SURJ Boston

We are Earthseed
The life that perceives itself
Changing.

The Book of the Living, verse 20 (Octavia Butler)

We hope you, your loved ones, and your beloved communities are staying well and finding ways to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis exposes the magnitude of violence caused by white supremacy, capitalism, and ableism - and we know the answer lies in our ability to shape the moment, in collaboration with working class Black and brown folks, to bring about liberation for all.

Fundraisers for Solidarity during COVID-19

The SURJB COVID19 Emergency Fundraising Team has curated this list of fundraisers to highlight.

💵 SURJB Funding Pool

We are thrilled to announce that we have collectively raised $22,228! We have closed the pool for now and will provide a full update on the distribution next week (we sent an update mid-week on the google group, too).

💵📋PLEDGE YOUR STIMULUS CHECK

If you are materially secure and/or expecting to receive a stimulus check, please consider pledging all or part of your check (or equivalent amount). SURJB will connect with you and help you match your money to an organization or individual.

💵Highlighted Fundraisers

Massachusetts UnDocufund: Massachusetts Jobs with Justice has partnered with One Fair Wage and the Matahari Women Worker’s Center to create the MassUndocufund, which will collect donations and provide direct assistance to undocumented folks struggling through this crisis.

Autistic People Of Color Fund: this fund has existed since 2018, they are inundated with need since the COVID19 crisis.

SURJB COVID19 Mobilization

✊ Offer your time and resources

If you are not an active member and haven't already filled this out, complete our SURJB community offers survey and we will contact with you opportunities as they arise.

✊ Action Hour!

Wednesday, 4/8, 12-1 pm
Please register here

We are continuing our weekly one hour virtual lunch breaks to connect across physical distance with social solidarity! SURJB facilitators guide participants through calls and emails to electeds, petition signing, and registering for volunteer opportunities.

☎️ Get Resources 2 Neighbors Phonebanks!

SURJB has mobilized dozens of people to make hundreds of phone calls! These virtual phone banks focus on calling our elderly neighbors in Dorchester, Roxbury, and (this coming week) Mattapan to connect them to available resources.

We provide a quick training, materials, and encouragement! The registration links change weekly so double check here or SURJB facebook page.

This week we will be calling Boston's District 5 in partnership with City Councillor Ricardo Arroyo and the 5th Suffolk in partnership with State Rep Liz Miranda.

• Tuesday, 6-8pm [facebook], register to call Tuesday 4/7 here
• Saturdays, 12-2pm [facebook], register to call Saturday 4/11 here

🎁Donate Critical Supplies

We're working with the Cape Verdean Association of Boston and the 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury to collect:

• Soap & disinfectants & hand sanitizers
• toiletries
• diapers (adult and infant)
• denture accessories
• Menstrual supplies
• toilet paper/paper towels
• nonperishable food

We are collecting on porches and doing runs periodically. Email surjbemergencyresponse@gmail.com for Cambridge, Belmont, Dorchester, Roxbury, and West Roxbury drop off information.

Meal and Grocery Delivery

🚗 Deliver Meals to Seniors in Dorchester

Dorchester Not for Sale, Pho Hoa Restaurant, and Vietnamese American Initiative for Development will be providing prepared meals to ~90 seniors on Tuesdays and Fridays, along with a bag of groceries on Fridays.

Please sign up to deliver by clicking here!

🚗 💵 Deliver Meals to BPS Students

Violence in Boston Inc and Food for the Soul Grove Hall are providing lunch and dinner for Boston Public Schools students (lunch 12-2pm, dinner 5-8pm). They are also accepting donations of funds and needed items (toiletries, paper towels, tissues, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, and toilet paper). For more information, call 617-652-0151.

• Sign up to volunteer with the meal relief program.
• Drop off needed items at 651 Warren Street, Boston, 02121.
• Donate funds

🚗💵Join the Delivery Team for Solidarity Supply Distro

email your availability to bostonsolidaritysupplydistro@protonmail.com or donate funds.

Neighborhood Mutual Aid Networks

✊ Neighborhoods are starting their own mutual aid systems where people can offer resources and request support. There are opportunities to volunteer, donate, and offer/request support at the links below.

• Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville
• Mutual Aid Jamaica Plain & Roxbury
  
• Mutual Aid Lower Roxbury/South End
• Mutual Aid Allston/Brighton
• Mutual Aid Cambridge
• Mutual Aid Dorchester
• Mutual Aid Brookline
  
• Mutual Aid East Boston
• How to start a network in your neighborhood!

Resources
Huge thanks to both the Asian American Resource Workshop and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice who have compiled Boston and MA specific resources in response to COVID-19. This includes everything from grassroots demands around COVID-19, how to teach an accessible online class, and local resources for supplies and support.

Stand with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe!

📋 SIGN THE PETITION: PROTECT MASHPEE WAMPANOAG RESERVATION LANDS

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the very tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 1600s, is at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to a determination made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Sign the petition today: tell Congress to protect Mashpee Wampanoag reservation land!

Public Education

☎️ ✊ 📋 support Boston teachers, families and students

Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA) is asking that folks sign a petition supporting teachers, families, and students due to a new partnership with the state, a form of receivership that takes away local power. Learn more and sign the petition here.

• Call, email, and tweet at Governor Charlie Baker, Mayor Marty Walsh, and other stakeholders. All relevant information and sample scripts included.

Boston Teachers Union Updates

The Boston Teachers Union (BTU) has helpful information on how COVID-19 is impacting Boston Public Schools (BPS). For the latest information and to learn about their Volunteer Corps, click here.

Housing Justice

☎️ Keep Pushing to Ban Evictions!

Make 3 calls to decision-makers to pass HD.4935 for a state-wide, full eviction moratorium:

1. Update on banning evictions in Massachusetts: For 2.5 weeks now, we've been waiting for the State House to finally pass HD.4935, the full moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. Instead of passing that bill, the MA Senate put forward a new, much weaker moratorium called S.2621.
   
   Here's why the Senate's bill is weak (and why we need to fight hard for the true moratorium):
   
   - It permits no-fault evictions It fails to explicitly ban eviction filings
   - It fails to ban Notices to Quit, which will cause folks to move out
   - It fails to stop landlords from carrying out already executed evictions
   - It could expire before the State of Emergency ends
   
   IMMEDIATELY call and email Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka immediately: ask her to protect BOTH renters AND homeowners from eviction and housing debt right now. Then, sign our coalition's new petition calling for a Housing Guarantee.
   
   Senator Karen Spilka, (617) 722-1500, Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov
   
   What to say: "Hello, my name is ___________ and I'm a resident of Massachusetts. I'm asking you to support a full moratorium on evictions as well as relief for both renters and homeowners during the COVID-19 crisis. Pass the immediate ban on evictions in bill HD.4935. We need the strong moratorium on evictions in this bill. Thank you."
   
   Report that you called here.
2. Are you, or someone you know worried you can't pay rent or may face eviction during COVID-19 ?
   Please check out City Life/ Vida Urbana’s Housing Rights and Resources during COVID-19.
   
   - CLVU's hotline (617-934-5006 English/ 617-397-3773 Spanish)
   - Template letters to send to your landlord or bank (if you're a renter or an owner)
   - a know your rights fact sheet: most evictions in MA are postponed to after 4/21/20
3. We are continuing to build around the Rent Control campaign, get involved here.

Prison Abolition

☎️ ✊ 📋DECARCERATION WEEK OF ACTION #3

1. Local news media have spread misinformation that due to the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruling this week, "thousands" of people will be released. Sadly, this is not true - and the decisions the SJC made perpetuate racist patterns of policing and incarceration in this state. Read a break down of the SJC ruling here.
2. The Building Up People Not Prisons coalition will continue our calls for decarceration and lifting up the truth that our choice is not between prison and homelessness, but between caging human beings during a pandemic and giving them what they need to be healthy and safe.
3. Look for updated targets, call scripts, and more at this link (same as other weeks).

✊HOLD THE DAY: #FREEHERFRIDAY ACTION

The week of action is building momentum toward a car-based action on Friday, calling for the release of women, girls, and everyone we can from MA prisons and jails. Please stay tuned for more details and hold the day if you have a car!

📋 FREE RAYMOND GAINES

Sign this petition to demand a retrial for Raymond Gaines who was wrongfully convicted of 1st degree murder and armed robbery in 1975. He has been wrongfully imprisoned for 44 years, stolen from his family, loved ones, and community.

Immigration Justice

☎️ ✊ 📋GE WORKERS NEED YOUR SOLIDARITY

Now GE workers in Lynn are standing up for their right to safety and the safety of our communities – will you stand with them?

1. Sign and share this petition to the CEO of GE!
2. Call GE’s Boston Headquarters at (617) 443-3000 to let them know you support the workers’ 5 demands.
3. Take the Social Distancing Solidarity Challenge!

💵Asian Community Emergency Relief Fund

Asian American Resource Workshop, along with their community partners, is raising funds to directly benefit Asian immigrants who are not otherwise eligible for public assistance and many government resources.Donate to their emergency relief fund! If you can donate over $750, there is a matching donation effort - make larger donations here.

☎️ Take (Remote) Action to Demand ICE Release All People from Detention!

In response to COVID-19, the Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network calls for the following demands. Please amplify, share, and make calls to your elected officials as possible! #ReleaseThemAll

Childcare

✊ Volunteer with the Greater Boston Childcare Collective

GBCC supports local racial justice and intersectional organizing by providing free childcare during meetings, events, and actions so that caregivers and children can fully participate. We provide care for groups being led by folks most impacted by oppression and who are on the front lines of their movements. Find out more information about GBCC here and on Facebook.

The GBCC Planning Team is looking for people who want to volunteer as a carer and for those interested in volunteering as a member of the GBCC Planning Team. The Planning Team does all the behind-the-scenes work of partner relationship building, care coordinating, and future planning. As we enter our fourth year of existence, we want to grow our network, Planning Team, and sustainability. Join us if you are invested in racial justice and enjoy caring for kids!

Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form if you'd like to become a volunteer carer.

Contact Morgan at morganch93@gmail.com if you'd like to learn more about joining the GBCC Planning Team or with any questions.