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.
