Join SURJ-TC this month to get energized and take action! In this issue, we have opportunities to:

Find community and join our corporate accountability campaign at the 11/16 SURJ-TC Chapter + Campaign meeting
Skill up in this Organizing Fundamentals Training Series
Celebrate local abolition work with the Institute of Aspiring Abolitionists on 11/20
Watch local group Relationships Evolving Possibilities feature
Learn how you can support reparations in St. Paul on 11/8
Join a SURJ-TC welcome gathering on 11/11

We look forward to taking action and building community alongside you!

11/16/2025 SURJ-TC Chapter + Campaign meeting

Don’t miss this one! Whether you’re an active SURJ member, or brand new; whether you are in a Gear Up Circle or on the action alert list; maybe you’ve been reading this newsletter for years but haven’t found your way to a meeting yet (‘longtime listener, first time caller’!), and everyone in between (or around the edges!): JOIN US Sun 11/16 to build community and plug into an exciting campaign we’re developing to erode corporate support for the Trump regime, and bolster support for immigrant rights and preserving our country’s democracy!

Sunday 11/16/2025, 3:00-5:00pm
Downtown Minneapolis (exact location in registration link)

RSVP here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/111625-surj-tc-chapter-mtg-wimmigration-campaign-focus

Organizing Fundamentals Training Series

image of purple background with drawings of hands holding up flowers below text, "ORGANIZING FUNDAMENTALS: CORE TOOLS FOR ORGANIZERS BUILDING COMMUNITY POWER. A 3-PART SERIES: MONDAYS 11/10, 11/17, & 11/24, AT 8PM ET/5PM PT.

As we work on building up the community power needed to fight back fascism and move forward community liberation, more and more of us need to learn and practice the basics of organizing our people!

Check out this three-part training series from SURJ National and SOI, designed to ground us in the tools and practices that build real community power (Mondays 11/10, 11/17, 11/24, at 7pm CT).

Together, we’ll explore:

Organizing 101: The fundamentals of community organizing
Shared Interest Storytelling: Connecting through values and experiences
Listening & 1:1s: How to build trust and bring people into the work
Running Effective Meetings: Tools to strengthen your organizing spaces

Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/surj/event/863417/

We encourage you to click the boxes for all three dates, even if you can’t attend them all.
Please let us know if you sign up, so we Twin Cities community members can follow up afterwards and get you plugged into our campaign that will utilize the skills you learn in this training series! Email showingupforracialjusticemn@gmail.com with subject “organizing fundamentals”

Recognizing local abolition work

Jason Sole (a black man with a beard, wearing a baseball hat and black clothes) is smiling while sitting at a table at a hearing, with a crowd of cheering onlookers in the background. Text reads: CLEMENCY COMMISSION RECOMMENDS FULL PARDON FOR JASON SOLE

Georgia Fort

Come celebrate with the Institute of Aspiring Abolitionists Thur 11/20!
- Join SURJ-TC folks at this event to celebrate the work of our partner group, Institute of Aspiring Abolitionists!
- SURJ-TC can sponsor FIVE tickets for local SURJ-TC community members
  - Email showingupforracialjusticemn@gmail.com with “11/20 Ticket” in the subject line if you’d like to claim a ticket! (or, if you decide to purchase your own ticket, just email us so we can meet up together at the event!)
Check out local group REP (Relationships Evolving Possibilities) featured in episode #1 of One Million Experiments’ new “In the Field” series!
- Link to watch episode 1: “Rebirth in Minneapolis” (best watched in community! Grab a couple friends and watch together!)
- Link to join the zoom watch parties for the remaining episodes!

A youtube screenshot shows a black man wearing a black shirt with a red raised fist on it standing in front of a black and white sign on a chain link fence that says ABOLITION. His arms are outstretched and he is speaking.

Respair Media

Reparations to descendents of chattel enslavement in St. Paul!

The St. Paul Recovery Act and Community Reparations Commission will recommend an ordinance to the St. Paul City Council in December, which would (in part) set up a fund for reparations, administered by the city. This Slavery Disclosure Ordinance, if passed, would require every company which does business with the City of St. Paul to thoroughly investigate its own past for connections to the chattel slave trade. Those who find such a connection – even if it goes back to a company which was bought up by the present corporation – would be required to pay into a reparations fund in order to sign a contract with the City of St. Paul.

Learn more about this exciting plan on Saturday November 8th, from 10am to noon, at the Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Avenue, St. Paul! It’s a pretty safe guess that this ordinance will face some resistance from large corporations. There’s a clear role for white St. Paulites to play, in contacting their city councilors to talk to them about why we want this ordinance to pass. Come learn how you can help out!

Welcome Gatherings

Being in community is a powerful support and antidote to disruptions and changes all around us. This Welcome Gatheringis an opportunity for you to learn more about us and see if we could be a potential community ~ a political home ~ for you.

We are offering a Welcome Gathering on Tuesday, November 11th from 7:00pm – 8:30pm over Zoom. We will share stories about anti-racism in our lives and then talk about how you can get more involved with SURJ-TC and how we can support you in deepening your commitment to racial justice work.

Please register here if you would like to attend. We will send the Zoom link, along with a reminder a few days before. We offer Welcome Gatherings regularly, so if you are interested and can’t make this one, keep an eye on the newsletter for future dates.