SURJ Boston
Actions & Updates
April 26, 2020
“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.” -Gwendolyn Brooks
As we settle into the stride of this intense crisis, we invite you to continue to take action, to make movement habitual and stay connected across distance. We’ve got our ship in shape and hopefully continue to make the work we’re doing together easier to follow - and don’t hesitate to reach out.
Pledge Your Stimulus Check
Redistributing our stimulus checks as an act of mutual aid is grounded in an understanding of the inequitable systems we all operate within and of the value of everyone in our community, individually and collectively. No-one is expendable; we need each other, and we must support and protect each other.
💵 If you have yet to pledge your check or a donation, you can pledge here.
Fundraising team members will be reaching out to pledgers individually to check when they receive their checks and help them direct their money to MA Redistribution Fund or to individuals referred to us by our partners such as Keep It 100 for Egleston and Mass Coalition of Domestic Workers.
We also want to highlight these 3 fundraisers which are in need of funds.
- Chelsea Collaborative is supporting immigrant families in Chelsea which has been hit hard by this pandemic. Donate to support their efforts.
- Autistic People of Color Fund has existed since 2018, and is inundated with requests from individuals who may not otherwise be able to access resources.
- MASWAN and SWOP-Boston are raising funds for sex workers who will not receive financial support thru stimulus or unemployment.
SURJB COVID19 Mobilization
☎️ 📋 ✊ Action Hours
Wednesdays in April, 12-1 PM
Register here for action hours—this link is recurring, you can choose one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.
SURJB members will guide participants through an hour of making calls, sending emails, signing up for volunteering, and signing petitions. We hope this helps combat isolation while building social solidarity!
☎️ Get Resources 2 Neighbors Phonebanks
Tuesdays, 6-8 PM: register here
Saturdays, 12-1 PM: register here
You can sign up for one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.
In partnership with State Rep Liz Miranda and Boston City Councillor Ricardo Arroyo, we are calling our elderly neighbors in Hyde Park, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Roxbury to see how they are doing and if possible connect them to resources. SURJB will provide a quick training and materials! We’ll let you know which list we will be focusing on for each phonebank.
🚗 Driving
Deliver groceries and supplies in Dorchester, Sundays 1-3 pm (form is a general sign up, you will get direct information after signing up).
Deliver meals to BPS students in Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester, weekdays lunch and dinner shifts (general form, more info provided after signing up)
Deliver groceries with Solidarity Supply Distro, Mondays and Sundays (general form, more info provided after signing up)
✊ 💵 Critical Supplies
SURJB is helping to collect critical supplies for 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury and Cape Verdean Association of Boston. We're suggesting that folks drop off Tuesday before 8 PM and Friday before 8 PM. Please email back (surjbemergencyresponse@gmail.com) for porch drop off information in JP, Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Allston/Brighton, Belmont, and Cambridge.
- toiletries
- soap
- disinfectants
- hand sanitizers
- diapers (adult and infant)
- denture accessories
- toilet paper/paper towels
- nonperishable food
- ethnically appropriate food (Vietnamese, Chinese, Caribbean, Cape Verdean)
To get connected to more ways to help out, please fill out our community offers survey (if you haven’t yet).
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. City Life Vida Urbana has also published housing rights and resources during COVID-19.
Public Education
📋 ✊ In regards to the Our City Our Schools Campaign (fighting against the state partnership with BPS), the BTU (Boston Teachers Union) is requesting that folks join them for DESE’s monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 28, 9-11 AM. The BTU will also be live-tweeting the testimonies from educators and parents who are fighting back to demand the resources our students need and deserve. Please join us in sharing the message on social with #OurCityOurSchools, and ifyou haven’t done so yet, please sign the petition here: https://btu.org/ourcityourschools/.
✊ SIM (Student Immigration Movement) is asking for folks to help fight to ensure that BPS has a transparent policy around sharing student information with ICE. One way you can do that is by attending and testifying at the next virtual School Committee Meeting on April 29 through Zoom.
📋 You can get more information about SIM’s demands, sign, and share the SIM petition demanding a clear and fair policy here: bit.ly/NoICEinBPS. They are just over 2,000 signatures. Spread the word!
Housing Justice
☎️✉️call for hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness now!
The Material Aid and Advocacy Program is asking people to Call Gov. Baker and tell him people experiencing homelessness need hotel rooms now!
Phone: 617-725-4005
Email: cis@sec.state.ma.us
Eviction Help
Are you, or someone you know, worried about getting evicted? Call City Life/ Vida Urbana's hotline.
- English: 617-934-5006
- Español: 617-397-3773
Prison Abolition
☎️✊ #FreeThemAll: Detention Release Now Phone Zaps
Wednesdays 4/29, 5/6, 5/13 3pm
Join us for an hour-long virtual action to make calls to get migrant people released from detention. We will be calling governors, ICE directors, etc as part of campaigns across the country to #FreeThemAll. You can register here for any/all of the weekly Phone Zaps.
✊WEEK OF ACTION #6
Building Up People Not Prisons is holding another week of action to keep up the pressure on our targets. Our officials are not acting fast enough!
Keep an eye out for Facebook live updates each day. Call scripts and contact info can be found here: tinyurl.com/maweekofaction
📋 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.
✊ Black & Pink Volunteer Drop In
Black and Pink’s mission is to abolish the criminal punishment system and to liberate LGBTQIA2S+ people/people living with HIV who are affected by that system, through advocacy, support, and organizing.
These drop ins welcome any kind of abolitionist energy, whether reading and entering mail into the database, writing letters, playing cards, or just chatting. Formerly incarcerated and court involved people especially encouraged to attend. Cis, straight and/or free world allies are welcome!
- Every other Wednesday, 7-9pm: Black and Pink has gone digital!
Immigration Justice
✉️ #FREETHEMALL FROM ICE
Put pressure on regional ICE officials to demand the release of all people in detention! Read BIJAN’s COVID-19 calls to action for context, email scripts, and sample social media posts to take action with our community members locked up in immigration jail.
💵 SUPPORT THE MASSACHUSETTS UNDOCUFUND
The MassUndocuFund for Covid-19 Relief was launched by a coalition of immigrant service providers and advocates to provide direct assistance to undocumented victims of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Massachusetts. Donate today to support undocumented children, families, and communites affected by the pandemic to recover and rebuild.
✊ VIRTUAL WORKERS’ MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATION
Tues., 4/28, 12PM-12:45PM
Join Jobs with Justice, MassCOSH, the MA AFL-CIO, the Greater Boston Labor Council, and Community Labor United for a virtual memorial and gathering to honor workers who were killed, injured, or suffered from illness on the job and pay tribute to frontline and essential workers who continue to risk their lives today in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will close with a call to action for stronger workplace health and safety protections.
💵 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.
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.
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!
Get Educated
Race, Class, and Elections
Join SURJ National April 27th for a conversation with Ian Haney Lopez, author of Merge Left: Fusing Race and Class, Winning Elections, to learn about developing messages capable of beating the Right’s dog whistle racial fear narrative. Register here for the live webinar April 27th at 8:00 EST/5:00 PST.
SURJ’s work is more important than ever - in part because Trump’s favorability numbers still haven’t tanked in response to his handling of this crisis. Recent polls show that 47.8% of all voters and 43% of independent voters approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis.
SURJ BRUNCH ON 1970S BOSTON DESEGREGATION AND BUSING CRISIS WITH CCI ANTI-RACISM TRAINER DONNA BIVENS
Sunday, May 3, 12:30 PM, Online
Please join us for an online SURJ Brunch with CCI trainer Donna Bivens as she explores with us the 1970s Boston Desegregation and Busing Crisis. Anthony Lukas's book Common Ground is good background for the discussion. Attendance is not limited to SURJ members. Register at the link below.
Register for Zoom meeting with this link.
KNAPSACK ANTI-RACISM GROUP
Knapsack is a multiracial group hosted by Community Change Inc that is committed to challenging the system of racism in the United States and the world. We engage in dialogue, build community, and support the efforts of racial justice leaders and organizations. We are dedicated to the struggle for shared liberation.
- For more, including meetups in the Metrowest area, see the meetup site
- Engage with the group on Facebook
White People Challenging Racism
Moving From Talk to Action: Find classes and sign up on the WPCR website
Community Change, Inc.
SURJ Boston is a project of Community Change Inc (CCI), a Boston-based organization shining a spotlight on the roots of racism in white culture with the intention of dealing with racism at its source.
THE WATERING HOLE
April 28, 6-7:30pm
This is a time to be in community with others who are fiercely committed to anti-racism work and the dismantling of white supremacy. We can talk about current events, the work within the community, or just how we are taking care of ourselves during these turbulent times. We are connecting virtually, using Zoom. You'll receive more details when you RSVP.
Feeling overwhelmed?
Commit to doing just one thing this week.
We can do this.