We want you to join us! Our #1 goal is to get people to show up physically and financially. We also offer educational opportunities and need help running those. We'd love to expand our educational offerings but can't without more help. Learn how to volunteer with SURJ Sacramento.

We recognize that people have varying levels of physical strength, as well as other challenges such as social anxiety or other invisible disabilities. Depending on your accessibility needs, we would encourage you to look at our events and programs. Some are accessible and there may be options for people with disabilities.

If you have questions or concerns about accessibility around specific events and programs, please email us at SURJSacramento@gmail.com, especially if you aren’t comfortable reaching out directly to a partner organization. We can find out about accessibility on your behalf.

If it’s just not possible for you to show up physically, then we have a financial-only level of membership.

We recognize that not everyone can give money and show up – if this is the case, then we can definitely find a way for you to get involved. Time is at a premium and there is always behind-the-scenes work that needs to be done both for SURJ Sacramento and for our partners. Email us at SURJSacramento@gmail.com and we can discuss other options.

The average white family has 16 times the wealth of the average Black family. This means that white people have more discretionary income or access to others who do. Giving money to organizations that do racial justice work is a crucial way to redistribute wealth. If giving money is the only way you can currently show up, then we would prefer you give money instead of doing nothing. 

At the same time, building relationships is part of ongoing, sustained action with an organization. It is important to remember that this work should be relational, not transactional. Giving money and walking away does not allow us to build friendships and partnerships with the people we are fighting alongside. Showing up gives us contact with the people we are fighting for. Instead of giving anonymously, they become people with names and faces and stories with whom we are able to develop relationships.

The more invested you are in showing up and building relationships, the more you will care about the people, and the harder you will fight for them.

SURJ Sacramento partners with two racial justice organizations in the Sacramento area. We have chosen these organizations because they are BIPOC-led and are fighting for the acceptance and liberation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). SURJ recognizes that many people – including white people – want to participate in the work of liberation, but that it is up to these organizations and people of color to determine the best, most helpful, and most effective ways to achieve that goal. We are here to struggle together for collective liberation.

Though our goal is to show up for our partner organizations, SURJ Sacramento also needs volunteers to join our Core Group. Members of our Core Group plan campaigns, develop educational offerings, and build our membership base.  

Our partners also have projects and ongoing programs that need actual people to show up and lend a hand in keeping them running. For example, NorCal Resist coordinates a group of people who help local asylum-seekers get to a variety of appointments. The larger the list of people who can do this, the more asylum-seekers they can help. SURJ’s mission is to support these efforts – our partners need our help providing people power. 

When doing this work, consistency is key. It is hard to maintain these programs if people only show up once in a blue moon or only when it’s convenient for them. It is not helpful if someone shows up often for three weeks and then ghosts for six months. Committing to showing up once a month, once a week, or every other month makes it easier to keep ongoing programs and protests running smoothly because we can count on you to show up. That is why we are asking for commitment. 

To be clear, this is our definition of action in the context of our educational offerings and membership requirements. Other organizations and people may define action differently.

Here are examples of what it means to show up and take action:

Joining one of NorCal Resist's accompaniment teams. 

Volunteering with NorCal Resist's Community Fix-It program. 

Joining a SURJ Sacramento committee.

Hosting a regular fundraiser, such as a dinner or movie night, to raise money for one of our partners.  

Volunteering with CHIRP for their letter campaign to restore federal recognition.