SURJ Team

Take action this week to close detention centers, stop deportations, and defund ICE

Immigration detention is inhumane, abusive and unjust – full stop. Reducing the number of people behind bars in immigration detention should be the Biden administration’s utmost priority…Congress should be investing funds in vital programs and services that respond to real need, including affordable housing, community healthcare and environmental protections, not writing a blank check for their systematic detention.”  – Detention Watch Network

A year into the Biden administration and it’s clear: the Democratic establishment continues to uphold, perpetuate, and increase the family separation, detention, and deportation endemic to the US immigration system, harming thousands of families across the country. Our partners at Detention Watch Network have been bold and unrelenting in their pressure on power-holders to #FreeThemAll, defund ICE and CBP, and abolish detention in all its forms.

Detention Watch Network (DWN)  is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States. From their work to #DefundHate by getting the federal government to cut funding to ICE and CBP to their fight for #CommunitiesNotCages– shutting down detention centers and diverting funding to healthcare, education, housing, and true community safety– DWN is mobilizing thousands across the country to take action for immigration justice. Join the National Day of Action for #CommunitiesNotCages this Thursday, March 3rd.

On March 3rd, organizations across the country will host over 24 local actions including car rallies, vigils, projections and art installations outside of immigration detention facilities to demand the Biden administration use his authority to #FreeThemAll and end the use of immigration detention in its entirety. Thousands of SURJ members across the country will be taking action at these local events as well as at a digital action hour on March 3rd at 10am PT/1pm ET.

Find a local action here OR join our digital action by registering here.

Together we will demand the Biden administration:

  • Shut down detention centers and stop detention expansion
  • Stop deportations including Title 42 expulsions
  • Release all people from detention
  • Cut ICE and CBP’s budget

Take action this week to close detention centers, stop deportations, and defund ICE Read More »

Book launch: How our movements defeated Trump

“Thanks to… this immensely valuable collection, the lessons gleaned from an array of successful organizing strategies will not be lost to the historical amnesia that often claims such local but transformative work.” — Angela Y. Davis

Multi-racial grassroots movements defeated Trump and secured Democratic control of the Senate in 2020. Looking towards the midterm elections this year and the presidential election in 2024, lessons from the field in 2020 have much to teach us about building a path forward together.

Which is why we are thrilled to share that the collection POWER CONCEDES NOTHING: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections is available today as a resource for our movements. The book tells the on-the-ground stories behind the mobilizations that secured these victories and mobilized a record-breaking turnout of voters in 2020.

Pre-order your copy now!

SURJ’s work in Georgia organizing white voters as a part of a multi-racial, Black-led formation is featured in a chapter written by Beth Howard, our Rural Kentucky Campaign Director- as well as powerful stories from other movement organizations like New Georgia Project, National Domestic Workers Alliance, Native Organizers Alliance, and the Working Families Party.

At SURJ, we know our role is to organize more white people into progressive formations fighting for justice- and this book tells just that story. In these early days of 2022, POWER CONCEDES NOTHING is right on time. We hope you’ll join us in digging into this important book and letting its wisdom deepen your commitment to this work.

P.S. Did you know the Organizing Upgrade- the progressive online platform for movement strategies and stories- has changed its name to Convergence Magazine? Follow their work for more coverage of strategies to beat the Right and build progressive power. We are grateful for their institutional sponsorship of this book.

Book launch: How our movements defeated Trump Read More »

image shows the tennessee state flag flying against a blue sky

Fighting Back Against Book Bans and State Violence in Tennessee

The status quo in Tennessee is one of state violence and entrenched white supremacy, and millions of Tennesseeans are suffering.

On January 27th, nine cops murdered Landon Eastep in a highway execution in Nashville – firing more than a dozen shots at the unarmed man for walking near the interstate. Then, on Tuesday, Nashville City Council doubled-down on police violence by passing License Plate Readers to expand state surveillance of poor communities. Meanwhile, in rural Athens, Tennessee, the McMinn County School Board voted unanimously to ban the teaching of Art Spiegelman’s graphic novel about the Holocaust, Maus, sparking outrage from anti-racists and survivors across the world. 

This escalation of state violence and control in Nashville and weakening of public institutions in Athens is only possible because Rightwing extremists have spent millions of dollars and organized behind-the-scenes in Tennessee for decades. We saw the power of white supremacist organizing on display this week in Tennessee, but the same actors are working across the country to keep white people from joining in solidarity with neighbors of color. 

SURJ is meeting this challenge head-on with long-term organizing in working-class white communities to build the infrastructure, skills, and people power we need to defeat the Right for good. We are here for the long haul.

Fighting Back Against Book Bans and State Violence in Tennessee Read More »

image shows a white woman standing in a street with a building behind her. She has her arms crossed and is wearing a coat and scarf.

Listen: Erin Heaney talks multiracial solidarity on the BOLD podcast

Ivette Ale and Dahlia Ferlito talk with Erin Heaney, director of Showing Up for Racial justice, about the history of white people taking anti-racist action in multiracial coalitions for collective liberation. This is a collaboration between Small Beans and Showing Up for Racial Justice, produced by White People 4 Black Lives.

Listen: Erin Heaney talks multiracial solidarity on the BOLD podcast Read More »

Organizing White People to Stop Another Jan 6th

One year later, we’re still asking ourselves, “How did January 6th happen? And what can we do to stop this kind of thing from happening again?”

We know that the majority of actors in the insurrection were white and were motivated by a white nationalist and far-Right agenda And these groups are continuing to recruit and build in white communities. Looking towards the 2022 midterm elections and beyond, for those of us who are white, it’s our responsibility to be offering white people a better alternative.

In this webinar, join Showing Up for Racial Justice to hear about how we organize to stop the rise of white supremacist violence and build political power for justice- and how you can join in the work in your community.

Featured panelists:

  • Julia Daniels, SURJ National staff
  • Carla Wallace, SURJ Leadership Team
  • Beth Howard, SURJ Kentucky Rural Organizing Director
  • Emma Keeshin, SURJ NE Ohio
  • Kevin Ballou, SURJ NE Ohio
  • TJ Ryan, Punch Up
  • Scott Davis, Punch Up

Watch the full webinar here.

Click here for a transcript of the webinar.

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White People’s Work in Preventing Another Jan 6th

You’re going to hear a lot of hot takes about January 6th today. About the Capitol police officers, about the select House committee investigating the attacks and saving our democracy, and about the “wild Trumpers” who went to Washington and stormed the Capitol that day. I’ve been watching the news cycle obsess over the motivations of participants, highlighting the conspiracy theories and radical beliefs that led them to show up. And I’ve been watching- and at times joining in myself- white progressive circles rolling our eyes at their beliefs, distancing ourselves from their racism, and yet uneasily wringing our hands under the table because we know deep down that our hot takes, cynicism, and distancing aren’t going to change much.

The truth is January 6th was one expression of the organizing white nationalist and other far-Right groups are doing every single day to build real political power. Despite all the hot takes today that will continue to pontificate about “how this could’ve happened,” the reality is that this event was not an anomaly, and those who participated are people who have been organized – very intentionally by a well-funded infrastructure – into the positions they hold and the actions they take. As white progressives, we need to commit to out-organizing the Right in our communities.

There are millions of white people who could go either way- who are conflicted or vulnerable to the messages of the Right, who are being bombarded day in and day out with messages on TV, radio and social media, whose doors are being knocked on and who are hearing racist messages when they go to church. We have to fight for them as hard as the Right is. 

And there are millions of white people who are already with us – we just haven’t engaged them yet. There are 65 million poor white people in this country who have everything to gain by fighting for justice alongside communities of color. Many of them know who their real enemies are – the bosses, the crooked politicians and billionaires. But we have to organize these folks to join us in the fight. 

We don’t need to be organizing all white people, but we do need more than we’ve got now. And we must make sure more white people are not radicalized by the groups and personalities that executed January 6th. 

As we witness all levels of government across this country backsliding towards authoritarianism, we know there are dire consequences if we don’t act- especially for communities of color who bear the brunt of the Right’s racist policies and violence. But there’s a cost to white folks, too. Racism is strategically used to keep us divided against our neighbors of color- to make white people blame people of color for their suffering rather than those at the top. When we fight alongside communities of color, we can win things all our communities need- better healthcare and education, just wages, real investment in our communities.

I’ve been organizing white people for the past six years. I was on the ground in Charlottesville on August 12th, have mobilized white communities through multiple uprisings, and have knocked thousands of doors in white neighborhoods across the country. I have seen first hand that when we go talk to people, many come along with us. I know that our solution can’t be to distance ourselves from other white people or to absolve ourselves from engaging with our own. We have to get to work to bring along our people. White people were organized into these beliefs, and at least some of them can be organized away from them towards a racially just future. 

Imagine if millions of white people rejected white supremacy and instead joined in multiracial coalitions across the country. We would out-organize the January 6th-ers and build towards a more vibrant future for everyone. 

White people: this is our work- finding our people and giving them a better offer than white supremacy. 

White People’s Work in Preventing Another Jan 6th Read More »

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‘Rednecks for Black Lives’ Urges White Folks to Fight for Racial Justice

Beth Howard, Rural Kentucky Campaign Director at SURJ, came up with the slogan “Rednecks for Black Lives.”. She recently shared her story with Soledad O’Brien on Matter of Fact: Promises of Change Listening Tour, where she challenges her fellow rednecks and hillbillies to stand up in defense of Black lives.

Click here to watch the interview on Matter of Fact.

Beth Howard’s interview on Matter of Fact appears alongside John Legend, Dolores Huerta, Bree Newsome, and others. View the full Promises of Change Listening Tour collection here.

‘Rednecks for Black Lives’ Urges White Folks to Fight for Racial Justice Read More »

Direct support to victims of the tornadoes in Kentucky

Last week, historically destructive tornadoes ripped through Kentucky and left over 75 dead, hundreds injured, and thousands more without homes. This is a natural disaster, but as Alix E. Harrow wrote last week there’s nothing natural about workers being forced to stay in a candle factory during a tornado or face losing their jobs. There’s nothing natural about people of color, refugees, immigrants, and poor and working class people in Kentucky- communities that have been systematically disinvested in by those in power- bearing the brunt of this climate catastrophe.

Today, donate to support disaster relief in Western Kentucky in these communities.

Tomorrow and the days after, join our organizing work in Kentucky to shift the landscape of power across the state.

SURJ has deep roots in Kentucky- we were founded by Kentuckians, we have local organizing projects across the state, and we are part of a long legacy of white anti-racist organizing in the state. We’re investing powerfully in Kentucky because we know that the overwhelming number of working class white people in the state have everything to gain by being in solidarity with Black and Brown working people. 

Many people will look at a state like Kentucky and see it as the problem, but we know it’s a state filled with people who can be some of the fiercest fighters for racial and economic justice in the nation. And right now, it’s time to fight for our people in Western Kentucky impacted by the tornado.


Donate today to support recovery efforts with the Commonwealth Alliance Donor Table, Kentucky Civic Engagement Table, Black Leadership Action Coalition of Kentucky, and Hood To The Holler. SURJ is a proud member of the Commonwealth Alliance. All funds raised will be directed to grassroots groups supporting short-term and long-term mutual aid and disaster relief for communities impacted by the recent tornadoes. The fund will prioritize groups that serve Kentuckians who may otherwise be neglected by other relief efforts, particularly Black, Indigenous, people of color, refugee, immigrant, and poor and working class Kentuckians.

Direct support to victims of the tornadoes in Kentucky Read More »

Solidarity With the Wet’suwet’en Struggle & Gidimt’en Checkpoint

The Indigenous Solidarity Network, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), and Catalyst Project are in full solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation in their struggle to protect their lands, territories and rights of their communities. The Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline company, backed by the brutality of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), is attempting to push through a 670-kilometer fracked gas pipeline despite unanimous opposition under ‘Anuc niwh’it’en (Wet’suwet’en law) by all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en. This is Canadian colonial violence and this form of State-sanctioned militarized violence is happening to Indigenous peoples around the world. 

This proposed pipeline would carry fracked gas from northeast ‘British Columbia’ to a future liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the coast, the largest of its kind ever proposed in Canada. For over a decade, the Wet’suwet’en Nation has asserted their sovereignty to stop fossil fuel companies from trespassing on unceded lands—Canada has no treaties with their Nation and no claim to any jurisdiction over their lands. In September 2021, Coastal GasLink bulldozed an ancient Wet’suwet’en village site despite consistent resistance and legal requirements, and in November, during a two-day siege, the RCMP escorted Coastal GasLink with full military force, arresting 32 land defenders and violently removing Wet’suwet’en people from their own lands. This included the arrest of Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson Sleydo’; Dinï ze’ Woos’ daughter Jocelyn Alec; Sleydo’s partner Cody Merriman (Haida nation); and 2 journalists. In November 2020, Sleydo’ spoke at a webinar hosted by our organizations, while this year during that same annual webinar, Sleydo’ was locked in jail for defending her peoples’ lands.

Take Action.

As organizations primarily based south of the imposed colonial US-Canadian border, which bring white people into fights for racial and economic justice, it is essential we support the Wet’suwet’en in this struggle. This pipeline and colonial violence is funded by many US-based banks. We call for our members and networks to answer the recent Gidimt’en Checkpoint Call to Action which asks people to come to Camp, host a solidarity action, issue a solidarity statement from your organization or group, pressure the government, banks, and investors, and donate. We also encourage people to support the International Week of Action to Defund Coastal GasLink starting December 20, more info can be found in the toolkit, including templates for social media & emails and an action map. 

Police are a force of colonialism & racism.

This struggle exposes that police in ‘Canada,’ just as in the ‘US’ are a force of colonialism and racism that work in the interests of massive corporations. The same is true in the struggle to #StopLine3 where police in Minnesota were paid over $2 million USD by Enbridge, a Canadian-based energy company, to target water protectors. Money is allocated to police to repress and arrest Indigenous peoples who are on the frontlines fighting against the climate crisis. 

Additionally, extractive projects on Indigenous territories lead to an increase in murdered & missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, #MMIWG2S as a result of transient man camps for pipeline workers. Preventing pipelines means defending Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. 

Indigenous sovereignty is the solution to the climate crisis.

Colonialism is a root cause of climate change, and Indigenous rights and sovereignty are the solutions to the climate crisis. The Coastal Gas Link project represents the expansion of the fossil fuel economy and the continued colonization of Indigenous lands. Climate justice demands that these projects stop and that Indigenous sovereignty is respected. A recent report from Indigenous Environmental Network and Oil Change International found that “Indigenous resistance has stopped or delayed greenhouse gas pollution equivalent to at least one-quarter of annual U.S. and Canadian emissions.It is clear that Indigenous peoples, their rights, their laws and ways of knowing and being offer best practices to sustainably manage land in direct relationship with the natural world. These practices have proven successful for millennia as demonstrated by the fact that 80% of the world’s biodiversity remains in Indigenous lands and territories.

It is imperative to build stronger support with each other across colonial borders. It is in our collective mutual interest to support the Wet’suwet’en. No matter where we are, we are connected by our commitments. 

We are in full solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en. We support the sovereignty of all Indigenous nations. We encourage our networks to actively support this and other Indigenous-led movements. Respond to the Call to Action where you are, from disrupting business as usual, to divesting from banks funding the theft of Indigenous lands, there are actions we can all take to be in solidarity and to prevent catastrophic climate change. 

Towards the decolonized world we all need,

Indigenous Solidarity NetworkShowing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)Catalyst Project 

More information and developing stories:

Website: yintahaccess.com / IG: @yintah_access / Twitter: @Gidimten / Facebook: @wetsuwetenstrong / Youtube: Gidimten Access Point / TikTok: GidimtenCheckpoint 

#WetsuwetenStrong  #AllOutForWedzinKwa  #ShutDownCanada  #DefundCoastalGasLink

Solidarity With the Wet’suwet’en Struggle & Gidimt’en Checkpoint Read More »

Rethinking Thanksgiving: Solidarity with Indigenous Resistance

On this webinar we hear from Krystal Two Bulls (NDN Collective, LANDBACK Campaign), Jean-Luc Pierite (North American Indian Center of Boston), Khury Petersen-Smith, Mea Johnson (Indigenous Environmental Network, North American Indian Center of Boston), Annie Banks, Julia Tasuil, Kazi Toure and Jaan Laaman (Jericho Movement) about Indigenous-led frontline movements to resist violence and colonization fueled by the current extractive economic system and gather ways to further and deepen solidarity with Indigenous resistance.

This webinar is an invitation to interrogate so-called thanksgiving, and move beyond the myths of USA history with Indigenous People on Turtle Island. From tar sands pipelines across Turtle Island to Arctic oil and gas drilling, Indigenous campaigns of resistance continue to lead the way in protecting future generations against the destruction of sacred lands and waterways.

Watch the full webinar here.

Read the full transcript here.

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