SURJ Baltimore Shared Values
We live in a time of great hope and possibility, yet the potential for a just world for all of us is not possible when racism and oppression keep us divided. This can make us forget how closely connected we truly are. Racism is still present throughout all of our contemporary institutions and structures. Racism is devastating to People of Color and is closely intertwined with all systems of oppression. It robs all of us- white people and People of Color- of our humanity. In our work of anti-racism, SURJ Baltimore has agreed to the five shared values of Showing Up for Racial Justice.
Shared Value #1: Calling InWe are choosing to call people in, rather than to call people out. Our focus is on working with white people who are already in motion. While in many activist circles, there can be a culture of shame and blame, we want to bring as many white people into taking action for racial justice as possible.
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Shared Value #2: Taking RisksWe know that we will have to take risks. Everyday, People of Color take risks in an effort to live their lives with full dignity, and right now we are in a moment where young Black people are taking risks everyday. We challenge ourselves and other white people to take risks as well, to stand up against a racist system, actions, and structures everyday. We know that in that process, we will make mistakes. Our goal is to learn from those mistakes and keep showing up again and again for what is right.
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Shared Value #3: Tapping into Mutual InterestsWe use the term mutual interest to help us move from the idea of helping others, or just thinking about what is good for us, to understanding that our own liberation as white people, our own humanity, is inextricably linked to racial justice. Mutual interest means we cannot overcome the challenges we face unless we work for racial justice. It means our own freedom is bound up in the freedom of People of Color.
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Shared Value #4: Accountability through Collective ActionWhat national SURJ was called upon to do at our founding in 2009 was to take action — to show up when there are racist attacks; when the police harass and murder People of Color in the street, their homes, our communities. We maintain ongoing relationships, individually and organizationally, with leaders and organizations led by People of Color. We also know it is our work to organize other white people and we are committed to moving more white people to take action in their local communities, regionally and nationally for racial justice.
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Shared Value #5: Enough for EveryoneOne of the things that dominant white culture teaches us, is to feel isolation and a concern for scarcity in everything we do. SURJ believes that there is enough for all of us, but it is unequally distributed and structurally contained to keep resources scarce. We can fight the idea and the structures that limit and control global capital by creating a different world together. We believe that part of our role as white people is to raise resources to support People of Color-led efforts and to engage more white people in racial justice.
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Shared Value #6: Growing is Good
Sometimes we get afraid that if we bring in new people who do not talk our talk or “do it right” it will mess up what we are building. However, if we do not bring in new people, our work cannot grow. And if our work does not grow, we cannot bring the numbers of white people needed to undermine white supremacy and join People of Color led efforts for fundamental change. Longtime white southern civil rights activist Anne Braden once said that we have to stop believing that we are the only special ones who can be part of the work for racial justice. We must grow our groups and our movement, understanding that welcoming people in, even at the risk of it being messy, is deeply part of what we are being called to do.