This election is a whole new ballgame

For months, we’ve been in the streets standing behind Palestinian organizers to send Biden a very clear message: your failure to protect Palestinians’ human rights is a threat to your candidacy. In part because of that organizing, he dropped out of the race. 

With Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, there are new and powerful opportunities to organize. We have a responsibility to both get her elected and to hold her accountable to end the genocide and to enact progressive policies.

As ever, we are fighting for the conditions we want to organize under for the next four years—a quick glance over Trump’s campaign promises and Project 2025 makes clear how dangerous his presidency would be to every one of us. What’s different this time is that with a new democratic candidate, thousands of people are re-engaged in this race and ready to be organized. Many of us are fired up to defend against the racist, sexist vitriol that the Right will be throwing at Harris from every angle, as part of a coordinated strategy to win over white voters. This is what we call a “movement moment”: a time when lots of people are revved up and ready to get to work, and where we have a clear mandate to get in formation.

The energy is palpable. On Sunday night, over 44,000 Black women joined a call with Win With Black Women to organize to elect Harris. We know that people of color will overwhelmingly support the Democratic nominee, and that Black women especially are stepping up to do the work to put her in office.

This is our work to do too; we know that white people put Trump in office in 2016. It’s on us to take up the responsibility to out-organize MAGA in white communities. Last night over 13,000 people joined an energizing call with SURJ National to kick off a phonebanking and canvassing campaign that is laser focused on the most strategic parts of the white electorate.

Did you miss it? Watch a recording of the webinar here. We promise you’ll feel inspired and ready to jump into action. 

Are you ready to get involved? Do these two things:

  1. Join SURJ NYC at our chapter meeting next Thursday August 1st to get in formation with SURJ NYC folks working to defeat Trump and get prepared for whatever comes in November

  2. Sign up for SURJ National’s the Many Over the MAGA phonebanking team. The team kicks off tomorrow, July 24th, with an orientation.

As Jennifer Knox, the National Director of Organizing at Working Families Party, said to white folks on last night’s call, “You are so deeply needed in this moment; the mandate is very real for your leadership in this moment.”

Onward,

SURJ NYC

Action is the Antidote to Despair

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the news these past few weeks? A lot has happened. The NYC 2024-2025 budget passed with mixed results. Funding was restored for many key city services after months of intense advocacy by a huge coalition of New Yorkers and community organizations. But cuts remained for far too many programs and the budget contains a record-breaking $12B in police spending and $225M for building a cop city training facility in Queens.

Despite tireless organizing, Jamaal Bowman lost the NY-16 Democratic primary. We’re incredibly proud of the work we did alongside a broad coalition of organizations. About 1,000 SURJ members nationally supported the Bowman campaign and SURJ NYC and SURJ Westchester anchored canvassing efforts that reached over 3,000 households. We put up a good fight – AIPAC and other super-PACs had to spend over $23M to beat us.

On the national level, multiple Supreme Court decisions this week have terrible implications for democracy and November is fast approaching.

It’s easy to feel paralyzed and overwhelmed by all of this. If you’re feeling that way, know that we’re there with you. But we also know that, as Joan Baez said, “action is the antidote to despair.” We will sustain each other to keep fighting. Come to our chapter meeting this Thursday July 11th to find the community you need to move from overwhelm to action. We look forward to seeing you there!

Onward,

SURJ NYC

An Important Job for White People in Movement

We get people all the time coming to SURJ saying “Can you just tell me what to do?” Most of the time, we don’t have a simple answer. We say “there are lots of ways to plug in”, “what skills do you have?”, “what are you fired up about?” All of that is true and important. 
But right now, we have one very simple answer: Get trained in community and action safety. 

If we want a world where everyone is free, from Palestine to NYC, learning how to keep ourselves safe is important for everybody. But it’s a different kind of “important” for white folks. 

First, because white people’s fear is the justification for policing. Police departments convince wealthy and middle class white people that they’re in danger—and that policing is the only thing that will protect them—to get more and more budget money. (They churn out propaganda to make it happen.) 

If we learn ways to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe, we will be less afraid and won’t rely on cops for safety.

Second, because cops are less likely to get violent with white people. As action security, we form a physical barrier between cops and protestors, using our white bodies to help decrease the risk of violent police interaction.

Volunteering as action security is a way our whiteness can be useful.

As white people, practicing community safety is a tangible way we can protect ourselves and our neighbors from violent policing. To do it well, we need to work on skills like de-escalation, assessing risk, managing our own fear response, and more.

Our Community & Action Safety 101 training will teach you essential tactics for action security and how those tactics can be used in our daily lives.

To get involved, sign up for the next three part training on Thursdays, July 11, 18, and 25, 2pm-4pm.

We’re excited to continue growing this collective practice with you.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

SURJ for Bowman Day

SURJ for Bowman Day is Saturday June 8th!

All eyes in this Democratic primary cycle are on defending “The Squad,” our movement-aligned champions in Congress, and SURJ NYC’s electoral work this Spring is laser-focused on re-electing Rep. Jamaal Bowman, whose NY-16 district includes parts of the Bronx and Westchester County. This Saturday, June 8th, SURJ NYC and SURJ Westchester are putting together an epic day in the city and Westchester, and we want you to be part of it!

12:00pm-2:00 pm, Central Park

This month’s SURJ NYC Chapter Meeting will be in Central Park, focused on base building for the chapter’s #CareNotCriminalization campaigns + SURJ NYC & Westchester canvassing for Jamaal Bowman.

2:00pm, Canvass Launch from Central Park!

Directly after the chapter meeting, we will launch canvasses for Jamaal Bowman, carpooling from Central Park to take people to Irvington to knock doors!

NOTE: Please sign up for canvassing 11:00am-4:00pm even if you are joining the later shift leaving from Central Park, and please fill out this transportation form so we can match drivers with passengers and make sure every canvasser has a ride!

6:00pm

After canvassing in Irvington, SURJ NYC is invited to a nearby house party fundraiser 6:00pm-9:00pm with Jamaal Bowman in person, co-hosted by a comrade from SURJ Westchester.

SURJ NYC, SURJ Westchester and SURJ national members getting ready to canvass in Hastings on Hudson for Rep. Jamaal Bowman

And get ready for another big collaborative weekend with SURJ NYC, SURJ Westchester, and SURJ National June 14th-16th!

Friday, June 14th

Art Build for Bowman

6:00pm-9:00pm, All Angels’ Church, 251 West 80th Street, NY 

Join SURJ NYC and SURJ Westchester for an art build for Jamaal Bowman! We'll be creating materials for the home stretch of the campaign and others to use for SURJ gatherings in New York and beyond. No art expertise is needed! Anyone is welcome - your friend, your neighbor, or your family members! Food will be provided! Folks are welcome to come and go on a rolling basis until 9pm.

Saturday, June 15th

Bronx Power Up Block & Build Training (registration link to come!)

9:00am-12:00pm, Co-op City, Bronx

Join SURJ, Movement for Black Lives, and Working Families Party for a training on building independent political power for the multiracial working class.

Then come…

Canvass with SURJ NYC & SURJ Westchester for Jamaal Bowman

1:00pm-5:00pm, Irvington, NY

And then join us in the Upper West Side for the big evening finale!

Bring Your People: A SURJ Community Meeting

6:00pm-8:00 pm, All Angels’ Church, 251 West 80th Street, NY

​​Join SURJ NYC, SURJ Westchester, and SURJ National to gather in community, take stock of this moment, and commit to action. We’ll share food, laughs, and music and connect with other regular people coming together to learn our part. No experience with SURJ or organizing necessary. Join us and bring your people!

Sunday, June 16th

Canvass with SURJ NYC & SURJ Westchester for Jamaal Bowman

11:00am-4:00pm, Mamaroneck, NY

This Isn't Just About One Election or One Candidate

A month ago, SURJ NYC member-leader Jess D went to Pittsburgh with other SURJ members to help re-elect Rep. Summer Lee, knocking doors and speaking to constituents not only about Lee and her record, but about the stakes of the race. Rightwing donors and Super PACs were pouring millions into the primary in an effort to punish Lee, an early and unequivocal voice in Congress calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and Jess thought it was crucial to stop them from ousting her and the other members of “The Squad.”

One of those Squad members is back here in New York: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), who represents parts of the Bronx and southern Westchester County. SURJ is strategically coordinating with the Bowman campaign to speak with voters in majority-white parts of his district about why we need a leader like Jamaal. This weekend, teams of SURJ NYC and SURJ Westchester chapter members and friends are going to Hastings-on-Hudson to knock doors of registered Democrats to re-elect Bowman. Jess, who will be leading those teams, explains:

I'm canvassing with SURJ to re-elect Jamaal Bowman and stand up against the continued targeting of Black and POC progressives by right-wing super PACs. While I believe true justice and equity come from grassroots movements, it's critical to have politicians in office who hear us and can amplify our efforts!

SURJ will be canvassing this Saturday and Sunday and every weekend until the June 25th primary.

Can you join me?

Bowman is fighting for a broad progressive agenda including quality public education, reproductive rights, universal health care, and climate justice. And this primary race is about so much more: it’s a referendum on Gaza and universal human rights. It’s a proxy fight for the direction of the Democratic Party and for a viable political alternative to the far right. Jamaal Bowman is not afraid to stand up to his own party leaders, and he is the leader we need to stand up to rightwing authoritarians. Only a true people’s champion like Bowman can expose rightwing populists like Donald Trump as fool’s gold.

As SURJ Director Erin Heaney said on a recent webinar:

For too long, white people have let communities of color save us - thanking Black women, black voters for coming through for Democrats. This is not a viable strategy: we need to take responsibility for organizing our folks – white people– into the multi-racial coalition we need to win. This is part of why we engage in elections.”

White voters may well make the difference in Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s nationally important race, and the priority ask of those of us in the New York metro area is to canvass!

Let’s go!

In the Streets, on the Campus, at the Doors for Palestine

Last Tuesday, on the second night of Passover, an affinity group of SURJ-NYC members participated in an “Emergency Seder in the Streets” organized by Jewish Voice for Peace-NYC. With 2,000 others, we sat outside Senator Schumer’s home in Brooklyn in dissent as he shepherded the approval of a $95 billion aid package with military funding for Israel. Speakers at the Seder included Jewish faith leaders and Palestinian organizers alike, carrying on a ritual and proclaiming this a Passover like no other.

At the end of the Seder, 250 of us participated in an act of civil disobedience, blocking traffic in the street, demanding that there can be no business as usual during a genocide. Mass arrests by the NYPD included four members of our SURJ affinity group. We sang of freedom and resistance on the buses while waiting to be transported to 1 Police Plaza as the MTA bus drivers of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 refused to be complicit in the arrests and walked off.

Are you ready to join us?

We encourage everyone to rise to the maximum courage of your convictions. Fill out this form to take action in the streets for Palestinian solidarity with SURJ NYC. If you’ve filled out the form previously but are reconsidering the level of risk you’re able to take, please fill out the form again. We are also connecting anyone who fills out the form to ways to support the NY-area campus encampments!

Same struggle, different frontline

The very same night some of us were at the Seder in the Streets of Brooklyn, other SURJ organizers were in Pittsburgh in support of Rep. Summer Lee’s reelection. It is essential we not concede the electoral frontline to rightwing authoritarians or the centrists we cannot count on to stand up to them. Lee has been one of the earliest, strongest, and most consistent supporters of a permanent ceasefire and cutting military aid to Israel. We knocked on doors, talked to people at the polls, and eventually celebrated Summer’s landslide win over her opponent, who was recruited and funded by wealthy, powerful rightwingers hell bent on punishing the members of the Squad who have stood with Palestine.

This is a watershed moment

People are rising up to demand an end to this genocide. At Columbia University, after the school suspended students active in the university encampment, students occupied Hamilton Hall, which was then stormed by the NYPD. Across the country, students and faculty are building encampments on university campuses (follow updates on the telegram app)! We’re demanding our elected officials take a stand and promising consequences if they don’t. At SURJ, we’re taking the lessons and skills we learned from Black organizers during the uprisings of 2020 following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and continuing to fight. This struggle for racial justice is local, national, and international, and we know there is no collective liberation without Palestinian liberation.

Show up for Racial Justice. Show up for Palestine. Show up for Jamaal Bowman

The next battle in the fight to Defend The Squad is Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s NY-16 US congressional primary on June 25th. Since his first election in 2020, Rep. Bowman has been a leader on issues like public education, reproductive rights, Medicare for All, and climate justice. SURJ will engage in a few ways, launching with two key online events:

  • Wednesday, May 8th, join SURJ in conversation with Rep. Jamaal Bowman to hear about why this race matters and why we need white people across the country to show up. This webinar will highlight all aspects of the national SURJ-for-Bowman campaign, including phone banking.

  • Thursday, May 9th, 6:30pm - 8:00pm: SURJ NYC Chapter Meeting: All Out for Bowman! SURJ NYC is teaming up with SURJ Westchester to door-knock to re-elect Jamaal Bowman! Knocking doors is pound-for-pound the most effective way to move voters, and it’s the priority ask of all of us in the NY metropolitan area.

By taking action in the streets and on our campuses, by showing up for and re-electing Jamaal Bowman and our bravest members of Congress, we can change the political calculus on Palestine and a broad progressive agenda. We are determined to send a powerful message to the President, the Democratic-controlled Congress, and those who aspire to join them, that supporting Israel’s war crimes is morally indefensible and a political liability. All of our efforts are important, and there is no hierarchy of roles in this movement! We hope you’ll continue to join in this fight for justice. Let us know if you’re interested in future civil disobedience actions, and join us next Thursday at Chapter.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

How to Have an Antiracist Holiday

This time of year, we’re expected to buy into a particular story about the founding of this country—a story that paints a rosy picture of two peoples sharing a meal, a story that covers up colonial violence with cranberry sauce. As antiracists, we know that we can’t participate in that kind of whitewashing. But it’s hard to know what we should do instead.

If you’re struggling with how to act from your antiracist values during Thanksgiving (or if we’re being honest, “Thankstaking”), we’ve got you. Here’s what we recommend:

  1. Observe the National Day of Mourning on Thursday

  2. Give money to support Indigenous organizing with Indigenous leadership

  3. Take time to unlearn settler colonial myths about America

  4. Skill up to talk to the people you love (or are at least related to) about your understanding of settler colonialism, both on this land and abroad

  5. Take action to support Indigenous organizing with Indigenous leadership

We’ve got resources for all five right below. 

As you move to break cycles of colonial violence in yourself and in your communities this week, we hope you’ll feel all of SURJ NYC at your back. We’re with you.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC


NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING

Tune in at noon at http://uaine.org/ to commemorate this day with those at Plymouth Rock for a “day of remembrance and spiritual connection, as well as a protest against the racism and oppression that Indigenous people continue to experience worldwide.”

GIVE MONEY

Setting up a recurring gift—and sharing this ask with your friends and family—is part of the crucial work of moving resources back to Indigenous communities. Gifts to the Manna-hatta Fund support the American Indian Community House, which serves the health, social service, and cultural needs of Native Americans residing in New York City. Whether you’re a new donor this year, or have already made a long-standing monthly commitment, please fill out  this reporting form to help us understand our members’ giving and inform SURJ NYC’s ongoing fundraising strategies.

SURJ NYC was part of the campaign to #FreePaulWhite, a Black bisexual migrant who survived over three years of abuse in ICE detention. Now Paul has been deported to his country of origin, one of the most dangerous places in the world for the LGBTQIA+ community. Many of you have given generously before, and we hope you can do so again, as Paul is in need of more funds to stay safe on reentry: bit.ly/gofundmePW 

UNLEARN

SKILL UP

If you want to learn more or are preparing for challenging conversations at family gatherings, whether about current events or about the ongoing role of colonialism in America, these resources can help:

TAKE ACTION

SURJ NYC’s Indigenous Solidarity team—now an official working group of the chapter!—works year-round to move resources to Indigenous communities, uplift Indigenous leadership, and support decolonial learning and action. Sign up for the Indigenous Solidarity email list HERE to get updates about IS actions and events.

Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley

“The name filled the intersection, ringing with unity and power, but you could hear the keening of absolute bereavement underneath.” Such was the mourning at the recent vigil for O’Shae Sibley, a Black gay man, who was stabbed to death at a gas station in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn on July 29. 

O’Shae—a dancer—and his friends were voguing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance in the parking lot while they filled their car with gas after celebrating a friend’s birthday at the beach. Also at the gas station were a group of young men, who took issue with O’Shae and his friends’ expression of Black queer joy. These men began harassing the dancers, using hateful homophobic and racist slurs. The verbal harassment turned physical, culminating in one of the young men—alleged suspect Dmitriy Popov—stabbing O’Shae, who died from his injuries.

In the coming weeks and months, you can expect to hear more about this horrible killing in the media and in court transcripts. Much will be made about security camera footage, witness statements, and the killer’s identity and state of mind, and how the latter may or may not have influenced his decisions. There will be talk of how the killer allegedly claimed he was Muslim, and that the voguing offended his faith; there will be racist, anti-Muslim rhetoric in response to this claim.

Make no mistake, though: this murder was an act of hate violence against a Black gay man.

As much as New York gets represented in media and culture as a safe place to be openly, proudly queer, there is still deadly violence against queer people, especially queer people of color. There have been at least 45 instances of hate violence against LGBTQ+ people in New York this year. 

What can we do to prevent such violence and keep our communities safe? First, we can accept that hate violence can and does happen here. Complacency is dangerous. We can train to intervene to try to de-escalate tense situations when we encounter them. We can reject narratives that portray Muslims as inherently homophobic, and fight back against anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country.

And we can continue to celebrate Black queer people, to make it known that we will always fight against racism and homophobia, and that we keep us safe.

In September, SURJ NYC will be offering a community and action safety training. While this is not specifically a bystander intervention training, it covers de-escalation skills that are useful in a wide range of situations. Sign up for the next two-part training on Saturday, September 23 & Saturday, September 30, 1:00pm-4:30pm.

To give material support to O’Shae Sibley’s family, you can donate to their GoFundMe.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Demand a Budget That Invests in Care, Not Criminalization!

We all have a stake in the New York City budget, and the Mayor’s proposal for the next fiscal year fails to make bold investments in housing, education, mental health and healthcare, services for young people, immigrants and LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers, transportation and other public infrastructure that we know can create real safety for all New Yorkers. Instead Mayor Adams wants to solve all of NYC’s problems with more police and criminalization, letting funding for care and services dry up. We can't allow that.

On May 24th, a huge coalition of organizations fighting for a broad range of issues are collaborating on the Care, Not Criminalization march. SURJ partners like Communities United for Police Reform and the Alliance for Quality Education are working together with other grassroots orgs like VOCAL-NY, the Campaign to Close Rikers, the People’s Plan NYC, and many more to fight back against Mayor Adams’ austerity budget. 

Join SURJ NYC at the Care, Not Criminalization March next Wednesday May 24th at 5pm to fight back against Mayor Adams’ austerity budget. We’ll gather at 5pm at the south end of Foley Square, next to the subway stairs.

Sign up here to let us know you’re coming!

 

In solidarity, 

SURJ NYC

Show up for Kawaski Trawick and His Family

A critical part of the Justice Committee’s (JC) work is supporting the families of people killed by the NYPD. In our system of policing, two patterns stand out: 1) Brutality and murder is racialized–Indigenous, Black, and Latinx people experience much higher rates of it than white people in the U.S., and 2) When the cops take a life, there is rarely any discipline, and they generally get to keep their jobs. This is as true in NYC as anywhere else. All of this points to how our racist system makes police above the law.

This week, that unequal system has been on full display in the case of Kawaski Trawick, a Black gay man killed in 2019 by NYPD Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis, just 112 seconds after they broke into Kawaski’s apartment, where he was cooking. 

The disciplinary hearing for Thompson and Davis starts this Monday, April 24th. Yet just one week beforehand – and on the 4th anniversary of Kawaski’s murder, April 14th – his family learned that the commissioner overseeing the trial is considering dismissing trespass charges, which could significantly undermine the case. This last-minute change is outrageous and heartbreaking. You can read specifics here, but JC director Loyda Colon put it simply, “just because police routinely act with impunity, it doesn’t mean that they are above the law.” 

Regardless of this latest possible obstruction to accountability, the hearing will begin as scheduled next week, and Kawaski’s family and our partners at JC need our support for all that that entails!

For those who remember the CCRB trials for Daniel Pantaleo, who murdered Eric Garner, and Richard Haste, who murdered Ramarley Graham, you know what we mean. These trials are an intense time, and our partners have come to rely on us in SURJ NYC for certain roles, specifically note-taking, transcription, and coordinating lunch for the family and organizers. The Beyond Policing Working Group needs more support with these roles for the upcoming trial, and no prior experience is necessary. Join us! There are multiple ways you can be involved and provide concrete benefits to JC and Kawaski Trawick’s family.

Contact SURJ NYC, sign-up for our eblast, or follow JC’s socials @justicecommittee (IG) and @watchthecops (TW) for latest updates and calls to action! 

In Solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Upcoming Call Blast for Kawaski Trawick with Justice Committee

One tactic that we and our partners often use to hold power accountable has a few different names. Call Blast, Phone Zap, or otherwise, it goes like this: We mobilize our bases in a specific time period to flood the targeted person with calls, messages, @s—whatever we can to disrupt business as usual and show we’re watching. Together, we send a louder, stronger message. Sometimes we need to repeat our call blasts over multiple days, weeks, or even months, to show we won’t let up. These Blasts (or Zaps) are a way to quickly mobilize with minimal coordination—you can make calls wherever you are, whenever you’re able, within the given time-frame! 

Last month, we worked with the Justice Committee (JC) on a call blast targeting Judge Danny K. Chun, whose inaction was stalling the Civilian Complaint Review Board’s (CCRB) disciplinary trial for NYPD Officer Wayne Isaacs, who murdered Delrawn Small over 6 years ago. To pressure Chun, we collectively made 132 calls to his office on two separate days (one week apart). About two weeks after that, Chun finally ruled to unseal necessary documents, after 15 months of silence, which allowed the CCRB case to move forward. In other words, the call blast worked! One small but necessary step in the struggle for justice for Delrawn.

This week, JC is ramping up an effort with the family of Kawaski Trawick, a Black gay man who was killed by NYPD Officers Brendan Thompson and Herbert Davis while he was cooking in his home, just 112 seconds after they illegally entered his apartment in 2019. While the CCRB trial has been set for April 24th since last year, police union lawyers are now making a last-ditch attempt to get Mayor Adams and Police Commissioner Sewell to dismiss the charges, just weeks before. This ploy is not only a dirty trick but adds even more stress and uncertainty for Kawaski’s parents, who need to travel to NYC for the trial. 

To support Kawaski’s family, we’re holding a call blast this Thursday, March 23rd, to demand that Mayor Adams and Commissioner Sewell reject the cop unions’ ploy to block discipline for Thompson and Davis. They should be fired, and so far 40 NYC & NYS elected officials have joined the call to ensure this trial moves forward without interference. 

Let’s harness our collective power and push Adams to do the right thing: Say no to the PBA and let the trial start on April 24th. Sign up here for a text reminder & call script for Thursday, March 23rd.

In solidarity, 

SURJ NYC

Honoring Tyre Nichols, Tortuguita, Keenan Anderson, and Many Others

Tyre Nichols was a father, a son, a friend, a co-worker. He enjoyed skateboarding and made it a point to watch and photograph sunsets. He loved and was loved. Now he is known as yet another unarmed Black man murdered by the police. 

Keenan Anderson, a teacher and cousin of Patrisse Cullors was murdered by police in Los Angeles at a traffic stop this month.

Tortuguita was an environmental abolitionist activist in Atlanta fighting cop city. They were murdered on January 18 by police.

Another Black man killed by cops at a traffic stop. And another. Another activist resisting police murdered.

This news has taken an emotional toll on a lot of us. Often, we don’t make space for conversation and processing after collective trauma, and our society has an expectation that we go back to our individual lives and work without being given a chance to grieve together and remember our shared humanity. 

However things are landing for you this week, and whether you express it by taking to the streets or by finding solitude, we hope you are able to take the time and space you need to mourn, grieve and process the impact of this tragedy. Collectively, we will take some time at our chapter meeting on Thursday, February 2 at 6:30pm to do just that and remember that we are in this together.   

Then, we will turn our energy to collective power for action and change.

The 2023 Legislative & Budget season has begun.

At the state level, at least four SURJ NYC working groups have attended lobby days in Albany already this month.

We also have our work cut out for us in the city, as Mayor Adams prepares to maintain the police and department of corrections budgets while unleashing yet another round of devastating cuts to libraries, pre-K, CUNY, schools, and more services the community desperately needs.

Our working groups are powerful engines for change, but we think they could be stronger working together. We will be thinking together about how we can do that. What would be possible if we worked more collectively?

Could we mobilize SURJ and our neighbors to put sustained and escalating pressure on the Speaker and 10-15 additional Council Members? Could we help build and consolidate a progressive bloc in the Council who will in turn hold the Speaker to hard lines in budget negotiations? Could we help make Defund a reality?

We really hope you’ll join us on Thursday, February 2 at 6:30pm as we hold space to process the collective trauma of the past few weeks and discuss how we can work across working groups to help each other move into action and be most effective as a white anti-racist arm of the movement for change.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Honoring Our Partnership With RAPP

SURJ NYC is honored to be recognized by Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP).

In the photo below, Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group organizers Alex Hansen and Ryan Acquaotta receive the Mujahid Farid Award, named after the late RAPP co-founder, from fellow RAPP co-founder Laura Whitehorn, Saturday July 30th, at the RAPP BBQ in Riverside Park in Harlem.

Donate to Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) and attend SURJ NYC’s next Anti-Mass Incarceration Working Group meeting August 29th to learn more about RAPP’s work and how to get involved!

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Support Queer Liberation

As Pride Month culminates, the intersection of race, sexuality, and gender will be acknowledged and celebrated this Sunday at the Queer Liberation March for Trans and BIPOC Freedom, Reproductive Justice, and Bodily Autonomy (QLM). First organized three years ago by the Reclaim Pride Coalition, QLM serves to take back Pride which has over the years been hijacked by corporate and police interests. QLM expresses true visions of queer liberation and gives a voice to those who have been silenced.

For those who are queer, BIPOC, and/or not cis-male, the intersection of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny leads to exponential levels of discrimination and abuse in housing, employment, the workplace, healthcare, the justice system, families, and the streets. This leads to vastly disproportionate rates of unemployment, homelessness, sexual abuse, violence, police brutality, imprisonment, poor health, substance abuse, and mental health crises. The recent criminalization of trans healthcare in Alabama and the current aggressive attempt at such in Texas — along with other so-called culture wars that attack gender, sexuality, and race — are sure to exacerbate these racial and gender-based issues.

In a study by the National LGBTQ Task Force, nearly half of the Black transgender sample had attempted suicide. 34% of Black transgender respondents have experienced poverty, twice that of transgender population, four times the general Black population, and eight times that of the general population. What’s more, 20% of Black transgender folk reported living with HIV, nearly eight times that of all transgender respondents, eight times the general Black population, and 34 times the general population. This vastly disproportionate rate of HIV, along with that of other health issues, is especially problematic given the lack of access to healthcare services and the ill treatment of those who do have access.

Those of us who live with the privilege of being white, cis-gendered, or heterosexual need to advocate for LGBT BIPOC by not only showing up for events such as the Queer Liberation March, but also with year-round support of projects and organizations that work toward access to community, safe spaces, services, and resources. 

Listed below are details for QLM as well as multiple, mostly local, options to educate ourselves and provide financial support.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Responding to the Recent Tragedy in Buffalo

As you may be aware, this past Saturday, May 14, a gunman opened fire at a Top’s Supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and injuring three others. Eleven of the victims were Black. This heart-breaking act of violence is only the latest in a string of attacks perpetrated by white supremacists. While the investigation is ongoing, what we do know is that this attack was not random. As our fellow SURJ chapter in Buffalo noted in their recent community email: 

We know that this attack was not random. The shooter targeted the east side because he wanted to kill Black people and spread fear and grief in a Black neighborhood. He was motivated by white supremacist ideology promoted by powerful people nationally and locally, from Tucker Carlson to Carl Paladino to Tim Howard. The far right actively organizes white people around this violent ideology, with predictable and tragic results.

Racism is not localized to one neighborhood or one shooter – it is being propagated by far-right media and upheld by our policing and prison systems. In the face of this act of domestic terror, we must resolve to continue our work of calling-in white people to anti-racism. We know we will not see change overnight but we are committed to the journey.

If you are looking for a more immediate way to help our neighbors in Western New York, please consider donating to Black Love Resists in the Rust, who are organizing on the ground in Buffalo with a focus on mental-health resources and access to fresh food.

In solidarity,

SURJ NYC

Racial Justice on World AIDS Day

From the Ryan White CARE Act of 1990, to preventative treatment breakthroughs like PrEP, and improved access to effective testing, among other initiatives, HIV-related deaths in the US have dropped more than 80% since 1995. Although America has made strides toward eradicating HIV/AIDS, there is a stark divide in how it has been addressed. This World AIDS Day, it is imperative we address the inequities related to HIV/AIDS that continue to harm BIPOC communities.

In the US today:

  • A gay or bisexual Black man has a 50% chance of contracting HIV in their lifetime (compared with 9% of gay or bisexual white men).

  • 44% of Black trans women are living with HIV.

  • Black women are estimated to be diagnosed at 18x higher the rate of white women in their lifetimes.

  • Black people living with HIV/AIDS are 7x more likely to die from the virus than white people.

Early public framing of the epidemic as a white gay man’s disease (coupled with the segregation of urban gay communities in the 1970s, and systemic racism more broadly) left Black people out of the conversation. Groups like the Gay Men’s Health Crisis and San Francisco AIDS Foundation grew from mostly-white social networks that were almost fully segregated. Their educational outreach did not extend to Black gay men, and even by the late 1980s, when activists of color began calling on these majority-white groups to develop minority outreach programs, they were labeled “divisive” and dismissed for bringing race into a conversation that previously coalesced around sexuality.

This exclusion of Black voices led many policymakers and members of the medical community to ignore culturally-specific harm reduction approaches and favor intervention among white gay communities. This legacy of exclusion echoes the US’s longstanding health inequities and structural violence against Black people. In particular, this mistrust in the US healthcare system keeps those most in need from seeking out HIV prevention and treatment services.

As we mark 40 years since the first five cases of what became known as AIDS were reported, we must expand the conversation and direct resources to address how HIV/AIDS affects Black communities. We must advocate for access to prevention, testing, and treatment services for all, while also addressing other barriers such as housing and legal protections. We must unlearn prejudice and fear, challenging leadership to provide services and supportive policy-making.

In solidarity and gratitude,

SURJ NYC

Pass the Elder Parole & Fair and Timely Parole Bills

The prison industrial complex (PIC) is rooted in white supremacy, and, as antiracists, we must fight to dismantle it. White supremacy is evident in every aspect of the PIC, including New York state’s draconian sentencing laws and a parole system that continues to punish and re-sentence people, despite their circumstances, rather than acknowledge how they have transformed while inside. This system has left thousands of elder New Yorkers to languish in New York State prisons, aging in unbelievably harmful environments and dealing with health issues that prisons are simply not equipped to treat.

The People’s Campaign for Parole Justice is working to change this reality by advocating for two bills to pass in the New York state legislature, Elder Parole and Fair and Timely Parole. Elder Parole will give anyone aged 55 and older who has been incarcerated for at least 15 years the opportunity to go before the parole board and demonstrate their readiness for release. Fair and Timely Parole will require that the parole board, when considering whether or not to release someone, takes into account their growth and accomplishments while inside, rather than continuing to incarcerate them solely due to the nature of their conviction. Passing these bills would be transformational for so many elders inside who would finally have an actual chance to be released, and for their communities outside who have long-awaited the return of their loved ones.

To support these bills, SURJ NYC is door knocking in Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz’s district in the northwest Bronx (Kingsbridge/Riverdale/Woodlawn). As chair of the Codes Committee, Assemblymember Dinowitz is strategically positioned to prevent these bills from ever receiving a vote, claiming that his disproportionately white and wealthy constituents don’t support or care about them. In response, Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP) has asked us to call in our neighbors to discuss parole justice and prove him wrong. We’re collecting signed postcards to show that this is an issue Assemblymember Dinowitz’s constituents do care about, so that he will sign on and help pass the bills in the legislative session beginning early next year.

We hope you will join us! We provide training, a script, printed materials to share, and a buddy or two to canvas with. Several of us have already been out over the past month, and multiple people have reported that it was not as scary as they thought it would be :) We’ve found it to be a really rewarding experience connecting with one another and the folks we talk to.

Sign up to door knock this Saturday, November 20, Sunday, December 5, Saturday, December 11, and Sunday, December 19 to get reminders about upcoming sessions and the exact meeting location.

We hope to see you there

SURJ NYC


Accountability within SURJ-NYC

What if accountability could be a way for us to show up for ourselves and each other? This question brings up ideas that may be far from what we are commonly taught. Many of us have been trained to equate accountability with crime and punishment–an approach enshrined in our systems of policing and prisons, which serve to uphold and reinforce white supremacy. As white folks organizing for racial justice, we’re interested in finding a new approach toward accountability, both for ourselves and our larger community.

When we try to practice accountability in ways that aren’t rooted in punishment culture, it can feel sticky and unfamiliar. How do we know that we’re being accountable to ourselves and each other? How do we know if we’re doing enough? When does accountability mean doing exactly what’s asked of us, and when should we be looking at asks more critically? These are tough questions. 

A small group of SURJ NYC members has been asked to support all of us in addressing these (and other) questions together. Our goal is to build a culture of accountability, rather than developing a singular policy. We’re looking at accountability on the following levels:

  • Self

  • Between individuals within SURJ

  • Between groups within SURJ

  • With outside groups (e.g., accountability partners)

  • A set of principles/politics

We’ve planned a series of discussions to set a strong collective foundation for the work to come. The order will be as follows:

  1. Self-Work: How can we be accountable to ourselves? How can self-accountability strengthen our relationships and our shared work? What self-work does each of us have to do to show up accountably? (Sunday, November 21, 12pm - 5pm including a 1 hour break) If this will be your first SURJ event, please join the next SURJ Orientation on 10/28.

  2. Working With Words: What do we mean when we say accountability? What is accountability as opposed to responsibility, conflict, disagreement, harm, abuse, etc.? How can understanding these ideas help us practice accountability better? (Sunday, January 9, 2022, 12-5pm. Link to come!)

  3. What We’re Doing Here: As we move into the next phase of this process, what feels important to tackle? What questions feel unanswered? What conversations do we need to have? What needs to be on our collective to-do list? (Sunday, February 20, 2022, 12-5pm. Link to come!)

Whether you’re new to SURJ or have been involved for years, WE NEED YOU THERE! We look forward to seeing you in November as we get the conversation started.

In solidarity and gratitude,

SURJ NYC

The Biden Administration's Racist Border Policies

Last month, we wrote about the legacy of racism and continued failings of the US immigration system. Biden promised reform; while he has made some progress on protections for undocumented workers already in the country, his border policy remains largely unchanged from that of the Trump administration. Two of the harshest examples include Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) and the expulsion of Haitian migrants under Title 42.

MPP (or “Remain in Mexico”) forces migrants at the border to stay in Mexico pending their asylum hearings. A court recently struck down Biden’s attempt to repeal MPP, and the administration announced Friday they would reinstate it as early as mid-November. Both immigrant rights’ groups and legal experts say MPP puts asylum-seekers at great risk, as they’re forced to wait for months (sometimes years) in unsafe camps and dangerous border cities under a “fundamentally flawed program that blocks [them] from a fair day in court.”

The administration also continues to employ Title 42, Trump’s pandemic policy allowing the government to temporarily block noncitizens from entering the US in the interest of public health. Since March 2020, the policy has been used more than 1 million times by southern border officials to rapidly expel migrants without a hearing. When a federal judge recently blocked Title 42 from being used to expel families, Biden’s administration chose to appeal, and has continued to enforce expulsions while litigation continues.

The situation is particularly dire for Haitian migrants, who face not only the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and growing gang violence but also increasing political instability following the July assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Among the 83 countries with US asylum decision data available, Haiti has the highest rate of denial, with less than 5% of requests granted from October 2018 through June 2021. Despite the White House’s response to public outcry over images of US Border Patrol agents using whip-like cord on Haitians, expulsions and deportations continue, with DHS sending 65 repatriation flights carrying 7,000+ migrants back to Haiti from September 19 to October 3.  

These racist, anti-Black policies directly affect our community. New York has the largest Black immigrant population and second-largest Haitian population in the country. Colonialism and US global policies are directly connected to the need for many to flee to the US. We must end Title 42, MPP, and other racist policies.

In solidarity,
SURJ NYC

Anti-racism = Indigenous solidarity

As surely as our country was built on the exploitation of Black bodies, it was built on the violent removal of the Native people who cared for and were cared for by this land for generations. This month all of SURJ NYC is invited to think about what this dual legacy means - and what actions we might take together.

There is a rich history of Black-Indigenous solidarity, and for good reason. Many of the dangerous inequities—like police violence—that impact Black and brown people even more disproportionately impact Indigenous folks. Generations of white Americans have treated the land as a never-ending resource for making money, in deep violation of sacred traditions of Indigenous people. The effects, from climate and pollution to the extinction of animals and plants, circle back to make Black and brown folks sick.

If we're going to address the roots of these tragedies and crises, we have to move in solidarity with Black, brown, and Indigenous leadership.

In the spirit of that commitment, this month we have a major fundraising goal: we’re aiming to raise more than $20,000 for two organizations: the Manna-hatta Fund, a collective that moves money to the American Indian Community House, and the Justice Committee, a long-standing accountability partner dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City. We’re asking you to give to both organizations today.

Moving money is one of the pillars of our white anti-racist practice. We have all profited from white supremacy, and so one of the ways we practice dismantling white supremacy is by regularly moving money to people directly impacted by its violence.

Whether you can make a one-time donation of $5 or a monthly donation of $500, your contribution is important, both to these organizations and to your practice of anti-racism. Let’s put our money where our values are, and show up for BIPOC leadership in New York City in a bold and tangible way, right now. And if you’re already a monthly donor to one or both of these organizations, consider whether you might be able to increase your commitment and still make sure your needs are met.

Click here to move money to the Manna-hatta Fund, and here to support the Justice Committee.

In solidarity and gratitude,

SURJ NYC

P.S. Join Justice Committee for their virtual gala fundraiser Justice State of Mind III: Persistence and Resistance this Thursday at 7pm!