Social Justice Walks

This summer marks the 20th anniversary of the rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn. Those some in retrospect call it a success of reinvestment, there is a deeper story that isn't as linear as they say. Join us next weekend on Sat, Aug 24th as we walk and talk about the development of the neighborhood as it looks like today. Book your ticket on our website!

We are officially back! SJW is hosting our first public walk on the season, Reproductive Justice with Cindy Cooper on Sunday, June 23rd. Book your tickets here:

Peek

This Saturday is the return of our Reproductive Freedom Walk in Lower Manhattan, June 17th @ 1pm! Come learn with activist Cindy Cooper the history of the struggle for reproductive freedom and healthcare, from the well known issues and individuals to those less talked about but still immensely important. We’ll think critically about where we’ve come, where we’re at today, and what the future might have in store, and get inspired to continue the fight! Click the link in our bio to book a spot.

Reproductive Freedom Walk -

Reproductive Freedom Walk Cindy Cooper's Reproductive Freedom Walk will take you around lower Manhattan to learn about the historic and contemporary movement for bodily autonomy and the many consequences of government legislation. Learn about the great heroes and foes of the struggle, see how far we've come and get inspired....

Are you looking forward to having giant surveillance towers on your block? Are you concerned about all the potential outcomes from the NYPD, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense working with Google (who owns the towers), Amazon, Microsoft and other big tech companies to create even more advanced ways to “serve and protect” us? Or just how entangled the algorithms and data collection have become with our private lives and politics?

In honor of Veterans Day, this Sunday at 5pm we are leading a walk to discuss the current state of what we call the “military-industrial-complex”, its connections to Silicon Valley, policing and surveillance, and will look to the history of anti-war activism to see the roots some of these issues and ways we can continue to resist.

Sign up by clicking the link in our bio!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 13th join the War & Surveillance Walk
led by Lucy Piccochi
Today, war has come back to the forefront of global politics and is creating direct and indirect consequences for people around the world. But the military-industrial-complex affects our lives even without being engaged in an official war, through the technology it helps create and the violence it exerts on people any time we come up against the state.

The "Big Tech" companies have brought surveillance and artificial intelligence even further into our personal lives, claiming it's only there to help us; yet they too have blood on their hands, and what may seem benign today may become a weapon of oppression tomorrow.

This Sunday we’ll visit a few people and places associated with anti-war movements and discuss how the war machine and surveillance capitalism continue to converge on our cities, our borders, and our homes.

Click the link in our bio to sign up!

**kwar

The historic and ongoing struggle against war: Nov 13 -

The historic and ongoing struggle against war: Nov 13

Join us Sunday Sept 4th for a special Labor Day themed walk focusing on Women’s Paid and Unpaid Labor.

On this walk led by Lucy Piccochi we'll look at the many facets of women's labor, the history of the ways they organized themselves – from consumer strikes to rent strikes, job strikes, and women's strikes – and how the continuing gender inequality affects all workers.

To most in the US today, Labor Day is simply a last chance  for  summer  BBQ's and beach trips. Originally conceived in 1882 by union leaders as a "general holiday for the laboring classes", it became the tame, government legitimized alternative to the more radical International Workers Day on May 1st. But there is one laboring class for whom even a holiday still has so often required them to work unpaid.

When capitalism began to put workers into wage labor and a monetary value on everything, women's labor – both in and out of the home – became devalued, excluded from unions, and not considered "real work". Though women have now been accepted into the paid work force they still are confined by gender norms which pay them less, limit their upward mobility, and often still keep them tied to doing all the domestic labor for their families. This gendered exploitation became essential to the market economy, but the labor movement would have gotten nowhere if it wasn't for women workers recognizing this and fighting for their vision of a better life.

Click the link in our bio to book a spot!

Women's Work -

Women's Work

Reproductive Freedom Walks -

Reproductive Freedom Walks We have two upcoming dates for our Reproductive Freedom Walk for you to learn about the historic struggle, see how far we've come and get inspired by the fearless fighters for freedom and justice!

Join us Sunday August 14th for a walk on Reproductive Freedom in Lower Manhattan with activist Cindy Cooper of ReproFreedom Arts. Journey through the history of the fight for reproductive justice to understand where we are today and how we can act for a better future. As Cindy says “Now that Roe is gone, recouping and advancing reproductive freedom will require new determination and action. But we've been here before, and we can do it again.”

Sign up for a spot on this walk via the link in our bio!

Have plans for July 4th? -

Have plans for July 4th?

Juneteenth: Black Freedom and Captivity -

Juneteenth: Black Freedom and Captivity

Last chance to sign up for our Reproductive Freedom Walk in Lower Manhattan, tomorrow at 1pm! Come learn with activist Cindy Cooper the history of the struggle for reproductive freedom and healthcare, from the well known issues and individuals to those less talked about but still immensely important. We’ll think critically about where we’ve come, where we’re at today, and what the future might have in store, and get inspired to continue the fight! Click the link in our bio to book a spot.

A Walk on Reproductive Freedom and Justice -

A Walk on Reproductive Freedom and Justice Join us this Saturday for our last walk of May, a walk about the historical and ongoing struggle for reproductive health, rights and justice.

Reproductive Freedom in Lower Manhattan returns this Saturday, May 28th, @ 1pm! Learn how far the fight for reproductive freedom and justice has come,
and get inspired to continue the fight! This walk traces the people and places in New York that have been instrumental in the struggle for reproductive health, rights and justice, and the adversaries that they’ve encountered along the way. Led by activist Cindy Cooper, you’ll walk through old New York, Tribeca, Soho and Greenwich Village, hearing the words of historical figures, connecting the past and the present. Focusing on the 100 years from the end of the Civil War to the 1970s, the tour also looks at the universal desires for reproductive freedom and the struggles that still exist today.

We find ourselves in a moment of crisis with the direction the supreme court is taking, when action but also knowledge is more important than ever. From Cindy: "We are obviously at a perilous turning point, where everything will be changing rapidly and continue to change. This is the beginning of what will be a huge backslide on Constitutional rights. And while I and other people have been trying to say this for years, now it's here. It's going to be a long road back."

Click the link in our bio to book a spot on this tour.

Next Sunday, May 15th @10 am, it’s the return of Q***r History of the Village with Jay! (pictured here)

Journey back to the q***r '60s with someone who experienced it all first hand. Writer, storyteller and q***r legend Jay Toole leads folks on a walking tour of the West Village, sharing personal stories and stopping at important places and historical moments along the way. Learn more about the neighborhood through stories about historic le***an bars, the Women’s House of D (Detention), homelessness in Washington Square Park, the mafia's connection to local gay bars and much more.
Book a ticket on our website today!

***rhistory ***rnyc ***rnycevents ***revents ***r

Our very own guide Lucy getting into trouble at protests 14 years ago! There’s still time to sign up for her May Day walk “Protests, Riots and Strikes” tomorrow at 2pm, where she’ll delve into some of the most impactful and insightful upheavals in the city’s history. Click the link in our bio or visit our website www.socialjusticetours.com

Please check out this conversation from our comrades at Bluestockings Cooperative!

Dive into the people's histories of New York's five boroughs next week on Zoom! Don't forget to snag your ticket today
[ID: Three smiling author shots and the book cover, which shows the city skyline, a photo of Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera marching, and a mural depicting an NYC hospital. Text "A People's Guide to NYC Talk with the authors Carolina Bank Muñoz, Penny Lewis, & Emily Tumpson Molina! On Zoom, April 28th, EST, tickets are pay-what-you-like! RSVP http://withfriends.co/bluestockings CART & ASL interpretation available]

In commemoration of Earth Day, our April programming for Social Justice Walks centers around the current struggles around environmental justice in Gowanus.

The most densely populated Superfund site in the nation, Gowanus exists at the intersection of historical environmental degradation and modern demands for the community to meet the city's significant demand for housing. At the nexus is a remediation process, now a decade in the making, to make the canal a transformed ecosystem that can both survive and thrive through climate change and sea level rise. Join us next week for a conversation on the history of the canal and evolution of an industrial working-class community into one of the battlegrounds of real estate development in New York City.

Sunday, April 24 at 12 pm. Book your ticket here: https://buff.ly/3EkSyrX

We want to know what you think -

We want to know what you think Thank you for tracking with us over the years. We’ve all been through a lot - just like those that came before us. We hope that our walks together offer you opportunities to take inspiration from those whose footsteps we walk in every time we literally follow in their footsteps! Things have change...

From our walk with Lincoln Restler for City Council this past Saturday.

A program on what people fought hard to herald as MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY - https://mailchi.mp/a4ace7a8c98f/social-justice-tours-is-back-with-exciting-new-tours-13429722

On this year's MLK Day, Social Justice Walks presents King and Harlem, a virtual "tour" examining the organizing vision and struggles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the lens of his visits to New York.

Facilitated by Social Justice Walks guide Michael Higgins Jr. and guest speaker Kazembe Balagun.

RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUocOigqzoiHN0yrqdulOUwig5P1-3HOJpK

A walk on what most people call Thanksgiving Day, join us on Thursday for an experience through time, but not in a way that goes backwards, that seeks to return to an imagined utopia, undoing the past. Particularly for the descendants of colonized peoples, the past is present, pervaded by a non-linear sense of place and time.

Starting in front of the Museum of the American Indian
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2PM

Book your ticket here: https://buff.ly/30TVpbD

Upcoming!!! Next Sunday, Nov 14th, SJT presents a special in-person walk through Greenwich Village in honor of Veterans Day, originally known as Armistice Day- “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace”.

***WAR & PEACE: a history walk on the struggle against the US military-industrial complex***

In August of 2021 the US ended its longest war unvictoriously. Afghanistan was not the first country the US laid waste to in the name of “Democracy”, and unfortunately it probably won’t be the last either. However, with practically every modern war there came a grassroots movement for peace, which was then always heavily repressed by the state. This walk traces some of the history of the struggle against the war machine in NYC, starting with what originally made November 11th a veteran’s holiday, World War I, which was also the first time our government criminalized being anti-war and prosecuted thousands of activists for it. We’ll visit a few people and places associated with the major anti-war movements from the 20th century to the post-9/11 era, learn about ongoing activism, and discuss how the military-industrial complex and surveillance capitalism continue to converge on our cities, our borders, and our homes.

Click the link in our bio to book a spot!!!

We're walking this fall! Join Us for our Reproductive Freedom Walking Tour with Social Justice Tours! In Lower Manhattan. Sunday, October 17 at 1 pm.

We're walking and talking about Reproductive Freedom -- our past, our present, our future! We're not going back, and we're not stopping!

Register now and walk with us.
https://tinyurl.com/2c39psrk

A week after Hurricane Ida many are still asking, why wasn't the city prepared for it?

https://gothamist.com/news/why-nyc-was-so-unprepared-for-idas-flash-flooding

Why NYC Was So Unprepared For Hurricane Ida’s Flash Flooding Scientists predicted Ida’s heavy downpours as early as Monday, but rainfall remains a blindspot when it comes to urban preparedness and climate change resiliency.

This weekend, SJT has tours on Saturday and Sunday. Tomorrow, join us for 'Rezoning & Dysplacement in Historic Harlem' at 11 am. On Sunday, we will be hosting 'Gentrification of Downtown Brooklyn' at 12pm. Book both tours at our website: https://buff.ly/3tyElBK

Tomorrow, Saturday June 26th at 11am, we present the return of the Rezoning and Dysplacement in Historic Harlem Tour lead by our expert guide Gregory Baggett. Learn about how the rezoning of Frederick Douglas Boulevard resulted in the dysplacement of almost all the area’s long-term residents and small businesses, and how this came out of the community’s own conflicting class interests. We at SJT believe it’s of the utmost importance to shed light on the ongoing struggles over the present and future of historic neighborhoods such as Harlem, to reveal their nuances and layers, and help people get involved. Go to the website link in our bio to book tickets!

This Sunday, June 13th, we’ll be giving another Women’s History of Greenwich Village Tour at 1pm, featuring two extraordinary feminists who share a birthday on the following Tuesday: Adah Menken and Eve Addams. Born 56 years apart, they were both notorious for being rebellious, audacious gender benders associated with the bohemian intellectuals of their time. Come on the tour to learn more! You can go to the link in our bio to book a spot. All are welcome! And as always, if you cannot afford the full price you can email or dm us to work something out.

1st photo is Adah Isaacs Menken, born 1835
2nd photo is Eve Addams born 1891