News

Fall is an excellent reminder that change is a natural and necessary occurrence.  Part of the lush green leaves we enjoy during the summer months can be attributed to the trees shedding their leaves each fall. Likewise, even in a seemingly impossible situation, we can trust that at some point there will be a shift. 

This month’s newsletter offers opportunities to be part of a shift toward justice-focused change. Keep reading for ways to participate in the SURJ-Unidos Corporate Noncooperation Campaign, the St. Paul Reparations Commission, and SURJ-TC Welcome Gatherings (multiple dates across these opportunities happening this week and the following!).

Time to “move your feet”

As we complete this newsletter, we are grieving two mass shootings in Minneapolis. Back to school and the state fair signal exciting seasonal transitions, but we are faced with ongoing trauma.

Our hearts go out to the communities and victims of Annunciation church and school and of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School. At the same time, we hold space for those being kidnapped by ICE, the thousands suffering in Gaza, and the victims of global conflicts.

So what can we do to prevent despair? As Matthew DeBoer, principal of the Annunciation Catholic School, quoted from an African proverb: “When you pray, move your feet.”

Here are some ways to keep moving:

• SURJ-National’s 5-week Organize in Solidarity Training

• Campaign urging a local collective to protect immigrant rights

• Coffee Hangout September 7th

• Welcome Gathering September 9th

Looking for ways you can take action in the face of disheartening chaos coming out of Washington? Join SURJ-TC in showing up to fight back and find community to make a difference together.

In this issue:

• 8/21: Take action against ICE crackdowns
• 8/1: Support a pardon for Jason Sole
• 8/3: Community coffee
• 8/19: SURJ-TC welcome gathering

It finally feels like summer in the Twin Cities. The farmers’ markets are full of seasonal produce, and the solstice offers the peak of light and power. With recent political violence in our community (along with ICE kidnappings nationwide), these seasonal cycles remind us to center light. To come together in power. There are a few opportunities to do so listed here. There are always chances to show up for our neighbors in big and small ways.

We just celebrated Juneteenth—Freedom Day—to mark the final end of slavery. It was a day of joy and love. At the same time, we recognize that anti-Black racism is perpetuated through systems including the carceral state. In that spirit, we continue to support abolitionist Jason Sole’s appeal for a pardon. See the details below.

Keep standing up!

In this issue:

• SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering
• 8/1 Court Support for Jason Sole (Pardon Process)
• Good Trouble Lives On, Day of Non-Violent Action 7/17
• Support the War Powers Resolutions
• SURJ National Wednesday Action Hours

Full PDF Version of the Newsletter Here >>

We are soon to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of George Floyd’s murder.  This newsletter contains several events directly offering space to remember.  Take time to reflect on what you recall from this day and the way in which your own racial justice journey has grown since then.  Where do you see continued places of growth for yourself as you continue in the work towards justice? 

You will also find information about the work of the St. Paul Reparations Commission and a petition to pardon Jason Sole. Each of these newsletter announcements are connected to the anti-Black racism that undergirds our country’s history and all offer opportunity for us to remember and act collectively! 

Keep going! 

In this issue:

• What’s Happening with the St. Paul Reparations Commission?
• SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering
• George Floyd 5-Year Anniversary / Rise & Remember
• Community Visions Council
• Memorialize the Movement! Justice for George (JFG) events
• Sign the petition: Pardon Jason Sole by Juneteenth!

We can barely keep track of all the acts of resistance to the illegal and immoral actions of the US Executive Branch: There’s the May 1st International Workers Day Rally and March at the MN Capitol (our SURJ-TC contingent will be there – details below) and in cities around the country. There are union strikes and newly unionized businesses…Encampments in defense of Migrants being snatched off the streets…Sanctuary churches…Harvard standing up in the face of funding cuts…challenges by lawyers, District and Federal judges…Governor Walz barnstorming in Republican districts against cutting the Education Department. As the suffering of the people of Gaza escalates, resistance on campuses and in the streets continue. 

Many people, communities and organizations are in grave danger. And the courage to resist is contagious, as the Nation Magazine headlined its April editorial. There is much to do, whether it is caring for neighbors who are at risk, protecting a family member, or joining a mass action, this is an excellent moment to show up for racial justice. Might some of us go out of our comfort zones? Maybe! Yet support of each other to be bold is inherent in each of the actions above, and in today’s newsletter. See you there!

In this issue:

• MAY 1 RALLY and MARCH for Migrant and Worker Rights
• SURJ-TC Community Coffees
• SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering 
• Join the SURJ-TC Action Alert Text Tree
• Kingian Nonviolence 16-Hour Core Training
• Reparations Act in the MN Legislature

As we enter into Spring, SURJ-TC is blooming with opportunities to support justice and find community with fellow activists. Whether it’s through attending rallies and signing petitions shared on the Action Alert Signal chat, or participating in the events shared in this newsletter, we have ways for you to spring into action this season. Join us in showing up for racial justice!

In this issue:

1. BIG WIN at George Floyd Square! – Action requested by March 28
2. Black Visions’ FREEDOM BALL – April 4
3. Embodying Solidarity with Indigenous People by Becoming Kin – April 5
4. SURJ-TC Welcome Gathering – April 21
5. 4/24 First Amendment Rights Day at the Capitol – Register by April 1