Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), formerly Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) Action, is a Louisville, Kentucky-based far-left agitation group that is the advocacy and lobbying arm of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), ¹ which is a project of the Social Good Fund, a left-of-center nonprofit and donor-advised fund provider. ² SURJ runs campaigns targeting white Americans  to undermine their alleged support of “white supremacy” across society. ³

In a 2018 blog post, then-named SURJ Action said, “most of the white left—and certainly the vast majority of the Democratic Party’s leadership at all levels—refuses to take on race.” ⁴ It also accused white voters as casting votes for “self-described Nazis, white supremacists, and those with strong ties to white nationalists,” ⁵ calling U.S. Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) a white supremacist, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) “unapologetically racist,” and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) “confederate-supporting, black voter-suppressing, and immigrant-threatening.” ⁶

SURJ hosted a “Pledge of Resistance” against then-President Donald Trump where it asked signers ⁷ to knock on the doors of Trump supporters and “those conflicted about racial justice” and pledged to engage their faith-based communities and join SURJ’s fundraising team to build resources “to stop Trump,” among other things. ⁸

History and Leadership

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) was originally founded as SURJ Action, a sister organization of the far-left agitation group Showing Up for Racial Justice Education Fund ⁹ in 2016 by attorneys from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, which is affiliated with the left-leaning Skadden Foundation. ¹⁰

Erin Heaney and Heather Cronk are co-directors of SURJ. ¹¹ Heaney’s name appears on 2021 campaign contribution documents for a Brooklyn-based group called SURJ Action LA 2020 in support of a Los Angeles County ballot measure to reform prisons and community reinvestments. ¹²

Activities and Funding

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) aims to “undermine white support” for perceived  “white supremacy” and help build a “racially just society” through campaigns centered around white Americans by engaging in criminal justice reform and racial reconciliation advocacy. ¹³ SURJ is active at the state, local, and national level, operating issue-based organizing, voter education, and voter participation campaigns in support of critical race theory-inspired policies such as “racial and economic justice.”¹⁴

In 2018, SURJ said it is important that white leaders on the left and in left-progressive spaces “go beyond just talking about racism, white privilege and white supremacy” to focus explicitly on centering race in the day-to-day work of political organizing in majority white communities. ¹⁵

In a 2018 blog post, SURJ said, “most of the white left—and certainly the vast majority of the Democratic Party’s leadership at all levels—refuses to take on race.” ¹⁶ It also accused white voters as casting votes for “self-described Nazis, white supremacists, and those with strong ties to white nationalists,”¹⁷  calling U.S. Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) a white supremacist, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) “unapologetically racist,” and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) “confederate-supporting, black voter-suppressing, and immigrant-threatening.” ¹⁸

In 2018, SURJ spent $119,989 for local groups to take action nationally in support of the critical race theory-inspired concept of “racial justice” through mentoring programs. SURJ also spent $30,887 to support a ballot initiative in Ohio and education on supposed racism in the criminal justice and healthcare systems and $10,947 on canvassing programs to discuss left-of-center social issues. SURJ also supported the left-of-center Charlottesville Area Community Foundation Fund. ¹⁹

In 2017, SURJ protestors called Erie County, New York, Sheriff Timothy Howard (R) a murderer. ²⁰ That same year, SURJ supported the mayoral campaign of Chokwe Lumumba (D) in Jackson, Mississippi, ²¹ and shared social media posts from the left-wing Working Families Party in support of Lumumba’s successful candidacy. ²²

In 2017, SURJ spent $60,448 on community action and community organizing programs, $35,878 on support to local groups and activists, and $100,995 on a combined effort to support the Charlottesville Community Resilience Fund and educate voters about Erie County, New York, Sheriff Tim Howard. ²³

SURJ previously hosted a “Pledge of Resistance” against then-President Donald Trump. ²⁴ Individuals who signed the pledge committed to talking to “one white person in the next month” about elections and the “hatred” Republican Party candidates were spreading, committed to join one “deep canvass” event to knock on the doors of Trump supporters and “those conflicted about racial justice,” and pledged to engage their faith-based communities and join SURJ fundraising team to build resources “to stop Trump,” among other things. ²⁵

Funding

Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) received $65,967 of grants and contributions in 2018. ²⁶ This number was a sharp decline from receiving $244,601 of grants and contributions in 2017 and receiving $198,426 of grants and contributions in 2016, respectively. ^{27 28}

In 2016, SURJ received a $10,000 from the left-of-center Sierra Club. ²⁹

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2. Abel, Laura and Lewis, Juliet. “Lawyers Alliance and Pro Bono Attorneys Help Nonprofits Engaged in Issue Advocacy and Promoting Civic Engagement.” Pro Bono News. Summer Edition Vol. 28 No. 2 (2017). Accessed October 20, 2021. https://nysba.org/NYSBA/Pro%20Bono%20Services/Pro%20Bono%20Newsletters/PRO%20BONO_Newsletter_Summer17.pdf
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7. “Pledge to Resist Fear and Hate.” SURJ Action. February 8, 2019. Accessed via Web Archive. October 19, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20190208032405/https://action-showingupforracialjustice.nationbuilder.com/.
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11. “Showing Up for Racial Justice Action Inc.” Short Form Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990 EZ). 2018. https://apps.irs.gov/pub/epostcard/cor/812081153_201812_990EO_2019112216882976.pdf.
12. “SURJ Action LA 2020.” Recipient Committee Campaign Statement Cover Page. (California Form 460). February 2021. Accessed October 19, 2021. https://larecorder.net/camp/Schedules/7342.pdf.
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20. “Tweet.” LaMonica Peters. May 24, 2017. Accessed October 20, 2017. https://twitter.com/LaMonicaPeters/status/867490356107124736.
21. Tweet. Showing Up for Racial Justice. Posted May 2, 2017. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://twitter.com/ShowUp4RJ/status/859407459324227588.
22. Tweet. Showing UP for Racial Justice. Posted May 2, 2017. Accessed October 20, 2021. https://twitter.com/ShowUp4RJ/status/859407067936948226
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27. “Showing Up for Racial Justice Action, Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (From 990-EZ). 2016. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/view_990/812081153/4f94f9fb96929ad7a96f5cbc7d8f807c.
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