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!


WP4BL NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION

Location: Zoom
Details: Curious to learn more about White People 4 Black Lives? Are you an existing member who wants a refresher on our collective? Join us via Zoom for information on our organization and find ways to plug into our work! We are accepting interest requests for orientation as the 2023 orientation calendar is not yet set. If you’d like to receive an email when we announce orientation dates, please fill out this interest form. We’ll be in touch!
Accessibility: Closed captioning is available at all meetings, and we can provide ASL interpreters upon request. To ensure availability, please make your request for an interpreter 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: 2023 schedule to be announce. Please join our mailing list for announcements.
Location:
Zoom, register here
Details: White People 4 Black Lives is based in Los Angeles. Our work is focused locally. Black Lives Matter - Los Angeles is our primary solidarity partner. 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 affiliate, you can find your local SURJ chapter here.
Accessibility: Closed captioning is available at all meetings, and we can provide ASL interpreters upon request. To ensure availability, please make your request for an interpreter at least 72 hours prior to the event you wish to attend by emailing whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com.
Contact: whitepeople4blacklives@gmail.com with any questions