Building off of Gear Up, SURJ is hosting a new call series: Protect and Resist: The First 100 Days. On Wednesday nights from February 19th to April 30th, 8-9PM Eastern join SURJ in learning and action– as you continue organizing with your circle. Click here to sign up for Wednesday Nights with SURJ!

This series has three components: 

• Training webinars on topics like immigration defense and building the white working class with leaders across social justice movements to deepen our analysis and hear important calls-to-action. Recordings of the webinars can be found here.

• Action hours where we’ll take action on things like contacting representatives, supporting immigrants or organizing leaders to pledge to sign the Pledge to Protect and Resist.

• Circle support calls where a member of your circle (or several) will join other circle reps to share stories, give campaign updates, and continue to organize around our Protect and Resist Pledge campaign and in preparation for the May 1st Day of Action. 

TIP:  We recommend attending the Wednesday evening calls together (in person) as a Circle if you’re able, and tacking on additional Circle meeting time the hour before or after the Wednesday calls.

By participating in the Pledge to Protect and Resist campaign, we’re working to - 

• Create a network of leaders and regular people across the country who publicly commit to resisting this administration.

  • When our leaders feel the support of the people at their back, they are more likely to push back against Trump and his administration.  

  • When the public sees other people being brave and resisting, they are more likely to do the same – causing momentum to build!. 

• Tell our story about the outcome of the election. Trump says he won the 2024 election in a landslide and is incredibly popular. In reality - he won the popular vote by only 1.5%. His policies are not popular, and he is in it for the billionaires and his own ego - not for working people like us. 

We’re continuing to organize around the Pledge following Gear Up because we believe there is real momentum. During Gear Up, collectively we organized 4,813 regular people to sign the pledge and 59 leaders/organizations to sign on. If we continue to go after low-hanging fruit and ask our community to sign the Individual Pledge, then higher level leaders will be encouraged to sign on. In addition, we can use the Pledge as an organizing tool to set ourselves up for the May 1st Day of Action. First you have an organizing conversation to ask your friend to sign the pledge, then you follow up to ask them to attend the May 1st Day of Action as an opportunity to protect and resist. 

What can we do now? 

• Ask leaders and community members to sign the pledge to Protect and Resist. This can serve as an organizing tool to engage with people as a starting point, and the May 1st Day of Action is a next and higher level step. In addition, we can work as a circle to get more clear on our shared interest and stake in joining a multiracial, international day of action. 

Before your circle chooses the leaders you want to target, spend some time with the following considerations: 

• Consider your local political context. We are focusing on targeting “low-hanging fruit” - or leaders/organizations who we think share our values - in order to build momentum and create an opportunity for more people to sign on. You may have a local council person who has spoken out in support of expanding Medicaid, but hasn’t yet spoken about Trump’s recent threats to cut it.

• Consider relationships: Certain leaders may already have working relationships with you or someone else you know, opening up a lane of communication!

• Consider what issues they have historically shown interest in. Research news articles, website press releases, and social media to gather a short list of issues. These might be great to mention when you email or call them in order to build evidence that the pledge is closely aligned with issues they already support.

For a resource to help you and your circle identify your leader, go here: SURJ: How to Identify a Target

Examples of leaders who have signed on already (View full list of sign ons here) 

• Elected Officials: 

  • Jamie Gauthier - City Councilmember, Philadelphia, PA

  • Julia Arata-Fratta - Mayor, Fitchburg, WI

  • Five Board of Education Trustees in East Lansing, MI 

• Faith Leaders: 

  • Angela Wells - Pastor at Christ United Methodist Church, Columbia, MD

  • Moshe Heyn - Rabbi at Coastside Jewish Community, Half Moon Bay, CA

• Organizations/Institutions: 

  • Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club - San Francisco, CA

  • Heart Body Song - Austin, TX

Make initial contact with the community leader! They may sign on right away, they may say yes to a phone call or a meeting, or they may not get back to you. After a week, we encourage you to follow up either with an additional email, a phone call or a meeting. 

This SURJ: Ask your Target to Sign the Pledge Worksheet includes:

• A Template Email 

• A Template phone call 

• Tips for meeting in person with your community leader 

Your circle will likely have 2-5 community leaders you are planning to contact. It might make sense to have each member of the circle be responsible for reaching out to one of your community leaders. Don't forget to check in with each other about how outreach is going between circle meetings! Your fellow circle members will be the best folks to go to for support, troubleshooting and thought partnership! If you find you or your circle would like some additional coaching support from SURJ, check out our coach support options below! 

In order to deepen our relationships with our allies, we should meet in person with them or talk over the phone. This is an opportunity to either: 

• Encourage them to sign the pledge while you’re in person by sharing your own story and reason why you’re committed to Protecting and Resisting and making the ask. 

• If they’ve already signed, you can get to know them and ask who else they think could sign onto the pledge. 

Ahead of the meeting make sure you: 

• Practice what you’re going to say 

• Print out the Pledge so they can sign physically in person 

• See if at least one other person from your circle (or your whole circle!) can join you at the meeting! 

At/After the meeting make sure you: 

• Take a picture with the Community Leader! We need to show the world what we’re doing so people see what action looks like and feel inspired to join us. 

• Complete the verification for your signer so that we can list them on the Pledge Website: 

  • Fill in the Google form at the top of the Pledge Website with the signer's details. 

  • Email the photo you took to the address along with the full name of the signer to pledge@surjaction.org. 

  • If you can't verify using that method, please email us so we can work with you to get your signer listed.

• Alternatively, you can ask the Community Leader to fill out the official Pledge Submission Form directly (just be sure to follow up and ensure they fill it out, which you can check here).

Use this for more information on how to set up and have a conversation with your community leader:  SURJ: Ask your Target to Sign the Pledge  

Ask people to sign the pledge on your social media posts so more people are brought into our movement! Use this link: act.surj.org/a/signon 

Sample post: Together, people hold the power. I experienced that this weekend when I met in person with the executive director of the hospital, Mr. Smith, to sign our “Pledge to Resist and Protect.” He committed to show up for immigrants in our community and commit to protecting them against ICE raids at the hospital. Can you join us by signing on? act.surj.org/a/signon

These are important resources, please use them to structure your meetings: 

We recommend hosting at least three local circle meetings during the first 100 Days. The following resources can support you to schedule and plan those meetings: 

• Template Calendar of Events  

• Recommended Meeting Topics: use this to determine what your meetings should focus on 

• Meeting Template: take 30 minutes ahead of your meeting to create an agenda using this template as a guide  

• How to Host an Awesome Meeting: take 10 minutes each time you’re planning a meeting to review this awesome tips for an awesome meeting!

• Ongoing 1:1 Coaching (Coach-Dependent) – Some Gear Up coaches may continue supporting their assigned circles, but this is optional. If you had a coach in Gear Up and haven't discussed this, reach out to see what support they can offer!

• Monthly Circle Support Calls  – Coaches will facilitate breakout discussions during the Monthly Circle Support Calls, allowing participants to learn from each other.

• Coaching Directory –  Circles can reach out to available coaches for ad-hoc support through a directory outlining the types of assistance offered—e.g. Communication via Signal messaging, 1:1 calls, or drop-in office hours. The directory will also include time zones and contact details to make connecting easier. The passcode can be found in the SURJ National Member slack Host channel and is sent out weekly in the Protect & Resist Weekly Update. 

• Pledge Organizing Guide from the Pledge Website

• The Day of Action Guide (will be available in April)

• All of the materials from the Gear Up Program - found on the Gear Up Website! 

• This Protect and Resist Website

• If you’ve never made an account for SURJ National’s Slack for the first time:

  • Click here to make an account

  • Follow the below instructions join appropriate channels. 

• If you already have a Slack account with SURJ National:

  • #protectandresist_all - for questions about the program, sharing photos and successes from your circle, crowd-sourcing wisdom from all program participants about something. We’ll also share a weekly bulletin here every Monday with program-wide updates.

    • click here to join that channel

  • #protectandresist_hosts – for Hosts to bring questions and challenges and get support, and to hear Host-specific updates from staff

    • This channel is private, so a staff member will need to add you to that. We’ll do that within a week of you signing the Host commitment form.

  • #protectandresist_coaches – for Coaches to bring questions and challenges and get support, and to hear Coach-specific updates from a staff person.

    • This channel is private, so a staff member will need to add you to that. We’ll do that within a week of you joining as a Coach.

Reimbursements of up to $50 per circle are available: 

• Please use this on an “as-needed” basis. If your circle needs it, please use it! If your circle is able to afford costs independently, we appreciate you investing in our movement.

• If you are seeking reimbursement and haven’t yet, please fill out this one-time form. Next - please fill out this Google Form with your receipts, and the totals needed to be reimbursed for. If needed you can email the receipts to afrench@surjaction.org or request a check be mailed. 

• Personal Pledge Sign on 

• Leader & Organizational Pledge Sign on

• Identify your target worksheet

• Ask your Target to Sign the Pledge

• Ask your Friends and Family to Sign the Pledge