Reach out to the Welcome Team To Get connected
Our infrastructure is organized around three core work areas:
Outreach and Intake to help engage and absorb new members
Partnerships to mobilize and act in support of our partner organizations
Education & Resources to provide education to white people who want to get involved in racial justice work.
This core work is supported by three internal teams: Coordinating Committee, Operations (which includes several teams and working groups), and Leadership.
SURJ DC members come together for a cross-team convening to discuss the SURJ DC Theory of Change.
outreach & intake
DEEP CANVASS
SURJ NoVA and SURJ DC hold space at white people's doors for conversations about race. Deep canvassing builds on our collective wisdom about the best ways to have authentic conversations with complete strangers, with the long-term goal of finding a method to shift the hearts and minds of white people away from racism and toward racial justice. We remain committed to calling in our communities to divest from white supremacy while providing the space for the self-work needed to better articulate, understand, and grapple with our own stake in and vision for a more beautiful and just world. No canvassing experience necessary; our deep canvass action days include a training to make sure that you're as prepared and supported as possible.
While much of this work and partnership is affected by the pandemic, see the Deep Canvass Documentary for a recent success.
WELCOMING TEAM
To welcome new people into SURJ DC and get them connected to their next steps in the movement. We host orientations every 2-3 months.
PARTNERSHIPS TEAMS
EMPOWER DC
To support the work of Empower DC, a local city-wide, grassroots, membership-based, inter-generational community organizing project whose mission is to enhance, improve and promote the self-advocacy of low and moderate income DC residents in order to bring about sustained improvements in their quality of life. This team works to support Empower's organizing efforts by participating in advocacy in support of public housing, fundraising to support their efforts, political ed around public housing of our own SURJ DC membership, and building direct action support of Empower's organizing within SURJ DC.
MIGRANT JUSTICE
The SURJ DC Migrant Justice team has focused on providing direct support to several immigrants so that they are safe and well during their multi-year process of their immigration cases. This can include matching individuals with a host family, ongoing financial support, connecting individuals with community resources, and emotional support.
Each individual and host family receives direct support from Migrant Justice team members. We also fundraise to help cover the individuals' monthly expenses, which total about $2,000 and include one family's rent, phone bills, and groceries.
Many Languages One Voice (MLOV)
ONE DC
To support the work of ONE DC, a local organization building a movement of low-income, poor, and immigrant communities to create and preserve racial and economic equity in Shaw and the District. We provide logistical and administrative support, fundraising opportunities, mobilization assistance, and are building a connection with their Black Worker Center.
We are looking for help with publications, the design of the new Black Workers and Wellness Center building, social media, rallies and activities.
POLICING
To advocate against racist policing policies and practices in the District, to educate our base and build widespread support for alternatives to policing, and to connect with other SURJ internal teams and partners around responses to racist police terror. Within and beyond our solidarity work with our partner organizations, SURJ DC’s Policing team is committed to working toward the abolition of police, prisons, and all kinds of institutions that depend on policing and punishment. To that end, the team's current work is focused on supporting Stop Police Terror Project DC’s No More Stop & Frisk campaign and the #DefundMPD campaign, which is supported by a coalition of organizations including SPTP-DC, Black Lives Matter DC, and BYP100. Additionally, our community-facing work includes hosting “Alternatives to Calling the Police” events for white folks to unpack our investments in policing and fears about its abolition, and to start to imagine the steps and practices we'll need to undertake to build a world without police and prisons.
The team meets biweekly over Zoom and sends out a monthly report in the listserv (sign up on the home page.)
education & resources teams
HEALING TEAM
We support people socialized as white to unlearn and shift patterns of white supremacy culture and anti-Black racism that are deeply embedded in our bodies and hearts, in addition to our minds. We do this through organizing and facilitating emotional and somatic healing practices, as well as more broadly promoting the integration of healing into our movements for justice. By getting to know the toxic conditioned responses that dehumanize us and people of color, and then practicing more holistic ways of being, we expand our capacity to hold pain and unleash joy and show up for racial justice in more authentic, healthful ways. This allows us to more effectively and congruently contribute in multiracial spaces and organize white people in our lives, in pursuit of collective liberation.
While we aren’t currently onboarding new members, those interested are encouraged to attend our open practice spaces to learn more and build a relationship with us. You can read more about the team here.
READING GROUPS
To educate white people about structural racism and white supremacy while building antiracist commitment and community. Reading and discussion form the basis of the group experience, but the goal is for groups to work together toward active participation in anti-racism work. Volunteer facilitators receive training and support throughout the process. Groups commit to a minimum of 8 sessions with expectations for participation, openness, and movement toward action. Learn more about reading groups.
TRANS & QUEER WORKING GROUP
The Trans & Queer Working Group engages in education, community building, and action to mobilize queer and trans white folks in the struggle for collective liberation. We seek to address the specific ways that white supremacy operates in and harms queer and trans communities in the D.C. area, and to support, resource, and center organizing for collective liberation led by queer and trans people of color.
Monthly meetings happen the 4th Wednesday evening of every month on Zoom. A 1:1 is required prior to joining.
operations teams
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM
We seek to bring more white people into the movement against white supremacy by sharing information and calling in our community members. We keep our members and community up to date on actions, events, asks; share educational resources; mobilize people to support the work of SURJ DC and partners. You can find more here.
We welcome anyone interested in comms strategy, digital organizing, social media, web design, graphic design, writing, editing, cross team communication, or anything else comms related.
DATA TEAM
To get our data in a usable form for more effective organizing, and to keep our members' and our partners' information safe.
This team is not active at the moment, but if you have skills or interest in this area, please reach out to let us know.
internal CORE teams
COORDINATING COMMITTEE (CoCo)
To strengthen our work, our teams, and our people. We do so by building relationships between SURJ DC’s teams and sharing successful strategies, tactics, learnings, and resources, which include information, skills, organizational culture, analysis, and framework. Each SURJ team sends reps to CoCo. Once you’re plugged into a specific team, ask more about being a CoCo rep.
LEADERSHIP
SURJ DC is currently working to identify a leadership structure/process to help us be more cohesive and impactful. A Transition Team has been in place since June 2019. Before that, the Steering and Accountability Team (SAT) worked to ensure SURJ DC’s separate teams acted as a cohesive organization by creating a shared culture, political analysis, and framework. By “culture” we mean our shared values and practices that guide us in action and reaction. By “political analysis” we mean the long-term goals of our work and big-picture milestones towards achieving those goals (we call this “theory of change”). By “framework” we mean the organizing philosophies and accountability models that might be helpful in achieving our goals. SAT also held responsibility for external accountability, financial practices, public messaging, and organizational pulse-checking/health-monitoring