SURJ Boston

Take Action Together

☎️ 📋 ✊ ACTION HOURS

Every Wednesday 12 to 1 PM
Register here for action hours and invite friends to action hours on Facebook. Now with extended dates through December!

• The link is recurring, you can choose one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.
• Captions available: please try to indicate need for captions by 11:30 AM the Monday before your session.

SURJ Boston active members lead these weekly sessions to build collective power—we do a feature on a particular effort or issue, make phone calls, send emails, and sign petitions. Facilitators are on hand to answer questions!

Training Ourselves and Supporting our Partners

⭐️ 💵 SURJ Boston Relational Uprising Training and Partners Fundraiser

This year SURJB has a cohort of five leaders attending four months of Relational Uprising trainings in an effort to expand upon and deepen our chapter's culture and practice of relationship-based organizing. We are hosting a fundraiser to help cover the costs of the training, and to match what we spend on our own leadership development with investment in BIPOC-led organizations that also work to bring up the next generation of leaders. Can you help us raise $7,000? Of that amount, $1,600 will help cover training costs, and $5,400 will be split evenly between Community Change Inc, Sisters Unchained, Student Immigrant Movement, and Dorchester Not For Sale. You can donate here.

Indigenous Solidarity

⭐️ 🍎 Implicit Bias: Why We Need Indigenous People's Day

Tues, Sep. 29, 7:00-8:30 PM (Zoom)

Join the Maynard Anti-Racism Alliance and Maynard Public Schools for a presentation by Indigenous Educator Claudia Tekina'ru Fox Tree, M.Ed. (Arawak/Yurumein) on the importance of Indigenous People's Day. Her workshop will lead us through an Indigenous perspective on identity, decolonizing curriculum, implicit bias, Indigenous contributions, cultural appropriation, and being an “ally.” Register here for this webinar.

✊ SINKING COLUMBUS: BOSTON MARCHES FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY

Saturday, October 10, 12:00-2:00PM
Boston Common
Rally and march to demand that the City of Boston honors Indigenous People's Day and commits to NOT returning the Columbus statue to Boston's waterfront. More info here. If you want to connect with other SURJB members that will be attending, you can email SURJBindigenousSolidarity@googlegroups.com. Please share with your community!

Can't attend but want to support local Indigenous organizing in other ways?

📋 Add your name to demand the permanent removal of the Columbus statue at Boston's Waterfront Park

☎️ CONTACT YOUR REPS: CHANGE THE STATE FLAG AND SEAL!

The House of Representatives has not yet voted for a review of the racist Massachusetts state flag and seal. Call and email your reps TODAY during this extended legislative session and urge them to vote to change the flag and seal, and to ban Native mascots! Follow the link for an easy way to send messages to your elected officials.

We appreciate and acknowledge that we live (and are guests) on Indigenous land. We want to be mindful and respectful of this, treating the land (and our environment in general) like any place we would be as a guest. To get informed about the land you live on: native-land.ca and usdac.us/nativeland

Confronting White Supremacists

✊ JOIN OUR ANNOUNCEMENT LIST

Join our Confronting White Supremacists Announcement List to hear from us about opportunities to learn more and take action against non-state white supremacists and fascists in New England.

⭐️ 🍎 Political Research Associates (PRA) Fall Webinar Series

PRA is a “social justice think tank” doing key research and political education work on the full spectrum of far-right activity and ideology in the US. Their fall webinar series is packed full of learning opportunities.

Read more about each topic and register for webinars here.

• Thurs, 10/8 at 4pm ET - Austerity Kills
• Thurs, 10/15 at 4pm ET - Mobilizing Misogyny in the Service of Authoritarianism
• Thurs, 10/22 at 4pm ET - Christian Zionism: The End Times Agenda in U.S. Domestic and Foreign Policy
• Thurs, 10/29 at 4pm ET - Election Eve: State of Democracy Report

Mutual Aid and Supplies Collection

⭐️ 💵 Alert: Food and Critical Supplies Needed

Our mutual aid partners (Cape Verdean Association of Boston, 12th Baptist Church, and VietAID) continue to remind us that critical supplies like food and sanitary products continue to be in high demand. As this crisis continues and our society adapts to this “new normal” we cannot let our neighbors be forgotten, now is the time to give if you can. Please donate each week if you are able to help our neighbors stay afloat in a crisis that disproportionately affects those already most targeted by racism and white supremacy.

This week we’re asking folks to focus on the following items for 12th Baptist and CVAB:

• Nonperishable foods, particularly ethnically appropriate food (Vietnamese, Chinese, Caribbean, Cape Verdean) - HIGHEST NEED
  
• Diapers
• Toilet paper

For VietAID they are accepting the following donations:

• Oatmeal (boxes of individual packets)
• Mac n’ cheese
• Tuna

We have drop off sites in Allston, Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Jamacia Plain, Roslindale, Roxbury, Somerville, and West Roxbury. Please email surjbmutualaid@gmail.com for more information.

To get connected to more ways to help out, please fill out our community offers survey (if you haven’t yet).

Public Education

⭐️ 🍎 BTU and MassCOSH School Walkthroughs

The Boston Teachers Union and representatives from MassCOSH (Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health) walked through 105 Boston Public School buildings using a safety checklist for COVID-19 readiness; they found that most of the schools toured do not meet the requirements needed to open safely. Read the full report here and read the Boston Teachers Union’s article on the walk through and the results here.

⭐️ 📋 BEJA Petition

We would really like your help in getting all of the signatures necessary this week and taking this ask off of the Newsletter! Please sign and share this petition until we have the signatures we need. The Boston Education Justice Alliance (BEJA) is asking for folks to sign this petition to ask the BPS School Committee to act swiftly in adopting the recommendation of the BPS Opportunity Gap Task Force and suspend the exam based admissions policy for Boston Latin School, Boston Latin Academy and the John D. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Sciences, and we further call on the School Committee to direct the BPS to design an alternative selection process that does not use an exam for SY 20-21. The entrance exams are frequently a barrier for black and brown students and with the disruption to the school year due to COVID-19, they are even more problematic.

💵 SUPPORT Unafraid Educators

Please consider donating to the Unafraid Educators COVID-19 Relief Fund for students and families in Boston Public Schools who need financial support during this time. Also, please share the form with those who might need it.

Housing Justice

☎️ CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS: DEMAND HOUSING RELIEF FOR MA RESIDENTS

October 17th is fast approaching! According to housing advocates and agencies, more than 100,000 Massachusetts households can't pay their rent or mortgage and we are headed for a housing "catastrophe". A MA bill stops evictions until October 17, and a new national one till December 31, but those only buy us a few months. The Guaranteed Housing Stability Act (H.4878/S.2831) would:

• prevent evictions for at least another year
• prevent rent hikes
• establish a Housing Stability & Recovery Fund to relieve small owners

Call and email your legislators using this easy tool. Ask them to support the Housing Stability Act H.4878/S.2831. If they’re a co-sponsor, ask them to request that Speaker of the House Robert Deleo and Senate President Karen Spilka schedule an immediate vote.

⭐️ 📋 ALERT: SIGN TO PROTECT ESSENTIAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT!
We are still collecting signatures. The lawsuit has not been dropped. Boston residents-- sign the petition and send an email to demand Monty Gold to drop the lawsuit against the Pine Street Inn's project - one of the largest affordable and supportive housing projects in Boston. Help us reach 1600 signatures by Monday!

✊ VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: FLYER TENANT ASSOCIATION BUILDINGS

Help City Life/Vida Urbana and SURJ flyer (socially distant) tenant association buildings the last Saturday of the month to provide residents with important information. If you're interested, please sign up using this form.

⭐️ SIGN UP FOR HOUSING JUSTICE ACTION ALERT LIST

Learn about upcoming events and actions happening in real-time and how to get connected with SURJ B’s Housing Justice group and support the Boston area housing justice movement. Sign up here.

Prison Abolition

⭐️ 📋 Use NextDoor? Take This Survey!

On the app Nextdoor, users can report their neighbors to police directly through the app. Nextdoor’s connection to police makes it easy for a community’s racism problem to turn into off-platform police violence against Black and brown people.

Kairos, a POC-led organization that works at the intersection of race and technology, is working on a Nextdoor campaign to oppose Nextdoor’s police partnership. Nextdoor really cares about its users and public opinion. They are collecting quotes of users and former users who are anti-racist and oppose Nextdoor's police partnership. Please help them by filling out this survey!

🍎 SAVE THE DATE: CLEMENCY SYMPOSIUM

Sunday, October 4, 1-3PM
The Building Up People Not Prisons coalition will be hosting a symposium focused on their Clemency Works campaign. Register here! #FREEHER

⭐️ 📋 ✊ Week of Action: Building Up People Not Prisons

• On Saturday, SURJ members joined Families for Justice as Healing for a No Cost Calls rally. We will continue to help push for the bill to pass this session!
  
• SURJ Boston joined around 100 other organizations and individuals in supporting No Cost Calls for incarcerated people in MA. Read the text of the open letter to the MA Senate here !

✊ ☎️ SURJ National Abolition Action Zaps

September 30, 2:00PM

Join us for a weekly September Action Zap where we will take action together on pressing campaigns to get feds out of cities, #FreeThemAll, #DefundThePolice, and demand justice as part of Black and people of color led campaigns for collective liberation. Join with a cell phone and computer for this one-hour Action Zap to make phone calls and send emails to campaign targets around the country. Register here and see the Facebook event for more details.

💵 DONATE TO HELP A YOUNG FATHER

Let’s help Jordan during his reentry as he works and supports his family.

💵 DONATE TO HELP KIMYA'S HOUSE

Kimya's House is a re-entry home run by and for formerly incarcerated Black women -- open on time in spite of setbacks from the pandemic.

📋 Sign these petitions to protect our people from police and prisons!

• Support the Families for Justice as Healing demands for the new Boston Police Department contract with the city by signing this petition!
• Demand Gov. Baker use his clemency power to bring our people home!
• Release Arthur to home confinement! Arthur Williams remains in remission after a battle with leukemia, making him particularly vulnerable COVID19.
• Free David Yarde, wrongfully convicted of murder in 2012
• Support Raeshawn *Children need healing not punishment by incarceration*

Immigration Justice

🍎 Muslim Justice League: Learn more about the #StopCVE/#StopTVTP Campaign with a New Toolkit

The Department of Homeland Security has just announced the grant awards for their 2020 Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) program. This program is the latest version of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), a government surveillance program that exploits community need by deputizing social service providers to police the politics, religious practice, and other behaviors of community members. Since its inception, CVE has consistently targeted Muslim communities across the US. Learn more today with this toolkit put together by MJL and the #StopCVE Coalition and share on social media.

💵 SUPPORT STUDENT IMMIGRANT MOVEMENT

On November 6, Student Immigrant Movement will be virtually celebrating their Quinceañera of Rebellion. Join them to honor the stories of resistance and persistence of undocumented youth. Every week leading up to the gala they will be highlighting a SIMmer! Get your tickets here.

In honor of their 15th anniversary, a donor has stepped forward to match all donations made in September, up to $4,000. Help them reach this donation goal by becoming a Dream Sustainer here.

💵 SUPPORT MASSACHUSETTS JOBS WITH JUSTICE

Massachusetts Jobs with Justice is continuing to celebrate their month of movement-building and movement-giving. Follow them on Facebook to learn more about their ongoing work and campaigns. You can donate or become a monthly sustainer here!

💵 SUPPORT THE BOSTON IMMIGRANT ACCOMPANIMENT NETWORK BEYOND BAIL FUND AND LEGAL DEFENSE

BIJAN is a be part of the National Bail Fund Network, a coalition of abolitionist organizations that raise funds to pay bail for people in pretrial detention and immigration bond for people in ICE detention. These intertwined systems are harmful and racist, disproportionately depriving Black and Brown people of their freedom in a system of mass incarceration that exists to reinforce white supremacy and create profit. We hope that you will continue to support the many important bail and bond funds, including Beyond Bond and Legal Defense!

Worker Solidarity

📋 SOLIDARITY WITH EAST COAST SEX EDUCATORS (SECSE)

Support striking sex educators at Good Vibrations in Brookline! SECSE demands higher COVID-19 safety standards, better communication from our corporate office, a stronger human resources department, scheduled raises, and more local decision making power. For a more detailed list of demands, visit SECSE.net. Sign this petition to support!

📋 OUR ESSENTIAL WORKERS DESERVE BETTER!

Demand that Stop and Shop executives extend hazard pay for essential workers past the original July 4th cut-off and until the pandemic is over. Sign this petition to show Stop and Shop it needs to stop putting profits before its workers.

SURJ National

☎️ Swing Georgia Left: Voter Outreach Work

Saturday, October 3rd, 1:00 - 4:30 PM and every other following Saturday

SURJ National is organizing us to repeatedly call a set of 100,000 white voters in Georgia between now and the November election. These are voters who are not receiving calls from the Democrats or others, and we will be engaging them in deep conversation, with the goal to help them realize their common stake with people of color in making transformative change in our country.

You can sign up for any of the upcoming phone banks on SURJ National's website. You can also sign up to make calls to recruit phone bankers on Thursdays, or support these efforts by making a donation to both SURJ National and the New Georgia Project.