recorded and analyzed. Data seems to hold sway over every operation. It feels like a cutting-edge approach to management, but many of these techniques that we now take for granted were developed by and for large plantations.

Lastly, let’s be mindful of the stolen land on which we celebrate American liberty. Stolen land that was farmed by stolen people in the name of freedom. This Independence Day, take time to reflect on the indigenous and enslaved people exploited by racial capitalism, people who deserve respect and reparations for what was taken from them in the name of American independence.

As we discussed last week, there are many ways we can support reparations efforts. Among other things, call your representatives to demand that HR40, to study proposals for reparations, be passed at the federal level.

And as always, see below for more ways to take action and show up in the coming days.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

How Can We Support Reparations Efforts?

Last week Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday after decades of effort. While many applaud the long-awaited acknowledgment of the date commemorating the end of slavery, the gesture is largely symbolic as long as systemic racism continues to prevail, from police departments being further militarized and not held accountable and states banning the teaching of critical race theory to the unremitting growth of the racial wealth gap.

The racial wealth gap is the direct result of 400 years of racist policies and practices without repair, from slavery to Jim Crow, from the 1921 Tulsa race massacre to redlining to the so-called “war on drugs”. As of 2019, Black families' wealth was less than 15% of the wealth of white families. While not all white people come from a place of generational wealth, we still have a responsibility to champion wealth redistribution and harm repair due to the privilege and power we carry. The demand for reparations is not only about money, and unlike mutual aid, is not simply about individual wealth redistribution. It is an acknowledgement of systemic harm and a call for a rethinking of racist political and economic structures.

The call for reparations is an old movement which is presently gaining ground. A ten-point plan has been drafted by the National African-American Reparations Commission (NAARC) which involves a holistic approach to reparations. This past May, Bill HR40, which would create a commission to research and recommend how to provide reparations for Black people, was finally passed out of committee thirty-two years after first being introduced. House leadership has committed to getting it to the floor for a vote this year. In New York state, the reparations bill passed the assembly earlier this month. In California, a task force to study reparations--similar to the HR40 federal proposal--was formed in early June.

Now is the time to act in support of reparations at the personal, local, state, and federal level. See below for actions you can take today to support these efforts.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. Don’t forget to vote in the New York City primary today!! Here’s our toolkit for how to be an anti-racist voter this June.

Racial Justice on the Ballot

We know that many people who believe in fighting racism do not always consider themselves “political” and may choose not to participate in the electoral process. While we agree that there are many reasons to be skeptical of electoral politics, SURJ NYC strongly encourages you to participate in the upcoming Democratic primary on June 22nd. If we want to secure true systemic change by forming a more racially just city, we have a responsibility as white people to show up and elect officials who are committed to fighting for those goals.

Throughout much of this primary race certain candidates have beaten the drum of being tough on crime, but we ask you to see that for what it is: propaganda intended to scare New Yorkers into going back to the eras of Bloomberg and Giuliani. Instead of moving backwards, we have an opportunity to help construct a more racially just city that is truly dedicated to helping communities in the most need. A city that knows that “tough on crime” does not equal “safety.”

Here’s how you can stay informed and get more involved:

While SURJ NYC isn’t endorsing any specific candidates, we have been specifically asked by our community partners to not rank Eric Adams or Andrew Yang for mayor or Tali Farhadian Weinstein for Manhattan DA.

Please join us in being an anti-racist voter and link-up with your friends, family, and neighbors too! These connections will be useful long after the June primaries.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Pride, Protests, and Police

On June 28th, 1970, the first Pride marches in America were held in New York City and Los Angeles as part of Christopher Street Liberation Day, which commemorated the one-year anniversary of the six-day Stonewall Uprising. Sparked by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, the Stonewall Uprising was initiated primarily by gay and trans people of color--most famously Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera--who were fed up with systemic racist, homophobic, and transphobic police harassment and violence. Though not the only such protest of the time, it is often seen as the beginning of the modern day queer rights movement.

Pride is a time for celebration, but also a time for remembrance of how far we’ve come and how far there is yet to go. The intersection of homophobia, transphobia, and race is ever-present in the ongoing fight for queer liberation. Black and brown trans folk continue to be subject to horrific levels of violence, with 2020 being the deadliest year on record. Transgender people are four times more likely than cisgender people to experience police violence, including sexual assault. According to Amnesty International, NYPD officers often fail to acknowledge the nature of hate crimes against LGBTQ+ people and have historically responded with victim-blaming and violence. Just last year, a crowd at the Queer Liberation March was pepper sprayed by police, while others were arrested at Washington Square Park. The recently announced ban of uniformed NYPD officers from the Pride parade through 2025 is the result of a years-long effort to create safer spaces for marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks, who face ongoing police violence within Pride events and beyond.

We can support this effort in myriad ways. We can pressure our elected city officials over the next two weeks to defund the police and pass a budget for 2022 that advances racial justice. We can vote in the NYC primaries on June 22nd to ensure representatives have aligned stances on racial justice and LGBTQ+ rights and protections. And we can move money towards mutual aid funds and grassroots organizations that support and protect LGBTQ+ people of color. The first Pride was a riot, and we can honor that legacy through action.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. Early voting for the NYC primaries begins this Saturday, June 12th! Find your early voting poll site here.

End ICE Detention for Immigration

Despite their campaign promises to end deportation and close family detention centers, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been anything but immigrant friendly over their time in office. In just 120 days, the Biden administration has deported nearly 500,000 people.

ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operates four detention centers in the NYC area, all in New Jersey, in counties run by Democrats: three in the Bergen, Essex, and Hudson county jails, plus the privately owned Elizabeth Detention Center. These detention centers cage the mostly Black and brown immigrants arrested by ICE in NYC.

But remember: ICE doesn’t arrest people for committing crimes; it arrests people for violating immigration regulations, which are civil offenses, not criminal. It is ICE itself that criminalizes them, often compounding the racism of the criminal legal system by targeting immigrants for deportation who’ve been incarcerated or had contact with the police. On top of that, the pandemic has revealed the threat to public health posed by detention centers, with unsafe conditions making them hotbeds of COVID-19 infection.

For over a year now, SURJ NYC members have been calling state and county officials, testifying at public meetings, raising funds for detained people and their families, and rallying and protesting with the Abolish ICE NY-NJ Coalition, which organizes to free people from ICE detention—and, ultimately, to end detention and abolish ICE—while supporting detained immigrants and their families. Coalition demands originate from detained people themselves, organizers include formerly detained people, and an important part of the coalition’s work is uplifting and supporting the organizing of people in detention, such as ongoing hunger strikes to protest conditions and win release. 

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

P.S. Feeling overwhelmed by all the candidates you have to choose between on June 22nd?? Join us at this Thursday’s chapter meeting to get informed and involved in the two weeks before this important primary election!

How Can We Build an Anti-Racist City Budget?

It’s been one year since George Floyd was murdered by Officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, sparking an international uprising against police violence. Over the past year we’ve witnessed an increase in mainstream support for defunding the police, but the movement to do so is neither new nor radical--Black and brown organizers have known for generations that police do not keep us safe, and that real safety comes from divesting in policing and investing in community care, like funding for schools, public health, and affordable housing.

This movement originated with Black and brown New Yorkers in directly impacted communities, and, as white anti-racist New Yorkers, we cannot disengage. It is incumbent upon us to amplify these demands. In the coming weeks, New York City council members will have the opportunity to shape the budget and residents will have the chance to vote in a historic primary election.

Earlier this month, the NYPD presented the City Council with their proposed budget for next year, asking for more money and more personnel and revealing that they had gone $130 million over budget for overtime in the past year. During the hearing, NYPD leadership also lied about kettling protestors last summer and gave vague answers about whether or not police officers who brutalized protestors were ever disciplined.

This year, we need to keep up the momentum and demand that our council members fight for a budget that advances racial justice in this city. The NYPD requires the complicity of white New Yorkers in order to continue killing and brutalizing Black and brown New Yorkers, harassing, abusing, and assaulting sex workers, and creating a massive war chest in order to build a surveillance state. We must use everything in our power to push back against this system of violence.

However, we cannot rely on this year’s budget cycle alone to transform policing in our city. The upcoming primary elections in June represent an opportunity to elect officials who will be accountable to Black and brown frontline organizers. This year, SURJ NYC is making its first foray into the NYC electoral arena because we know that the stakes could not be higher. With five weeks remaining to fundamentally transform our city government, we need all hands on deck. Will you join us? See below for actions and resources on how to use your vote and voice to move money away from the NYPD and toward programs that actually support our communities.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

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:

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.

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:

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