Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
The Watsonville Law Center (WLC) provides free legal services to low-income individuals on California’s Central Coast. They believe that everyone benefits when the most vulnerable among us thrive, and that a holistic collaborative approach is most effective. They focus on legal problems with long-term impacts and solutions, such as workers’ rights, consumer rights, and access to employment. More info here
Lookout recently published an op-ed written by a couple of members of our Care Not Cages group, responding to a recent Lookout interview with Sheriff Clark where he floated an idea to build a mental health jail. We know that jail is not treatment, and incarceration only deepens trauma and mental illness.
From the article’s quick-take:
“Instead of building new jail cells, they believe Santa Cruz County should invest in robust community mental health services, diversion programs, bail reform and early intervention that keep people out of jail and connected to care.”
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
The Santa Cruz Welcoming Network is an all-volunteer group of concerned community members dedicated to welcoming asylum seekers and other refugees and providing them with a network of care. The network was formed in 2019 by local residents, many from faith-based congregations. While recognizing the need to work for major change in the U.S. immigration system, they also recognized the urgent needs of many immigrant families in our own community. Right now they are especially focused on raising legal defense funds for both asylum seekers and ICE detainees.
The Santa Cruz Welcoming Network sees the same dignity and humanity in every person and helps ensure decent, safe circumstances for asylum-seekers and refugees, because all persons have the right to seek freedom from violence, fear and repression. More info here
Ongoing Every Other Wednesday • 5 PM • Online Next Date: Feb 11
Join us on Wednesdays — whether you are new to SURJ, or have been organizing with us for a while — to take action together.
We do things like call and write representatives and make public comments on government websites.
Each action hour will have a training portion so you’ll have everything you need to plug in and make an impact. First-timers to SURJ will get an orientation in a Welcome Breakout.
Join us on Wednesdays to take action together to show up against Trump’s illegal, immoral agenda.
Notes from the organizer: We’re happy to have ASL interpretation live at the event. If you’d like to request this, please send an email to misha@surjaction.org no less than 72 hours before the event. Thanks! Sign Up Here
Instead for our normal monthly Redistribute Wealth post, this month we’re publishing Supervisor Justin Cummings list of local food resources as Santa Cruz County declares a local food emergency due to federal food aid delays. Please consider donating funds or food to one or more of the agencies below:
Call the Second Harvest Food Hotline: (831) 662-0991 Their team can help connect you to the nearest pantry or food distribution site. For homebound individuals, call the hotline to discuss the feasibility of home delivery. Visit: thefoodbank.org for updated distribution schedules, volunteer opportunities, and donation information.
Upcoming Free Food Distributions in Santa Cruz County:
Second Harvest Food Bank will hold two free food distributions — all are welcome, no ID required:
Santa Cruz
Date: Thursday, November 6
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Place: 1020 Emeline Ave, Santa Cruz
Watsonville
Date: Friday, November 7
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Place: 500 Westridge Drive, Watsonville
A Thanksgiving distribution event is also being organized.
Ongoing Every Other Wednesday • 5 PM • Online Next Date: Nov 12
Join SURJ National on Wednesdays — whether you are new to SURJ, or have been organizing with us for a while — to take action together.
We do things like call and write representatives and make public comments on government websites.
Each action hour will have a training portion so you’ll have everything you need to plug in and make an impact. First-timers to SURJ will get an orientation in a Welcome Breakout.
Join SURJ National on Wednesdays to take action together to show up against Trump’s illegal, immoral agenda.
Saturday • October 18 • wheelchair accessible Santa Cruz: 10 AM – 12 PM • San Lorenzo Park + Volunteer Sign Up form Watsonville: Noon – 2 PM • Watsonville City PlazaWatsonville: Sign making party at the Watsonville Public House (625 Main Street) 4:00-6:00, Thursday, October 16. Supplies will be provided.
Local Indivisible chapters are organizing No Kings Mass Rallies in Santa Cruz and Watsonville!
President Donald Trump is acting like a dictator: abducting immigrants, occupying cities, gutting healthcare and education, silencing voters, and rewarding billionaires while working families struggle. White people, we have a role to play to stand up alongside people of color across the country to say America belongs to us. No kings. No crowns. No thrones. No dictators!
We rose up once, and October 18th, we’ll rise again—because one protest isn’t enough to protect our democracy. The first No Kings protest on June 14th brought over 5 million people into the streets—a show of force that proved the strength of our movement. Now, on Saturday, October 18th, we’re holding our second nationwide protest. This isn’t about one day. It’s about building a movement that lasts.
On October 18th, rise up, take to the streets, and say it loud: no thrones, no crowns, no kings. We’re not watching history happen—we’re making it. Read more about it at nokings.org
A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.
Tell Driscoll’s to stop spraying toxic pesticides near schools and homes! Sign the Boycott Pledge Tell your friends and family, near and far. We must keep up the pressure until they change their ways!
A group of activists led by Omar Dieguez conducted a 30-day hunger strike this September to call upon Driscoll’s and other agriculture businesses in the Pajaro Valley to cease pesticide use in its farming practices, especially near schools. The National Cancer Institute lists Santa Cruz County as having the second highest rate of pediatric cancer in California behind Madera County. This Boycott is ongoing!
AB 715 is a deeply flawed bill designed to censor any criticism of Israel and any education about Palestinian histories, struggles against colonization, and erasure. Despite the bill being shelved in July because of overwhelming public opposition, its authors are still trying to revive it. Take action by sending an email to your California State Senator and Assemblymember in opposition to this dangerous bill. (Arab Resource and Organizing Center)
SURJ National is hosting phone banks to elect progressive champion Zohran Mamdani, who is running to be Mayor of NYC, and to take back the the Virginia Governorship from MAGA by backing Democrat Abigail Spanberger.
These phone banks are online on the Zoom platform. Log into the call on Zoom on your computer and bring your phone to make the calls (if you only have one device, still come!).
SURJ has a robust training on the call to give you all the information you need– a script, technical support, and coaching throughout.
Returners can start early.
You will receive an email with orientation materials ahead of time.
Please note the time zone for call time.
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Feeling Unsure?
Our model works – learn from the best! Our phone banks have one of the highest rates of success in the country. No matter whether you’re brand new caller or a seasoned organizer, if you join our banks, you can trust that you are putting your effort into a method that works. And you’ll get to learn powerful organizing skills from seasoned leaders!
SURJ conversations are based on open-ended questions and deep listening.You do not need to be an expert on the issues or a candidate – our phone banks are successful because we deeply connect with voters and make them feel heard.
Want to hear what a phonebank is like? Check out this video interviewing SURJ phonebankers.
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Context
We are living in a historic time of the consolidation of authoritarian, billionaire-funded power in this country. At the same time, at every turn, regular people have risen up, fought back, and set a vision for what working people deserve: affordable healthcare, good schools, the right to live in our communities without fear. Since Trump’s election, SURJ has been a part of meeting this moment, from training thousands of white people in strategic noncompliance to fight ICE raids to recruiting thousands of newly-activated people into our movement.
As they defund the social safety net and peddle more racist lies, millions of people are increasingly feeling the effects of the billionaire agenda. We know this fight is on multiple fronts, and this fall we have an opportunity to harness the energy of the streets and rising resentment towards November’s elections – to not only wrest power from MAGA, but to put candidates in office who are willing to stand up to Trump and fight for working class people.
Virginia has never gone for Trump in a presidential election, but in 2022 elected a MAGA-aligned former CEO worth nearly $500 million to the governor’s office who has opened the gates in Virginia for Trump’s agenda – from pushing a sweeping anti-trans, anti-DEI agenda across the state to rolling back environmental protections. We’ll be organizing white working class Virginian’s to stop MAGA’s state-by-state takeover.
This race will affect millions of working class people this year and help set the tone going into the 2026 midterms. Alongside our partners across the country, this is the time for our movements to offer a bold vision and bring our people into it.
At an upcoming January meeting, the Santa Cruz City Council will have an item on the agenda regarding Flock ALPRs (automated license plate readers). We need your help to continue to pressure the Council to cancel their contract with Flock Safety – Get the Flock Out of Santa Cruz!
Get the Flock Out is against Flock ALPRs and their massive invasion of privacy in Santa Cruz County. The fight has become more urgent with the current federal administration’s attempts to terrorize all immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, journalists, activists and women; and to build huge databases with detailed information about the entire population (yes, that includes you).
As reported in multiple news articles, our local police departments, including the Santa Cruz and Capitola PD’s, have repeatedly violated state and local sanctuary law by allowing ICE, CBP, and out-of-state law enforcement agencies access to the databases fed and controlled by Flock Safety, a nefarious corporation that is unserious about data security, with close ties to the Trump administration. We have also discovered that Flock cameras and/or databases are easily hacked and may be available to criminal and foreign actors on the dark web. The only way to guarantee that our personal information will not be shared with wrongdoers is to turn off the cameras.
The Santa Cruz City Council will be discussing the Flock cameras at an upcoming meeting. We don’t yet know if this will be on the agenda on Jan 13, or if this matter will be delayed until the meeting on Jan 27th. We are working with members of the council to find out when Flock will be up for a vote – we will send out another email blast when we know the details.
From now until then, we ask you to continue to pressure the Council to cancel the Flock contract. Email citycouncil@santacruzca.gov(Note: email submitted to this address is public record.)
Flock automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are now installed in at least 5,000 communities across the United States. Police and sheriffs departments are already misusing the data collected, and highly questionable searches and data transfers have occurred in high numbers.
Our city councils and other government bodies should remove these cameras ASAP. We do not need to contribute to the mass surveillance infrastructure in this nation, especially under an authoritarian regime. See this Moment of Truth Dispatch article for more.
Actions you can take to remove ALPRs from your community:
Sign on to our campaign! Please email us at GTFOSCC@proton.me to add your name, title and/or organization as a supporter of this campaign (or if you have questions)
Send a letter to Santa Cruz, Watsonville, and Capitola City Councils. Please copy/paste the template in ths toolkit. Add/edit/amend as you see fit.
Do you live elsewhere in Santa Cruz County, and want to email your elected officials? Click here.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING KEEP ALL OF US SAFE BY SPEAKING OUT AGAINST ALPRS!!!
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
The Center for Farmworker Families commits to raising awareness about the challenging circumstances farmworker families face, while actively working to improve financial stability, physical health, and overall well-being.
They realize this purpose by engaging in the following activities:
Educating the public about farmworkers’ challenging circumstances.
Supporting projects that promote financial and nutritional well-being and independence.
Examining and advocating for changes to the federal and state legal structure that governs farmworkers.
Promoting the educational advancement of farmworkers and their family members.
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
Redistributing White Wealth Santa Cruz County (formerly known as Reparations Santa Cruz) is a collective political education and wealth redistribution project that acts from the belief that collective liberation depends on the liberation of wealth and resources that have been accumulated and hoarded by generations of European-descended colonizers in the US. This anti-capitalist redistribution project seeks to address not only the legacy of historic anti-Black racism but also the contemporary reality of the racial wealth gap. As a project of SURJ Santa Cruz County, we provide a platform for those benefiting from racial capitalism or experiencing class privilege in some way to use a reparations lens to facilitate wealth redistribution to Black individuals and communities with no strings attached. Further, we are working to strengthen a solidarity economy that celebrates our interdependence as our greatest asset.
We acknowledge that no amount of money received can heal the enduring trauma of anti-Black racism. We acknowledge that no amount of money given can absolve non-Black people of the responsibility to practice anti-racism. And, we acknowledge the crucial role of wealth redistribution in Black liberation and, indeed, in the liberation of us all.
Ready to move money for redistribution? You can contribute directly via RWW’s Chuffed platform. Email redistwhitewealth@gmail.com if you’d prefer to mail a check or contribute via a channel other than Chuffed. RWW plans to distribute proceeds contributed through RWW’s Chuffed platform as of August 31, 2025 to localBlack-led organizations/projects that serve, uplift and directly support Black residents of Santa Cruz County as well as to the GoFundMe Campaign for Thairie Ritchie.
Jewish Voice for Peace – Power Half-Hour for Gaza: DAILY • 12:00 – 12:30 PMLocation:Click here for info and to register Sponsor: Jewish Voice for Peace Description: URGENT: We need all hands on deck now to act. Many of us are grieving, angry, scared and confused. Wherever you are, you are needed urgently now to act to stave off imminent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. We must act together to demand the U.S. immediately de-escalate to prevent imminent genocide after 75 years of Israeli military occupation and apartheid. Invite your friends to this daily Power Half Hour to take action in political community. Call on Congress to demand they stop fueling violence. Get messaging resources and pointers for having the hard conversations with people in your life. Intervene in the media narrative beating the drums of war against Palestinians. Come to channel grief and fear into action to stop the bloodshed. All are welcome. All are needed.Many of us are grieving, angry, scared, and confused. Wherever you are, you are needed urgently now to act to interrupt the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Join Jewish Voice for Peace in channeling our grief and fear into action. “Power Half-Hour for Gaza” is being held on Zoom daily. Call on Congress to demand they stop fueling violence, get messaging resources for having hard conversations with people in your life, and help counter the media narratives beating the drums of war against Palestinians.
Financial Support for Gaza • (suggested by Students for Justice in Palestine at UCSC) Palestinians in Gaza are facing the final and most horrific stage of starvation. Children and adults are suffering organ failure, brain injury and sudden cardiac arrest. Palestinians are reliant on our donations to provide food and water to their families and communities. Please donate now, and sign up to be a monthly donor so that Palestinians in Gaza can continue to live. Hot meals 4 Starved Palestinian Kids in north Gaza The Sameer Project
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
CAB’s mission is to partner with the community to eliminate poverty and create social change through advocacy and essential services. And they’ve been doing just that exceptionally well for 60 years!!
“Now more than ever we need to coordinate our response; . . .What we’re facing today is an emergency—just like COVID was, just like CZU fires, just like the floods—this is an emergency and it requires an emergency response.” — MariaElena De La Garza
Saturday • August 2 • 2-4 PM • Mingling 4-5 PM Santa Cruz •Wheelchair accessible • Free
SURJ National is making the call to use this Summer to Grow and to Turn up the Heat!
Summer 2025 is heating up—and so is the fight for our communities and our democracy. As Trump and the far right double down on attacks—from slashing Medicaid to targeting immigrant families—the stakes keep rising. But so does public outrage.
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
NAACP Santa Cruz County Branch is raising funds for the Branch’s scholarship fund that is given each year in June. We’re focused on building an endowment that will provide college scholarships for Black-identifying high school students in Santa Cruz County. The more funds we raise, the more we donate.
Please help us meet our goal of raising $25,000 for the NAACP Santa Cruz County Scholarship Fund endowment so we can support more of our youth who want to attend college.
Please note that because NAACP engages in political advocacy, donations are not tax deductible.
Sign On Letter • Email Your Supervisor • Attend Board of Supervisor Meeting Tuesday, June 3/Wednesday June 4
It’s budget time again! This year’s budget fight is real; the current federal government has made cruel cuts to grants, a significant source of funding for Santa Cruz County’s Health and Human Services (HHS) department, which is forcing that department in turn to propose cuts. However, our county has options! The pain of these cuts could be shared amongst other departments!
Like last year, we are asking individuals and organizations to sign on to our community letter, Santa Cruz County: Budget Our Values, because people-centered services save lives and money by June 8th.
We are also asking people to write a personal email to the Santa Cruz County Supervisor, and to show up at the Board of Supervisor’s meeting on next week (Tuesday-Wednesday, June 3rd/4th) for the hearings to make public comment. Please see our toolkit for a complete guide to both of these actions!
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
Black Surj Santa Cruz’s Liberation Paddle Out is one celebration happening the weekend of Juneteenth. Hundreds of people participated last year. Funds are needed for surf equipment, wetsuits and permits.
Thursday • May 1 • Several Events Watsonville City Plaza • 358 Main Street • Watsonville • 4pm • wheelchair accessible Join UC Workers On Strike • High Street and Bay Drive • Santa Cruz • 10am • wheelchair accessible Santa Cruz Solidarity On The Streets • 612 Ocean Street • Santa Cruz • 5pm • wheelchair accessible Singing for Justice, Peace & Freedom • RCNV • 612 Ocean Street • Santa Cruz • 6pm • wheelchair accessible
Across the country—from fruit fields in California to classrooms in Chicago, from kitchens in Queens to loading docks in Atlanta—working people are rising up. We are demanding a country that puts our families over their fortunes—public schools over private profits, healthcare over hedge funds, housing over homelessness. The May Day Strong Coalition is hosting rallies across the county.
Join our local SURJ contingent at the Worker’s Day of Action in Watsonville (sign up here). We’ll meet before to show up as a group!
Can’t make it to Watsonville? There are several events in Santa Cruz!
Join UC Workers on the Strike Line May 1st at 10am! For the past four years, UC has failed to address its staffing crisis. UC’s recent announcement of a hiring freeze is yet another attack and insult to frontline workers. See more details and register here.
Santa Cruz Solidarity on the Streets: 5-6pm on Ocean Street on both sidewalks on Ocean Street in front of The Resource Center for Non Violence – 612 Ocean Street (park at County parking lot on Ocean and Water)
MayDay! Singing for Justice, Peace & Freedom: Follow up Solidarity on the Streets, also at The Resource Center for Non Violence at 6-8pm. Join song leaders Aileen Vance, Coleen Douglas, Key of Three, Sorella, Threshold Singers, Russell Brutsché. This is a partial benefit for Center for Farmworker Families. Register here.
What is May Day? American unions set May 1st, 1890 as a national day of action for the 8-hour day after the May 1st, 1886 strike by Chicago labor unions for an 8-hour work day with 80,000 people marching up Michigan Avenue in the first mass May Day March. They chanted: “8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for what we will.” Our friends at Indivisible San Francisco have a short history here
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
Many thanks to Bernie from MILPA for joining us in conversation at our Community Meeting on March 22! The Care Not Cages working group– a collaboration between our two organizations– is making real change in the criminal legal system for our county. We look forward to continuing this important work together!
MILPA Collective (MILPA) is, first and foremost, a movement space designed for, and led by, formerly incarcerated and system-impacted individuals. They are committed to supporting next-generation infrastructure and leadership within communities, organizations, and systems. They center cultural healing, racial equity and LOVE in their practices and advocacy.
Our kids need a lot more support options in their schools– more counselors, teachers, school nurses, after-school programs, social workers, etc– but they do not need police carrying guns. Studies show that SRO’s (Student Resource Officers) have only had ineffectual, or even harmful, effects on students.
Check out our No on AB 68 Toolkit for ways to register your NO. The toolkit includes the ask, more background, how to send a letter to the committee, sample letters, how to call a committee member, and talking points.
Currently, there is a bill in the Education Committee of our CA Assembly that would mandate every school to hire armed police officers (School Resource Officers – SROs). Research shows that SROs increase the early involvement of youth from certain marginalized groups including Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color; as well as youth with disabilities and queer and trans youth. There is no clear evidence that SROs decrease violence in schools, and one study even found that the presence of SROs increased violence. If passed, this bill would bolster and deepen the school-to-prison-pipeline that we must dismantle.
Please sign-on to this letter to Santa Cruz County District Attorney Rosell, calling on him to minimize harm from the passage of Prop 36. Local jurisdictions and specifically the DA – an elected official – have power over how to charge and whether to offer alternatives to incarceration. The Santa Cruz County Public Defender’s Office is collecting data on Prop 36 cases in the county, and has noted so far that they’ve been prosecuted aggressively.
SURJ Santa Cruz County and MILPA, our accountability partner in Care Not Cages, actively opposed Prop 36, understanding that it offered empty promises by providing zero funding for mental health or substance use disorder treatment and by falling back on the failed mass incarceration model. It passed due to fear mongering, false promises and massive corporate funding. Now, it threatens our community with harsher sentencing and more incarceration.
Our sign-on letter asks the DA to use charging discretion wisely, to address the root causes of homelessness, drug addiction and theft, and to support pro-active alternatives to incarceration. Please sign-on here.
We’re aiming to gather 200+ signatures by April 10th (new date!)
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
Raíces y Cariño is an equitable, inclusive, and safe space for the community to gather and raise their children together. They are a hub connecting diverse families, educators, and organizations to create cross-cultural connections and wellbeing for the whole family including classes for kids and their caregivers such as yoga, artistic expression, gymnastics, free playtime, and bilingual sensory play. They also provide low cost meeting space for many other groups and organizations in the area including SURJ’s own Rainbow Defense Coalition! Please support this awesome group that supports so many others.
Each month SURJ Santa Cruz County suggests a local organization that is doing excellent work strengthening racial and economic justice in our county. If you’re able, please consider making a donation– healthy for you, healthy for our community. Thank you!
Campesina Womb Justice and YARR have set up a countywide collaboration focused mutual aid for families whose lives have been significantly impacted by fear and the threat of deportation.
The SURJ Action Alert List is for everyone who cares about showing up for racial justice in Santa Cruz County, especially for people who might not have time to join a SURJ working group or committee, but who want to be connected and support SURJ’s work in this county. SURJ Action Team members will receive action alerts via email with local calls to action, i.e. for Board of Supervisor or City Council meetings, rallies, actions, or invitations to sign on for public letters, etc. We will share a brief overview of the situation and details on the action. You are encouraged to join in for as many of these as you’re able to, and it’s totally up to you to determine which ones you feel moved to participate in. To get to know each other better and hear updates on our work, Action Team members are invited to attend SURJ general membership meetings, and encouraged to join at least a few times a year. Members will receive notice of opportunities for more training and skill-building, like getting training with YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) or Rainbow Defense Coalition, or to participate in one of our upcoming Study and Action series.
Sunday • March 22 • 3 – 5 PM • FREE • Wheelchair Accessible Quaker Meeting House • 225 Rooney St • Santa Cruz
Our next in-person Community Meeting where we gather to reinforce our vision and strengthen community will be from 3-5 pm on March 22 at the Quaker Meeting House, 225 Rooney St, Santa Cruz.
Study & Action – Spring 2025 April 17 – May 29 • Every other week • 6 – 8 PM • ONLINE
A free training for white people ready to unlearn white supremacy and take action.
The Spring 2025 Study and Action series is a virtual, live program on Zoom starting on April 17, 2025. This is a learning/unlearning space on the history of white supremacy, race and racism in this country. Join a supportive cohort of people who want to share their experiences and learn from each other. By the end, you’ll have better tools to talk about these topics with friends and family, a deeper understanding of your own personal stake in the fight for racial justice, and more confidence to take action. This series also offers a great foundation to be well-equipped to dive in with our Care Not Cages work with MILPA and other chapter campaigns. The more we know and understand our history, the more we are able to make sense of the present. Through Study & Action, you can find purpose, joy, community, and power in learning our history and fighting for collective liberation.
For more details and updates about these events, please visit our registration page: tinyurl.com/surjsccstudy
The long history of nonviolent resistance shows us that when community institutions, leaders, and individuals have banded together and actively resisted to defend each other and our rights, people have wielded the power to undermine authoritarian agendas and grow the power of movements for change.
We are also calling on our leaders, groups, faith communities, institutions and organizations to officially sign onto the Pledge to Protect and Resist.
By signing this petition, I commit to upholding the pledge in my personal life and to showing up in support of the courageous leaders and organizations who make the necessary, moral and strategic choice to publicly sign onto this pledge.
Sunday • November 17 • 2:00 – 4:00 • Wheelchair Accessible • FREE Address Private • Santa Cruz
Across the country and in our local communities, we are facing the truth of the devastating reality that Trump will be our next president. This is a time to reach for each other, to feel together, and to recommit to our values: community care, solidarity, and justice for all.
In the midst of your grief, rage, and fear– come together with other people in your community who care. To our fellow white people: we play an important role right now to show up, fight white supremacy, and recommit to organizing our own people away from the far right. There have always been white people who rejected racism and chose solidarity and justice. It is our calling to step into that legacy in the days, months, and years ahead.
Join SURJ for a community meeting to get grounded together, get clear on our analysis of how we got here – and then get organized for the work ahead.
This holiday season the Center for Farmworker Families is partnering with other community-based organizations to provide over 2,000 gifts and gift cards to farmworker children. Hundreds of those gifts come from direct donations from people like you!
If you have the capacity to contribute a gift before the year’s end, your generosity would be truly appreciated! You can make your donation directly through their website. Your support makes a significant difference!
Proposition 6 would amend the California Constitution to prohibit the state from punishing inmates with involuntary work assignments and from disciplining those who refuse to work. Instead, state prisons could set up a volunteer work assignment program to take time off sentences in the form of credits. It would let county or city ordinances set up a pay scale for inmates in local jails.
The measure’s potential costs remain unknown and a point of contention. If approved, the state may have to pay the minimum wage to inmates with work assignments depending on how courts interpret the law and future voluntary work programs. Why is it on the ballot? California wasn’t a slave state, but it does have a history of forced labor. Lawmakers created a reparations task force and directed it to address historical inequities that harmed Black residents. The task force recommended changing the state constitution to prohibit any form of enslavement as one of 14 key priorities this session.
Legislators considered a similar measure in 2022, but support tanked after the California Department of Finance estimated that it would cost about $1.5 billion annually to pay minimum wage to prisoners. This year’s amendment has the voluntary work program as a way to get around that issue. Of about 90,000 inmates, the state’s prison system employs nearly 40,000 who complete a variety of tasks such as construction, yard work, cooking, cleaning. Most of them earn less than 74 cents an hour compared to the state’s minimum wage of $16.
In the early 2010s, California’s prison system was overfilled, dangerous, ineffective, and untenably expensive. The situation was so dire that the United States Supreme Court ordered California to take action. To comply with the U.S. Constitution, save money, and improve the prison system without compromising public safety, Californians passed Prop 47 with an overwhelming majority of the vote. Prop 47 reclassified six minor felony offenses to misdemeanors, including shoplifting and simple drug possession, and it funneled costs savings into safety measures like drug and mental health treatment, homelessness prevention, and victim services centers. These changes aligned with researchconcluding that addressing these offenses with jail or prison time is both expensive and ineffective. A previous effort to recall Prop 47 in 2020 received less than 40 percent of the vote.
The ballot measure is a reaction to the perception of soaring retail theft. This woe among retailers is driven by exaggerated claims, unreliable data, and highly publicized incidents. Organized retail theft exists, but it is not the pervasive problem that retail executives have claimed it to be. Shoplifting isn’t actually on the rise nationally, but you wouldn’t know it by the tough talk from retail giants and politicians who benefit from false narratives about a “national crisis.”
By rolling back Prop 47, this ballot initiative would return California to its worst days of ineffective and expensive mass incarceration and a time when we had fewer tools to keep our communities safe. Prop 36 would reverse the state’s gains in reducing the dangerous, racially unequal, and unconstitutionally crowded prison population (since 2014, California’s prison population has dropped 28 percent with reduced racial disparities). Second, it would dry up funding for much-needed services, including employment assistance for those coming out of jail, victims’ services, and housing. Finally, it risks making California less safe, as programs funded by Prop 47 have reduced recidivism withoutincreasing violent crime.
This Measure would allow all residents of Watsonville, not just “citizens,” to sit on City Boards and Commissions. It encourages political engagement and gives voice to a wider range of residents affected by City policy.
Specifically, the Measure amends Charter Section 900 – Boards and Commissions. Section 900 of the Charter currently states that, in order to be eligible for appointment to a Board or Commission, “a person shall be a qualified registered elector of the City.” This means that only U.S. citizens may currently serve on the Library Board and all City Commissions.
This measure would change the citizenship requirement to a requirement that, to be considered for appointment to a Board or Commission, an individual be a resident of the City. VOTE! EARLY!
Campesina Womb Justice started in April 2020 at the initiation of the pandemic and has been a consistent & leading source of support for farmworkers! CWJ raised over 200k and distributed cash to over 400 undocumented families last year during the Pájaro floods, now it is time to support CWJ.
María Ramos, a Mexican-indigenous midwife & founder of Campesina Womb Justice, is bringing a collective dream to reality—a healing center located off Freedom Blvd initiating a place of refuge for the community. We will be providing campesina círculos, Mexican Traditional Medicine workshops, retreats, start a community garden, and eventually a Birth Center & Indigenous Midwifery School!
Let this seed be watered into a place of learning and healing for our collective.
Regeneración was founded on the principle that climate change is a social justice issue with local impacts and must be engaged with on a local level in order to build resilient communities. Supporters help continue raising community voices in the Pajaro Valley as we transition away from fossil fuels. The recently completed Pajaro Photovoice Project tells their personal experiences with the changing climate.
Two ways to give, through the website or by check to: Community Initiatives (with the memo Regeneration), PO Box 1252, Freedom, CA 95019.
Find a home with the Many Over the MAGA Power Team this election season to keep Trump out of office!
SURJ phonebanks have one of the highest rates of success in the country. No matter whether you’re brand new caller or a seasoned organizer, if you join these banks, you can trust that you are putting your effort into a method that works. And you’ll get to learn powerful organizing skills from seasoned leaders!
In these phonebanks, we are reaching out to undecided white voters in key battleground states- Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona. Throughout the bank, you’ll receive training, support, and 1-1 coaching. Never phonebanked before and are nervous? So many of our bankers start there– and through practice and support, they have become powerful and effective callers.
Our conversations are based on open-ended questions and deep listening. You do not need to be an expert on the issues or a candidate- our phone banks are successful because we deeply connect with voters and make them feel heard.
Why is the Santa Cruz Sentinel standing against the PVUSD community’s call to bring back CRE and liberated ethnic studies?
On July 20th, the Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote an editorial supporting the cancellation of the ethnic studies contract with the consulting firm, Community Responsive Education (CRE).
We are asking our community and supporters to write a letter to the editor to show them that the community supports the CRE contract!
How to write a letter to the editor
State who you are and why you want the PVUSD school board to bring back the CRE contract (some ideas and talking points on next slide)
Your letter must be 175 words or less – be concise!
Say that you are responding to the editorial on “Why the PVUSD school board and superintendent need to uphold cancellation of ethnic studies contract”
You have to provide your name, address, and phone number to verify your identity, but your contact information will not be published.
If you are a student, parent, or someone who has engaged with CRE and ethnic studies at PVUSD:
Write about how liberated ethnic studies has positively impacted you/your child/your students/community.
Use your own experiences from participating in ethnic studies classes or the ethnic studies town hall to refute the tired accusations that CRE and liberated ethnic studies are divisive.
Your personal testimonies and stories are powerful!
More general and background points:
The original decision in 2021 to work with CRE was made after a robust decision-making process involving input from many local community groups and community members. Why is the current PVUSD board and the Santa Cruz Sentinel disrespecting this process and the community’s input?
Some of the community groups that were consulted include: The Tobera Project, MILPA, Digital NEST, Food What?!, Youth NOW, Regeneración Pajaro Valley Climate Action, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, White Hawk Dance Group, Early Academic Outreach Partnership Center, Migrant/Seasonal Head Start, and others
PVUSD’s ethnic studies curriculum was co-developed between CRE, PVUSD teachers, and community organizations like the Tobera Project – CRE’s work with PVUSD reflects the values of our community!
PVUSD students and community have overwhelmingly come out in favor of CRE over the past school year. Ignoring our voices is undemocratic.
Over 240 public comments have been made by yy community members in the last 9 months. This includes 99 comments by PVUSD students. No students, parents, or teachers have commented in opposition to CRE.
PVUSD ethnic studies teachers, Asian American community members, and Jewish community members have all written open letters in support of the CRE contract.
Over 1,700 individuals and 65 organizations have signed the public petition in support of the CRE contract.
Teaching about different kinds of oppression is not oppressive. It is the only way to help our community move forward and overcome it. Suppressing discussions of oppressions that students face is censorship.
The Amah Mutsun Land Trust is the vehicle by which the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is returning to the lands, knowledge, and practices of their ancestors. With wise leadership, an active board of directors, devoted advisors, and inspired supporters, they are involved in a broad range of initiatives to protect and steward the land and stand ready to accept the challenges and responsibilities of tribal land tenure. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band are reaffirming their role as stewards of Mother Earth.
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is also currently working to pass Measure A in San Benito County which would reduce the chance of more development on AMTB ancestral land. Their ancestral land spans Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, and San Benito counties. This November, San Benito voters can change the way land use decisions are made in the county. Measure A, the “Empower Voters to Make Land Use Decisions” initiative, would make voters the decision makers on any proposed development that would change rural, agricultural, or range land to commercial, industrial, or residential uses. It would protect our local environment throughout the county and beyond.
The California Rehabilitation Center (CRC) in Norco, CA, stands as a symbol of systemic failure and inhumane conditions. Advocates and officials alike have long called for its closure due to reports of violence, lack of adequate programs, infestations, dilapidation, and extreme heat. In response, CURB is demanding immediate action, urging Governor Newsom to commit to shutting down at least 5 additional prisons, starting with CRC Norco.
California’s voting systems must be reformed to include all Californians, especially working-class communities of color who have systematically been left out of access to political power. Our state’s legacy of racist voter registration policies is keeping working-class communities of color from voting, allowing corporations to overpower our voices.
SB 299, the bill to create a path to 100% voter registration, faces a tough hearing in Assembly Elections. Send an email to your committee member to encourage them to vote for a future where California’s democracy works for the people, by the people.
If you missed the live interview on this show last month, you can access it in the KSQD archives. Wallace has plenty to say about SURJ’s vision for tackling this tough political moment. SURJ’s strategy involves helping re-elect members of the Squad, the most progressive branch of Congress, and moving more white people to be part of the multi-racial struggle for collective liberation.
The interview also includes a guest from Force Multiplier in discussion about this November’s presidential vote. Thank you Ami and KSQD for bringing these important thinkers closer to home.
—– Original Show Announcement —–
Carla Wallace has been part of organizing for change in the South for over 40 years, with a focus on her home state of Kentucky. She is a co-founder of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) which moves white people, in particular, those who are poor, working class, and rural, to be part of the multi-racial struggle for collective liberation. Mentored by southern civil rights activists in the Black Liberation Movement and by white racial justice fighter Anne Braden, Carla is also a co-founder of Louisville’s Fairness Campaign, which has been nationally honored for the work winning LGBTQ equity by centering racial justice and connecting community organizing and electoral work. Carla has been engaged in international solidarity work for over 4 decades, including leadership in the Anti Apartheid movement for a Free South African and the ongoing work for a Free Palestine.
Ami will also be hosting Force Multiplier whose focus is winning Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress this year. Tune in to hear how both organizations are strategizing to win this November.
The Center for Farmworker Families increases awareness about the difficult life circumstances of farmworker families while proactively, and directly, supporting improvement in bi-national family life both in the United States and in Mexico. One project maintains a Oaxacan Community Shed which provides food staples and clothing at a property in Watsonville.
Across the country, attacks on the queer community, particularly as they relate to our schools and trans youth, has been growing. At the local level over the past year, there have been threats against queer teachers and youth, and against drag story time events designed to celebrate and model literacy, diversity, inclusion and love. We understand that these attacks are directly tied to groups that promote white supremacist, racist, misogynist ideology, and that we must join together to keep ourselves safe.
In May 2023, following a transphobic, homophobic hate-filled anonymous letter published in the local Good Times newspaper (see the paper’s response and a letter by drag artists Xinistra and Rogue), the Rainbow Defense Coalition of Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley was formed around Watsonville’s first Drag Storytime event. Founding orgs included Raices y Cariño Family Center, Pajaro Valley Pride, SURJ Santa Cruz County, and TransFamilies; other groups have since joined the Coalition and close to a hundred volunteers have signed up to join regular workshops and brigades to defend queer and BIPOC spaces with fierce love and joy, as well as skills in empathic de-escalation and bystander intervention.
In September 2023, the Safe Schools Project alerted a network of concerned individuals and organizations about an event being planned by various groups aligned with the far right group Moms for Liberty. With leadership from Pajaro Valley Pride, based in Watsonville – where the event was also planned – the group decided to respond to the threat with a focus on outreach to friendly local media to alert the public, and a collective letter signed by 44 local community-based groups entitled A far-right hate group is trying to recruit in Santa Cruz County; we stand united to say ‘No’. Local public officials took note: Santa Cruz County Superintendent Farris Sabbah responded to the threat in his weekly newsletter, and three prominent State Representatives made it clear that they have the backs of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Community members showed up to local school board meetings to ensure the passage of resolutions supporting LGBTQ+ history and the flying of the Pride flag.
Take Action/SHOW UP!
Resolutions and public statements are powerful and important but don’t protect from attacks on their own. Rainbow Defense Brigades have helped add color, joy and safety to events like the Safe Schools Project’s tri-county wide Queer Trans and Ally Youth Summit and Queer Prom.
Your donation will help to continue the important work of bringing equity to our beaches, and will make a lasting impression on the next wave of BIPOC surfers and ocean-lovers. Black Surf Santa Cruz works year round with many programs to further its mission.
Sign Letter by June 3rd • Attend Public Hearing June 4
MILPA and SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) Santa Cruz County have been working with community members through a study and action process to understand how to impact systemic change to better meet local needs. In the past few months, with the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors currently in the public budget hearings stage of the annual budget cycle, we are following up on the People’s Budget Forum we held on May 8th witha sign-on letter to advocate for Budgeting Our Values: Healthcare and Housing, not Incarceration.
Our local government has a moral obligation to meet our community’s basic needs, but we know that investments in housing and healthcare – particularly mental health and substance use disorder services – have been severely underfunded. How can someone be safe or thrive without a roof over their head? And why do we continue to increase funding for carceral systems that criminalize people experiencing poverty, mental health challenges, and Black and Brown people disproportionately?
We’re inviting individuals and organizations to sign on. There is a place on the form to share the organizational logo (if appropriate) so that it can be included on the final letter that will go to the Board of Supervisors on Monday .
Together we can impact how our tax dollars are spent.
Public hearings are at 9am on June 4. Hearings are at the Governmental Center Building – Board Chambers 701 Ocean Street Room 525 Santa Cruz, CA 95060 or on zoom. Please check the BOS websitefor zoom option.
If you are interested in joining this Study and Action group, please contact info@surjsantacruzcounty.org.
Wednesday • May 8 • 5:00 PM • Online • FREE presented by SURJ National
In a rare treat, Rep. Jamaal Bowman himself is going to be speaking on our webinar this Wednesday evening, telling us directly what he stands for and the tough opposition he’s facing. Sign up here to join.
And as we always try to do, we’ll get you feeling hopeful again, share our plan to win, and invite you to join us.
The webinar is this Wednesday, May 8th, 5pm-6pm PT and it’s something you can passively listen into — no breakout rooms 🙂 So join us as you do the dinner dishes or collapse on the couch after a hectic kids’ bedtime. Hope to see you there.
Ethnic Studies has a long history based in liberatory movements, emerging from the 1968-1969 student strikes led by the Black Student Union and Third World Liberation Front at SF State and UC Berkeley. Since its introduction in college and K-12 settings, the movement has focused on uplifting the stories, cultures, traditions, and histories of resistance of communities of color – and growing coalitions, grounded in mutual solidarity, to transform schooling and society.
After years of expanding its presence in K-12 schools – and defending itself from right-wing, racist attacks – the Ethnic Studies movement has reached a new stage, with districts and states across the country developing new Ethnic Studies requirements for schools.
In October 2021, California became the first state requiring high school students to take Ethnic Studies in order to graduate. Beginning with the class of 2030, all students are required to have taken one semester of Ethnic Studies. In order for that to happen, all high schools are required to offer an Ethnic Studies course by the 2026-2027 school year. Across the state, including Santa Cruz County, school districts are working to establish ethnic studies programs to meet this upcoming deadline. High schools in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and San Lorenzo Valley are developing and piloting new courses over the next two years.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District has been leading the way. For over 5 years, PVUSD teachers, administrators, and community members havebeen growing a robust, highly impactful Ethnic Studies program. Drawing on the expertise of Ethnic Studies scholars and a committed group of teachers, the district has integrated Ethnic Studies frameworks across disciplines like English Language Arts, History, and Art, across all three comprehensive high schools (Watsonville, Pájaro, and Aptos). Now, Ethnic Studies at PVUSD – the district serving the highest proportion of students of color in Santa Cruz County – is under attack. Local groups including the Tobera Project and MILPA are defending the program and need our solidarity.
The Tobera Project works “to preserve, honor and celebrate the rich Filipino immigrant experience in the Pajaro Valley of the Manong generation.”
“The Vision of Ethnic Studies in Pajaro Valley Unified School District is to provide rich learning experiences that center experiences, stories, and knowledge of Ethnic Studies groups while also shaping a lens to understand and critique dominant power structures, ultimately to eliminate racism and intersectional forms of oppression.” – PVUSD website
Defending Ethnic Studies at PVUSD
In the fall of 2023, PVUSD came under fire for its ongoing consulting agreement with Community Responsive Education (CRE) and its founder, Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales, a leading scholar and highly respected educator in the field of K-12 Ethnic Studies. PVUSD was heading into the final year of a three-year project with CRE to provide guidance and support for the sustainable development of the district’s Ethnic Studies program. The plan that had been developed collaboratively and strongly supported by district leaders, administrators and teachers.
At the September 13, 2023 PVUSD School Board meeting, following a glowing report on the district’s Ethnic Studies program, two community members accused Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales and CRE of bigotry and antisemitism. (The two community members are part of a coordinated right-wing effort to discredit and defund Ethnic Studies.) Following these unfounded charges, a motion to vote on the renewal refused to get a second, no vote was taken. The contract with CRE was thus suspended by the inaction of the Board.
Following this vote, 12 PVUSD Ethnic Studies teachers wrote a letter demanding the renewal of the CRE contract. Sixty-five organizations and more than 1,600 individuals signed an October 2023 petition in support of Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales and CRE. Many teachers, students, and community members continue to ask for the issue to be put back on the Board’s agenda – without success, so far.
While Ethnic Studies classes continue at PVUSD high schools, the district’s Ethnic Studies educators have argued that the Board’s decision completely ignored empirical evidence as well as the opinions of teachers, students, and administrators, and represents a genuine set-back to this critically important program.
More background: Struggles over the CA Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
The local attacks on PVUSD’s Ethnic Studies Program and Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum in general are directly related to the national attacks on African-American Studies, Critical Race Theory (CRT), and teaching about Palestine.
Back in 2016, the California legislature authorized the development of an Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) – a resource for schools who would be developing and teaching Ethnic Studies courses. As a model, the ESMC offers guidance and sample lesson plans. Districts are allowed to decide independently the specifics of their Ethnic Studies programs. A committee of leading Ethnic Studies scholars and practitioners, including Dr. Tintiangco-Cubales, created a first draft of the ESMCs. However, in November 2020, despite progressive Jewish support for the draft ESMC, conservative Jewish groups, with support from State Senator Scott Weiner, succeeded in efforts to revise the curriculum to marginalize Arab Americans and erase any mention of Palestine (more here).
This highly controversial rewrite was met with widespread opposition, including by progressive Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, as well as the authors of the original curriculum and all 20 members of the original Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Advisory Committee, who asked to have their names removed from the revised curriculum. Despite this opposition, the revised Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) was adopted by the State Board of Education on March 18, 2021. Today, only the Liberated Education Studies Model Curriculum includes substantive lessons about Arab American Studies or any honest conversation about Palestine.
Get involved! Take action!
Understanding and defending Ethnic Studies is as important now as it ever was. Email SURJ SCC here to be notified about opportunities to show up in support. Write to the PVUSD School Board members; attend the next Board meeting, with these demands:
that the CRE contract decision be added to the Board’s next agenda for review;
that the Board vote again, this time in support of the CRE contract renewal, which would empower students by lifting the voices and histories of Ethnic Studies Groups racially marginalized or erased by our educational institutions.
4th Monday of the Month • Next Meeting February 23rd • 5:30-7:30 PM • Free • Branciforte Library • 230 Gault St. • Santa Cruz • Wheelchair accessible
Our Purpose In the spirit of collective, interconnected liberation, the intention of Cultivating Care is to actively build anti-racist culture by understanding and dismantling white supremacy as it exists in ourselves and our culture. While we are clear that we must also work in relationship with Black and BIPOC humans to create new systems where all people are valued and thriving, this group is for being in compassionate relationship with each other to address our whiteness. This container is for all of us, wherever we are on our racial justice journey, to have courageous, vulnerable conversations that foster belonging, healing, calling in and showing up.
This space is for:
White people who are new to anti-racism work and want a place to begin learning responsibly
White people who have been engaged in this work and want to continue deepening their practice
People who are willing to be challenged, reflect on their impact, and take accountability for harm
Participants who understand that this space is about learning, not perfection
People who understand this is ongoing work, not a one-time learning experience
Why is this space centered on white people? Are you centering whiteness? For decades—and longer—Black and BIPOC leaders have called on white people to “get your people”: to take responsibility for organizing within white communities and addressing racism there. Because of racism, white people often have greater access to and influence with other white people, and therefore, have a responsibility to engage their people and communities in this work. This space is one response to that call.
Is this space only for white people? No. Everyone is welcome to attend. However, the content, focus, and structure of the group are designed primarily to support white people in their anti-racism learning and organizing.
Monday • Feb 23 • Doors open 5pm • 6pm to 8:30 PM • CineLux Scotts Valley Café & Lounge
Join a free community screening of documentary The Mask You Live In (IMDB), exploring the challenges boys and young men face in staying true to themselves while navigating society’s narrow expectations of masculinity.
**PARENTAL ADVISORY: This film is recommended for ages 15+ by Common Sense Media due to strong language and mature themes.**
Expert panel discussion and Q&A to follow. Spanish subtitles and panel interpretation available.
This event is hosted by Monarch Services and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, in partnership with CineLux Theaters and the Watsonville Film Festival. Schedule 5 PM – Doors Open, Community Tabling Begins 6 PM – Film Screening 7:30 PM – Discussion and Q&A
Saturday • Feb 21 • 3 pm – 5 pm PM • Doors open 2:30 PM • Free Resource Center for Nonviolence & ONLINE • 612 Ocean Street • Santa Cruz
Explore Chinese-American legacy with Stanford Professor Gordon H. Chang, Flex Kids Culture founder Rui Li, and developer George Ow, Jr. Join the Resource Center for Nonviolence (RCNV) for an afternoon dedicated to reclaiming a fuller history of Chinese people in the United States and the Monterey Bay region. This special event honors the Lunar New Year by celebrating stories of resilience, labor, and the ongoing work to build a “Beloved Community”.
Professor Gordon H. Chang is interested in historical connections between race and ethnicity in the United States and trans-Pacific relations in their diplomatic as well as their cultural and social dimensions. He is a highly awarded scholar, co-founder of Stanford’s Asian American Research Center, and a member of the Committee of 100. His most recent book was published in 2025, a collection of essays titled War, Race, and Culture: Journeys in TransPacific and Asian American Histories (Stanford University Press). Rui Li, executive director of Flex Kids Culture, is a community leader and educator dedicated to fostering international academic exchange and cross-cultural understanding. Rui, through Flex Kids Culture, was instrumental in the printing and distribution of 5000 copies of the Chinese version of Sandy Lydon’s seminal local history Chinese Gold. She is currently producing a documentary based on the book. George Ow, Jr. is a developer, philanthropist, and community pillar born in Santa Cruz’s last Chinatown. George was key to the publication of Sandy Lydon’s Chinese Gold in its full glory. He continues on his enduring quest to ensure Chinese Americans receive the credit and recognition they deserve for building this nation and to honor and give peace to the spirits of an unacknowledged history. This conversation will delve into the recovery of lost histories, the meaning of nonviolent community building, and the personal journeys of ensuring that early immigrant generations are no longer forgotten.
Friday, Feb 20 – Sunday, Mar 1 • Pay what you like UCSC Theater Arts Center Mainstage • Doors open 30 minutes prior to start
Move into the spotlight with Dreamgirls, the electrifying musical sensation that brings the soul, sparkle, and spirit of Motown to the stage. Follow the unforgettable journey of three talented young women as they rise from hopeful dreamers to international superstars. With powerful vocals, stimulating choreography, and hits like “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” this AATAT production will burst with passion, ambition, and inspiration! Co-presented by the African American Theater Arts Troupe (AATAT) and the Department of Performance, Play & Design (PPD). — ADMISSION – General admission with “Pay What You Like” options. – Free for UCSC students (ticket required). – Tickets issued online through Eventbrite only. – Doors are scheduled to open 30 minutes prior to event start time. – Ticket holders not seated at least 5 minutes before the advertised start time may forfeit their ticket/seat and no refund will be issued.
PARKING – Parking by permit, ParkMobile, or $11 cash/credit via the on-site parking attendant – Arts Lot #126 is the closest parking lot to the event – Visitors with DMV placards or plates may park for free in DMV spaces, Medical spaces, or ParkMobile spaces without additional payment, or in timed zones for longer than the posted time. – UCSC affiliates must purchase their permits before arriving at the event in order to receive their discounted UCSC rate. Attendants will only sell the non-affiliate-priced permits. – More information provided by UCSC Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS)
Thursdays • 6:30 pm -10 pm • See below for ticket information The 418 Project • 155 South River St • Santa Cruz • wheelchair accessible
Local DJ and community builder Father Taj is hosting the 4th Black History Month Film Series beginning at 6:30 pm every Thursday in February at the 418 Project.
Schedule
February 5: 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay, investigates the prison-industrial complex. FREE
February 12: The Princess and the Frog, a Disney retelling of the Grimm Brothers fairy tale “The Frog Prince,” setting it in New Orleans. FREE
February 19: Just Mercy, a biopic starring Michael B. Jordan as a young defense attorney who represents poor people on Death Row in the southern U.S. $10-20 sliding scale donation
February 26: Black KKKlansman, a Spike Lee Joint telling the story of a Black man who infiltrates the KKK. $10-20 sliding scale donation
Click here for more information and advance tickets
Wednesday • February 11 • Doors at 6:30 PM • Screening at: 7:15 PM • Free Merrill Cultural Center • UCSC
The first in a 12-film documentary series, The Eternal Song is a cinematic journey through timeless lands and Indigenous cultures. Voices from across generations and traditions invite us to witness the enduring scars of colonization on lands and peoples, and the healing pathways carried through ancestral wisdom. Entrusted with medicine stories, the film grapples with colonial legacies, intergenerational trauma, and the culture of separation that fragments our lives. The film reveals how modernity severs our connection to nature, each other, and the ancestral realm, while feeding us empty promises of salvation, unlimited consumption and economic growth, and individual happiness. As we are drawn into the intricate web of kinship and honoring the living presence of Mother Earth, we awaken a deeper remembrance. A sacred dance comes to life and we begin to hear the eternal song of Life itself, calling us back to belonging.
Tuesday • January 27 • 5:30 PM • Doors open 5 PM • Free Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium • 307 Church St • Santa Cruz
This annual convocation celebrates the life and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with presentations about equality, freedom, justice, and opportunity. This year we welcome legendary reggae percussionist, Larry McDonald.
Larry McDonald is a legendary Jamaican percussionist whose life and career have been defined by rhythm, culture, and the power of music to unite people. As one of the last living links to reggae’s golden era, McDonald has shared the stage and studio with icons including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots Hibbert and the Maytals, Taj Mahal, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Peter Tosh, Gil Scott-Heron, and countless others before ultimately joining the Skatalites. Over seven decades, he has become widely recognized as one of reggae’s most prolific percussionists and is credited with introducing the conga to the genre—an innovation that forever shaped its sound.
Honored with induction into the Jamaica Music Museum’s Hall of Fame and the prestigious Pioneer Award at Jamaica’s Tribute to the Greats ceremony, McDonald’s legacy extends far beyond music. A steadfast advocate for unity and cultural connection, he embodies the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, inspiring audiences worldwide with his artistry, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to justice.
Showing Up for Racial Justice-Santa Cruz County, CA 
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