About us
SURJ Values
Racism and white supremacy keep the many divided for the benefit of the few. We must have an inclusive, open-hearted approach to organizing — calling people into this work rather than creating barriers to participation — while maintaining a clear political line.
SURJ’s Values are:
- Calling people in, not out
- Accountability through collective action
- Take risks, make mistakes, learn, and keep going
- Organize out of mutual interest
- There is enough for all
- Growing is good
- Center class
To learn more, check out the detailed explanation of SURJ’s history here.
Our chapter
As a local chapter, we are relatively new to the scene. We formed in 2020 during the uprisings, in response to the need for white people to organize around dismantling white supremacy in our own community. We are a majority white organization working for racial justice by dismantling white support for white supremacy.
Our work has included:
- Showing up to direct actions as called upon by partner organizations
- Electoral issues, including voter registration and activation
- Organizing in our local communities by educating, inviting, and calling in family, friends, and other members of our communities
- Working for criminal justice reform
- Calling upon elected officials to address symbols and practices of racism and discrimination within the state
- Regional action hours to support aligned causes across the South
- Educating ourselves on the history of racism, anti-racism and allyship in this work, in the South, and in Mississippi specifically
Our work currently:
Our action arm is currently in a rebuilding phase, and we have been focusing more heavily on our education work and healing spaces. Our main work currently is our statewide virtual book club and our in-person seasonal meetups for healing, connection, and education. We hope to re-enliven our action work again as soon as group capacity allows.
If you are interested in helping us to rebuild our action arm, or you have an action you want us to share with our network, please email us at smssurj@gmail.com.