Who we are
White People 4 Black Lives (WP4BL) is a white anti-racist collective and activist project. We operate within a national network of white anti-racists called Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). Our work is rooted in showing up for racial justice and acting in alliance with Black Lives Matter: Los Angeles, the Movement 4 Black Lives, and other partners.
With full recognition of the privilege we as white people have that allows us to ignore or minimize issues of race and racism, we make a conscious decision to notice, call out, and challenge institutional and cultural racism. Standing on the shoulders of those who came before us, such as white abolitionists like John Brown and the Grimke sisters, and white organizers fighting segregation like Anne Braden, we approach our work with an intersectional lens and a commitment to act accountably in our relationships and alliances with people of color and people-of-color-led organizations.
Our work includes fundraising, internal and external education, mobilization, recruitment and networking, action planning, and cultural transformation. We believe strongly that white folks can play a progressive and supportive role in amplifying the voices and demands of Black people, moving the white community to take a more active and participatory stance for racial justice, and apply strategic pressure on institutions to change racist policies.
Our Shared Values
From Showing Up for Racial Justice
Calling people iN
SURJ is trying to create a culture and community that people actually want to be a part of.
The left (especially middle-class and wealthy people in social movements) has a long history of shaming and blaming people who don’t have the "perfect" words or don't exactly agree with our analysis. That kind of behavior doesn't help us build a mass movement for change. We need people to want to join us!
Calling people in is how we want to be with one another as white people. That means:
Recognizing we all mess up, and speaking from this shared experience
Being specific and direct
Talking to people in times and places that support conversation and learning
Calling people in isn't:
How we want to be with people in power -- we organize to create tension and target people in power. Calling them in isn't how we think change happens.
Something we expect from people of color
A way to keep people in the mainstream comfortable. When people who are at the "margins" of a group (such as LGBTQ folks, people with disabilities, poor and working-class people) have feedback or choose to speak, they don’t need to be "polite" or avoid tension.
Accountability through collective action
We believe change happens when we build with millions of other people to change culture, policies and practices. We need a mass movement to make change.
Many people, especially middle- and owning-class people, have been trained to think that if we as individuals transform or learn new things, then change will happen.
A focus on individual action will exclude the poor, working-class, rural, disabled, and multigenerational leaders we need.
Accountability means we are in relationship with and take direction from people of color.
We build accountability relationships with people of color who are doing racial justice work in the movement and who are accountable to a group of people.
Accountability doesn't mean waiting by the phone for a person of color to tell us exactly what to do. It means developing plans to organize in the white community and seeking feedback.
Sometimes people of color are too busy organizing in their own communities to provide us feedback. We should act in those cases and not wait for permission.
take risks, make mistakes, learn, and keep going
As white people, we are going to make mistakes when doing racial justice work. It's inevitable. We don't know anyone who has been in the work and hasn't made a mistake. Not a single person.
People of color take risks every day by living and moving through the world. We commit to challenging ourselves to be outside our comfort zones when doing this work.
While we take on real risk, we know that the risk is always greater for people of color.
When we make mistakes, we want to take the time to reflect on them thoughtfully and keep moving in the work. We cannot let making mistakes prevent us from continuing our work. There's just too much at stake.
We need to support our friends and members of our group when they make mistakes to learn and stay in motion.
Organize out of mutual interest
Racial justice isn;t something we help people of color with.
The system of white supremacy harms all of us -- including white people, though in very different ways than people of color.
If we are going to stay in the work for the long haul, we need to get clear with ourselves about what we have to gain through this fight.
White supremacy has hurt white people by cutting us off from powerful traditions and cultures that we come from. instead, we learn to celebrate money and power.
Every person has their own story about why they started to do this work. Maybe they saw violence as a queer person that connected them to violence people of color experience at the hands of police. They may have grown up poor and seen how racism and money are connected. These stories help us find our mutual interest.
There is enough for all
There are enough resources in the world for everyone's basic needs to be met (decent housing, food, safety, etc).
The problem isn't that we don't have enough stuff -- it's that it's distributed unfairly.
The people at the top -- the 1% -- have most of the wealth. They use racism as a tool to keep us fighting amongst ourselves, instead of united and fighting against them for the things we need to live full lives.
We are trained to believe that there is a shortage of resources, so we need to hoard them, avoid sharing, and compete with others. In order to build a movement for justice, we need to share and support one another.
People will do this work in different ways, and that’s okay because we need everyone joining this work.
Growing is good
We need millions of white people to join the movement for racial justice.
This means we need our groups to constantly grow.
Sometimes it feels easier to close our groups off and only spend time with people who are like us. In order to build a movement, we need to push ourselves to open up and work with anyone ready to take action.
It is important to make sure new people have a chance to become leaders. That means making a lot of opportunities for new people to do new things. Action is how we create commitment to our work!
Center class
Our culture, media, and even sometimes movement leaders blame poor and working-class white people for racism, often without recognizing that middle- and owning-class white people disproportionately support policies and practices that uphold white supremacy.
We reject the harmful stereotypes and the analysis that poor and working-class white people are responsible for racism. The people who benefit most from racism and white supremacy are the very wealthy -- not poor or working-class white people.
Poor and working-class people of color and white people have been at the front lines of anti-racist struggle for generations.
SURJ is committed to supporting the leadership of and organizing in poor and working-class communities.
We need people of all class backgrounds in this work.
Learn More and get involved
There are lots of ways to get involved in WP4BL, including outreach, direct actions, political education, canvassing, court support, and much more. All are welcome. No prior organizing experience is necessary!
Explore the Weekly Updates section of this website
Attend our quarterly General Meetings!
WP4BL NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION - VIrtual
Dates & Times: Sunday, April 28th, 11:00am - 12:15pm PT
Location: Zoom, register here
Details: If you're new to WP4BL, we ask you to attend our orientation before you attend our General Meeting or join other work with us. Our orientation is a comprehensive introduction to our collective, who we are, and what we do. Please join us!
As a reminder, WP4BL is based in Los Angeles, and our work is focused locally. If you are outside of the greater Los Angeles area, we encourage you to find a local chapter of the national organization of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ). We are the Los Angeles SURJ chapter.
Accessibility: Closed captioning will be on and we can provide ASL interpreters upon request. To ensure availability, please make your request at least 72 hours prior to the event you wish to attend by emailing whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com.
Contact: whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com with questions
WP4BL General Meeting
Date & Time: Sunday, May 19th, 11am - 1:30pm
Location: LA Workers Center, 1251 S. St. Andrews Pl., Los Angeles, CA, 90019, register here
Details: Join us for an in-person General Meeting on Sunday, May 19! We'll share updates on ongoing campaigns, talk about ways to get involved, and be in community together.
As a reminder, WP4BL is based in Los Angeles, and our work is focused locally. If you are outside of the greater Los Angeles area, we encourage you to find a local chapter of the national organization of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), you can find your local SURJ chapter here.
Orientation: An in-person orientation will be held for new members at 10:30AM. We ask that all General Meeting attendees have been through an orientation at some point before coming to the meeting.
COVID: Please stay home if you're sick. Please mask indoors when not eating or drinking. Please take a rapid test prior to coming. The location is indoors only.
Accessibility: There is limited parking behind the house, down a narrow driveway to the right of the house; otherwise, there is street parking only. There is a ramp behind the house. There are two gender neutral restrooms. It is accessible by Metro bus lines 30 and 207. Please let us know with at least 72 hours notice if you need ASL interpretation.
Contact: whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com with any additional accessibility needs or questions