Actions to take this Week - July 12, 2021

Across the country, as well as here in the northland, Critical Race Theory (CRT) has been getting a lot of attention lately. What is CRT? “CRT is a framework that is used to help us understand why racial inequalities exist in our society and how we can change them; it examines how systems, policies, and the law perpetuate racism.” - Sylvia Duckworth.

Take some time to educate yourself on what CRT is, why it’s being demonized by the right, and how we can take action to make sure our children are being introduced to honest discussion of the racist history of our nation.

ACT

Here are some actions you can take to combat white supremacy today

1. Line 3: Women for the Rivers - On Thursday, July 15th, gather with generations of women who defend the rivers, and show your support for stopping Line 3. Join indigenous leaders and guests at the Shell City Campground in Menahga.

2. Support Black creatives: DanSan Creatives is hosting 3 film screenings at Zeitgeist Zinema on July 27th, 28th, and 29th. The screening is part of a fundraising effort to fund a feature production written by Daniel Oyinloye.

3. Do the work where you are: the best place to do anti-racism work is where you are every day. Your home, your community groups, place of employment, and within yourself.

4. Community Orgs: If you have capacity, connect with a community org led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color. Where to start? AICHO, NAACP Duluth Branch, AIM Twin Ports, Camp Migizi are a few. Get up to speed on the work that Lean Duluth is doing too.

JOIN US

Are you ready to move into more active & communal work with our SURJ Northland Collective?

If you haven’t attended an orientation, be on the lookout for one in August. This is the first step to being in relationship and working collectively to end white support for white supremacy.

If you have attended an orientation already, become active on one of our teams. There's a network of people to connect with and be accountable to. We continuously want to call additional people into this work. There is room and space for folks from all backgrounds, identities, abilities, faiths, etc. If you've been thinking about it, we encourage you to make now the time.

Actions to Take - March 2021

Are you ready to join us in working towards ending white support for white supremacy?

Here are some simple and direct racism interrupters; courtesy of From Privilege to Progress.

Let's move beyond words and into collective action.

Join Us

REGISTER HERE to attend one of our upcoming orientations!

March 25th - 7pm                      April 12th - 7pm

If you have already attended an orientation, we invite you to become active on one of our teams.

Show Up

1. Water Protection

   1. Palisade, MN
      Food Supply List
      We've gathered list of grocery items that are in need at the camp kitchen. Are you able to contribute? If so, write your name under any item(s) you are willing to supply on this form. Please plan to hold onto any purchased food items until we connect and set up a delivery date with you.
      
      If you're not able to purchase food but are willing to gather and deliver items to Palisade, please send us an email at info@surjnorthland.org and we will connect.
      
      If you’re interested in cooking with Turtle at the Camp Kitchen, sign up here. More help is always welcome - especially on Friday, Saturday & Sundays.
      

   2. People are needed for direct actions.
      Are you interested in taking direct action to stop Line 3? You don't have to be ready to commit! We can work with any level of interest. Contact Claire at clairebransky@gmail.com with your name and phone number and they will follow up with you on Signal.
      

   3. Support Camp Migizi in Sawyer, MN through food or financial contributions.
      

   4. This LinkTree shows many other branches of how you can get involved; including donating to bail funds and organizing supplies that are needed now.
      

   5. Healing through Soup Singing - Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
      Soup Singing is a ritual that connects people joyfully in their home kitchens to cook and sing together, as grounding practice for conversations about justice, land and wealth redistribution, and social change. If you are interested, learn more at:
      Soup Singing Interest Form
      https://www.facebook.com/soupsingingforjustice/
      

2. AIM Twin Ports Yurt Project

   1. Yurts are being built by AIM Twin Ports with the next one being set up this Sunday. Contribute financially as you are able to support the Yurt Project.
      

3. Support the Breathe Act

   1. The Movement 4 Black Lives is mobilizing behind the Breathe Act; not the Justice in Policing Act. We need to follow their leadership. Visit breatheact.org/action/ for ways you can get involved.
      Interested in taking an active role? Join our mobilization team and organize around this campaign here in the Northland.
      

To our Asian American & Pacific Island Community:

We condemn all white supremacist violence and stand in solidarity with our Asian American and Pacific Island community members. We will share events and other ways to support this community via our Facebook page.
We recommend taking time to read Asian Fetishization IS white supremacy by Irene Cho.  

Reflect

“Words fuel action, we must start with our own subconscious and conscious minds shaped by a society that upholds White Supremacy.” - Sophia Li

Sharing personal stories of our own experiences and journey is powerful. It is one way to help us understand our stake in ending white supremacy, connect with ourselves and others, and call people in.

We have synthesized a series of questions that will prompt some internal work in helping define why we are here. This is the first one in that series.

Describe a major event in your life that impacted you with regards to racial justice. What was the turning point that moved you into action?

We'd like to capture and share the stories of our community in an effort to call more people in. If you're willing to share your reflection with us, we would love that.

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SURJ Northland's Land Acknowledgement

We begin each meeting with a land acknowledgment. Here is what we use:

As a step toward honoring the truth and pursuing healing and reconciliation, our SURJ Collective has committed to open our gatherings with a statement acknowledging the traditional Native lands on which we stand.

While this land acknowledgement is not enough, it is an important social justice and decolonizing practice that promotes a change in our way of seeing that we are settlers on indigenous land.

We acknowledge the lands we call the Twin Ports are the traditional territories of the Ojibwe and Dakota Nations who knew and know these lands by other names, who have lived, worked, played and worshipped here for longer than the people from other continents whose feet also now touch this soil.

We honor that we are able to build communities upon these lands that reflect the cultures and values of our settler ancestors because the Ojibwe Nation gave us permission to do so through the Treaty of La Pointe signed September 30, 1854.

We recognize that the treaty making process reflects the oppressive system of colonization that has left a legacy of pain and brokenness from which we all continue to heal.

One extremely painful and enduring aspect of this legacy is the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples experienced at extremely high rates in our communities in large part due to the commercial shipping ports on Lake Superior.

Let this acknowledgement be an opening for us to move beyond words into actions that fully embody a commitment to indigenous rights and cultural equity

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This land acknowledgement was developed by local Indigenous folks.

#LandBack #Decolonization

Interwoven in Victory or Defeat

There is something magical about witnessing the positive outcome of your efforts.

The joy of celebrating successes and tallying wins for your goals and visions of an ideal future. The internal exuberance and motivation created by these successes are potent.

But not all efforts end in success.

What happens when it feels like nothing you do matters? All the work and effort and time and money you gave still wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to tip the scale. It wasn’t enough to swing the vote. It wasn’t enough to make a difference.

That defeat is crushing... but you were not defeated.

Even though you didn’t get the result you wanted, your action still mattered. Your time and energy and money were spent towards something valuable to yourself and others, which is more powerful than the end result. There is always another opportunity for change; growth; progress. There are actions you can take now that have an impact on your goals— on those parts of our society that need to change.

You are not alone.

There is a large community of people surrounding you with overlapping goals and values. Each of you have different priorities, different strengths, different passions and goals. When you find the similarities in the differences it creates an interwoven web of connection.

Like a woven basket, we support each other and collectively work towards one another's goals. There is no dividing line down the basket, separating us into one group against the other. Every weave supports the next, and collectively we not only hold each other up, but we also can carry those who cannot carry on alone. We can further goals of those whose voices may normally go unheard.

We are stronger and more resilient when we work for each other, together.

We are all still here,

fighting;

protesting;

advocating;

supporting;

learning;

growing.

Connecting.

Carry on with passion and gratitude.

We are not alone.

Get Involved with SURJ Northland

ARE YOU A WHITE PERSON FEELING CALLED TO SHOW UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE?

If so, fill out THIS FORM to get connected. We will follow up with everyone in the coming weeks.

SURJ Northland is a collective of white organizers undermining white supremacy and building towards a racially-just future. Our goal as white folks is to transform our hearts, minds and actions through self-reflection and learning, community organizing, solidarity, and mobilization.

SURJ Northland is part of a national network - Showing Up for Racial Justice - that moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. SURJ’s role as part of a multi-racial movement is to undermine white support for white supremacy and to help build a racially just society.That work cannot be done in isolation from or disconnected from the powerful leadership of communities of color. It is one part of a multi-racial, cross-class movement centering people of color leadership.Therefore, SURJ believes in resourcing organizing led by people of color, and maintaining strong accountability relationships with organizers and communities of color as central part of our theory of change. You can read more about SURJ at www.showingupforracialjustice.org.

SURJ Northland provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis to act for change. We'd love for you to join us!

Website: www.surjnorthland.org
Email: info@surjnorthland.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/surjnorthland

Calling People in about "Violence"

How to do it and why it is important right now.

“What struck me most about those who rioted was how long they waited. The restraint they showed. Not the spontaneity, the restraint. They waited and waited for justice and it didn’t come. No one talks about that.” - Toni Morrison

A guide for calling in white folks around the violence and property destruction narratives.

Click HERE for the toolkit

A message from Erin Heaney - Lead Organizer SURJ National

White folks - you're probably waking up this morning, turning on the news, full of rage.

The urge to call other white people out today is going to be overwhelming. Please do not spend your precious energy doing that. Our enemies are not other individual white people.

Yes, white people are racist. AND our enemy is racialized capitalism and white supremacy.

We have been asked to build a base that can actually flex enough power to defund the police, to stop the fascist in the White House from getting re-elected, and to transform our economic system to one that doesn't exploit and kill poor and working people.

Today, let us turn our rage upward to those in power and let us take action today that moves us closer to the visionary demands declared by those on the frontlines. Let us move resources to people supporting uprisings. Let us spend one of our most precious resources, time, bringing in the thousands of people who are coming into consciousness in this moment, messy are they are. Let us be strategic and rigorous.

There's too much at stake to spend our time performing and not organizing.

Help Support Duluth Black Lives Matter & Bring Rashad Turner to Duluth!

Duluth Black Lives Matter has asked SURJ Northland to gather funds to bring Rashad Turner of the Minneapolis Black Lives Matter chapter to come speak about his experiences here in Duluth.

Mr. Turner has offered to forgo his regular speaker's fee if lodging and transportation costs are covered. To learn more about this request, and how you can contribute, please visit our YouCaring page. This is a great opportunity to take action in solidarity with leaders of color who are fighting to end racism in our city and our region!