Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ)

A rainy night in Portland.

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) hosted a meeting for about 500 people tonight, exploring ways to work together to dismantle white supremacy. Sue and I felt it was well-organized, clear, focused, and helpful. One of their resources, available online, is an analysis of “White Supremacy Culture” in which we could see some of our own qualities, such as “sense of urgency,” and “fear of open conflict.” It was thrilling to see such a large group of mostly-young deeply-engaged people willing to do whatever they can to counteract the tide of racism, xenophobia, greed, and unkindness. They also served everyone cherry pie. Now that’s a political meeting a person can embrace with enthusiasm.