Facilitated By: Eva Wingren & Erika Bach

Audience: White People

Answering the call from Black organizers for white people to organize their own communities, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) has brought thousands of white people in hundreds of communities into movements for racial justice. This session will introduce participants to the conversation skills used by SURJ organizers to move people from nearly anywhere on the political spectrum into anti-racist action. This is the third year that this session is being offered; it has been updated with the latest national strategy and research.

SURJ offers concrete ways for white people to take action with their neighbors as part of national movements for justice. They emphasize a “shared interest” approach where white people identify what they stand to gain by fighting white supremacy and learn about the history of racism being used to disrupt class solidarity. Their phone banks have been recognized as best-in-class training for persuading undecided voters. 

SURJ’s recent trainings have focused on supporting participants in building in-person groups that can mount actions and energize local campaigns, aiming for a cohesive balance between bold national vision and local nuance. They are giving people at the grassroots level the tools they need to become organizers who activate their communities into movements, while keeping alignment with national strategy as outlined by groups accountable to BIPOC communities.