“If you’re concerned about healthcare; if you’re concerned about rehab or drug treatment for a loved one; if you’re concerned about Social Security; if you’re concerned about the environment – any of these things – then get together with other people to resist the agenda people in power and the ultra-wealthy are trying to enact upon us. You have a shared interest in this work.”
– Susan McKibben, SURJ Long Beach leader, quoted in a local press article that covered their rally.
SURJ members are organizing people in power to pledge to resist MAGA’s authoritarian agenda and to protect targeted communities! This weekend, across the country in big cities and small towns, thousands of our members organized over 60 rallies for our national day of action calling on elected officials and local leaders to take our “Pledge to Protect and Resist.”
This day of action was the culmination of the organizing arc in our “Gear Up” program that we launched after election day. After nine weeks of organizing training and political education, program members– many of whom had never done anything like this before– identified a target in their community to sign onto the pledge and held a rally to show community support.
From pouring rain and freezing temperatures in the Northeast to the sunny skies of Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, members gathered in their communities for storytelling, chants, and a public commitment to protect and resist. As a result, 52 (and counting) elected officials and community leaders signed onto the pledge.
Here are some of the highlights from the day of action:
- In smalltown Levittown, PA, organizers doubled their recruitment goal and brought in attendees from across the state.
- 14 local community officials signed the Pledge in St. Louis.
- Members held four rallies in rural North Carolina, following up on SURJ’s election work in the region this past November.
- Many local and state officials showed up to rallies to sign the pledge in person and show their support: NY City Councilmember Erik Botcher, state Rep. Chris Rabb in Philadelphia, four city councilmembers in Ohio, and more.
This powerful organizing program is just the beginning. In the days ahead, we will need more mass organized resistance to authoritarianism, and we will need mass support to have the backs of elected officials and organizations that pledge resistance.
Today, can you sign the “Pledge to Protect and Resist” as an individual? Doing so demonstrates to the leaders we’re targeting that thousands of people across the country align with their actions and will support them.
If you’re interested in participating in future organizing related to the pledge, we’ll follow up soon.
Then, can you make a gift to SURJ to support growing this work? Your gift powers our network to train more leaders and bring in more new people to fight for a working people’s agenda.
In solidarity,
SURJ
Showing Up for Racial Justice
PO Box 1376
Buffalo, NY 14205
United States