“We call on people to learn more about policing in Eugene and the full perspectives of Committee members by reading their full published testimony, selectively quoted in this essay. Right now, words like ‘crime,’ ‘criminal,” and ‘reasonable’ keep systems in place that perpetuate violence and harm. We believe we need…

In the name of safety and goodness, an attack on the sovereignty of the body Since I started this article in January, aggressive efforts by extreme right wing Republicans to attack fundamental human rights have continued to take place, including the Supreme Court’s majority effort to overturn Roe vs. …

This past week I was having a conversation with an individual at work who has shared with me some of their daily and lifetime stresses and challenges. In this conversation, the individual expressed their sense of despair, which they feel nearly every day due to isolation and a sense that…

“In a sense, the battle is and always has been a battle for the hearts and minds of white people in this country. The fight against racism is not something we’re called on to help people of color with. We need to become involved as if our lives depended on…

Guest View: What is justice in America? On Nov. 19, a Wisconsin jury found Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old white man, not guilty on all five charges…www.registerguard.com The above opinion piece was published December 4, 2021 in the Register-Guard. Authored by SURJ’s own Carter McKenzie, who is part of the Messaging Committee, it is titled “What is justice in America?” and details the police killing of Robert Gutierrez in Springfield, Oregon just two months ago. Please read the article, and if you feel moved please write a comment in support of racial justice and an end to police killings (as of this writing, there are many more comments against the views that Carter expressed in the article, so let’s speak up!).

White People: Organizing Our Own to Stop the Violence “You do have a choice. You don’t have to be a part of the world of the lynchers. You can join the other America. There…surj-action.medium.com

In our September meeting of SURJ Springfield-Eugene, we were engaged as a chapter in developing Indigenous land acknowledgements. We were called to reflect individually and in community about the meaning and intent of Indigenous land acknowledgements and the importance of embodying the act by bearing witness to the truth of…

A teacher protesting the banning of mask mandates in her state of Florida recently stated: “I keep thinking of this one thing that Gov. DeSantis said, ‘We need our kids to breathe.’ I immediately thought, ‘How can they breathe if they’re dead?’ ” (CNN, August 15) Justin Kanew, the Tennessee…

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder the demand to defund the police and end systematic racism has become ever louder, and as a result many citizens across the country have joined the call to hold our police accountable. …