Enter the New Year of the Fire Horse: Honoring Chinese American Legacies

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.

RSVP

DreamGirls: A Musical 

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).
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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)

Click here for tickets

Black History Month Film Series – every Thursday in February

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

Film Screening: The Eternal Song

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.

RSVP

For any questions, please email airc@ucsc.edu

Redistribute Wealth: Watsonville Law Center (WLC)

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

Donate HERE

Read this Op-Ed: Let’s decriminalize mental illness: Santa Cruz doesn’t need a mental health jail

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.”

Read the op-ed here.

42nd Annual UCSC MLK Convocation

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.

Redistribute Wealth: The Santa Cruz Welcoming Network

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

Donate HERE

SURJ National Action Hours


Ongoing Every Other Wednesday • 5 PM • Online
Next Date: March 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

Cultivating Care

4th Monday of the Month • Starts January 26 • 5:30-7:30 PM • Free
Aptos Library • 7695 Soquel Drive  • Aptos • 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. 

Register here for Cultivating Care