“To fight for a fairer system, the working class would have needed collective action, which has always been in tension with the pull of American racism.”– Heather McGhee, The Sum of Us |
Those in power use racism to try to prevent white people from taking collective action with people of color. If we’re going to face down what’s coming, we must organize millions of white people away from zero-sum thinking and towards shared interest and solidarity.
We are excited to share that author and strategist Heather McGhee launched a podcast last week on the heels of her bestselling book, The Sum of Us: what racism costs everyone and how we can prosper together, to explore just this– the strategic use of racism to build the power of corporate politicians and big businesses while gutting public infrastructure– and stories of people across the country who are fighting back. Listen here on Spotify.
And then join Heather this Thursday, August 4 at 5 pm PT / 8 pm ET in conversation with SURJ National Director Erin Heaney to learn more about how we organize white people into movements for collective action. Here at SURJ, we believe that organizing white people through a framework of shared interest– what McGhee calls “the solidarity dividend”– is our best contribution to our movements right now. See you on Thursday to go deeper. |