November 19, 2016
After a time of prayer and deliberation, the executive leadership of Moral Monday CT has decided to sever ties with the Showing Up For Racial Justice, Hartford (SURJ-Hartford) organization. Our executive leadership met with SURJ-Hartford core leadership for an extended time of conversation and could not reconcile inconsistencies/barriers that compromise our ability to work together.
Moral Monday CT is a black-led organization representing a broad cross-section of people of faith and conscience, whose work is centered around how our deep moral values relate to the movement for black lives. We seek relationships (both individual and organizational) of mutuality and common interest. As leaders in the movement for black lives, it is our duty and responsibility to name abuses. It is for this reason that we are obligated to speak truth from our prospective to SURJ-Hartford.
SURJ has primary stated goals. They are to organize White people for racial justice through community organizing, mobilizing and education while being accountable to People of Color. MMCT executive leadership was asked to hold a relationship of accountability. SURJ-Hartford core leadership understood checks and balances within itself, however, they were unable and/or unwilling to articulate an understanding of such terms to MMCT, all the while acting in ways that attempted to usurp and undermine our leadership. Racial justice work must be done from a position of humility.
Zeal and ambition with unchecked and uninterrogated white supremacy is a reckless and dangerous recipe for this moment in time. Trusting white people to have the capability on their own to step outside of whiteness, outside of white supremacy in and of itself is extremely ambitious. And to do so without mutual regard and a definite understanding of the responsibility of checks and balances is a detriment to the movement of Black Lives. We will not endorse empire building in the name of racial justice.
Moral Monday CT will continue to welcome anyone who seeks to be engaged in the struggle for racial justice and our arms remain open to any individual involved in SURJ-Hartford.