Anti-racist group pausing operations
Anti-racist group pausing operations
Triangle area Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) announces closure to reorganize
An organization that bills itself as “organizing white people to fight white supremacy” in the triangle region of North Carolina has announced it an “official pause.”
The triangle area group called Showing Up for Racial Justice (TSURJ) sent a letter out to its followers last week.
Based on the letter, the group’s leaders are tired out.
“With hearts both open and heavy, we are writing to let you know that the TSURJ Chapter is taking an official pause, closing our doors for now, until and if another crew of energized people emerge to re-form the group,” the letter reads.
The letter gives “several reasons” for the burnout, such as “People have successfully skilled up” and left for other groups, but also pandemic “zoom fatigue.”
“Finally, in this time when our world is on fire - the rise of white nationalism at the forefront - people are choosing to show up for specific justice campaigns and issues that are calling to them now,” the letter says.
Small wonder they are tired given the amount of effort TSURJ apparently put into Democratic pushes during the Georgia elections in 2020.
The TSURJ team goes on to invite supporters to a farewell potluck and also drops a resource document “to help as a guide” in TSURJ’s absence.
The resource guide suggests a number of left and far-left organizations to follow. Among the list (seen below) is Education Justice Alliance, which More To The Story has covered in the past for recruiting school-aged children to become activists, particularly in Wake County.
Read the full TSURJ letter:
Dear beloved Triangle SURJers and co-conspirators for racial justice,
With hearts both open and heavy, we are writing to let you know that the TSURJ Chapter is taking an official pause, closing our doors for now, until and if another crew of energized people emerge to re-form the group.
A group of us met in January to make this decision. Current Chapter leadership invited all those who have helped lead the Chapter since its beginnings in early 2016 to gather and consider what to do about the currently inactive state of the Chapter.
All organization efforts go through ebbs and flows. A big function of the TSURJ Chapter was to provide support for white people to engage in multiracial justice efforts more thoughtfully and skillfully. We sought to realize this aim through education and action, as well as responding to our accountability partners’ calls. There are several reasons for our current situation. People have successfully skilled up and moved into other organizations and justice commitments. During the pandemic, TSURJ successfully moved online and then struggled to establish new leadership as people reached zoom fatigue. Finally, in this time when our world is on fire - the rise of white nationalism at the forefront - people are choosing to show up for specific justice campaigns and issues that are calling to them now.
So a group of us came together in Durham to make a decision about our future. We were facilitated by the very skilled Kari Points and Jes Kelley, both of whom serve on the National SURJ Board and are familiar with the Chapter and its leadership, having worked with the group in the past. We shared stories and reflected on the Chapter’s many successes as well as our missteps and all the learning that emerged from those over the years. When the question was posed about energy in the room to keep the Chapter’s work going, the answer came back that the energy was simply not there.
Rather than just fade away, it is important to us to provide one model for how to acknowledge dwindling energy by marking and celebrating the incredible work the Chapter has done over the years. We are inviting you to gather with us one last time - at least as a current Chapter - to close with intention and grace.
To celebrate our closing, we are having a potluck on Sunday, March 12 from 5-7. Please bring yourself and a dish to share. All are welcome and you can RSVP here. We’ll send you the address once we hear from you. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Lastly, we include a resource document that we've compiled over the the years to help as a guide if you are feeling energy to devote to the greater movement in the triangle and beyond.
Dane Emmerling, Fern Hickey, Gann Herman, Jeff Land, Jes Kelley, Katie Starr, Lyd Ahlum Hanson, Konstantin Bakhurin, Patty Adams, Rachel Berthiaume, Sonja Thalheimer, Tara Romano, Tema Okun
More To The Story
TSURJ is a local chapter of the dark money 501(c)4 national group of the same name. The national SURJ organization also operates a 501(c)3 called the Showing Up For Racial Justice Education fund which took in $1,728,971 in 2020 according to its IRS filings. Donors to the group include multiple big foundation names like Schwab, but also multiple donations from George Soros’ Tides Foundation. SURJ’s 501(c)4 is not required to file 990 statements, yet did for several years with the most recent filing being in 2019.
TSURJ has participated in various protests and progressive or left-leaning activism since its founding in 2016, such as the annual “May Day” protests.
TSURJ notably supported most Raleigh-Durham area activities by Blueprint NC coalition members, including the Durham Association of Educators’ 2020 push for a $15 minimum wage for all staff.
TSURJ’s Facebook page touted the group as “committed to intergenerational community building and promoting conversations across the intersections of race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The group regularly promoted activism events, but also “training” and “learning” opportunities to learn to organize better.
In 2017, the group’s co-founder Ben Carroll supported those who were arrested for toppling a Confederate statue in Durham. The individuals responsible were members of “Defends Durham,” a front for the Communist World Workers Party.
Carroll’s name as a co-founder was curiously omitted from the TSURJ letter.