A long time ago (not so long actually, it was only in October of this year) in a galaxy far, far away (called “The Northeast”), it is a period of civil war. A lone rebel spaceship, striking from a hidden base (Philadelphia), won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet (the Military Industrial Complex, funded by hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars).

Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents (cops be everywhere), Princess Leia (Sam) raced aboard her starship (rental car), custodian of the stolen plans (War Tax Resistance literature) that can save people and restore freedom to the galaxy….

Leia (Sam) took a number of stops while on her way to deliver the secret stolen plans, including refueling and delivering secret messages on a few important planets (Haverford, Amherst, and Bates Colleges). She took time to explain the plans for resistance against the Empire and insure that everyone understood the plan. The Jedi Initiates and Padawans (college students) were eager to learn about the force behind War Tax Resistance and how they could get involved in the struggle against the Dark Side.

Padawans learning about the force behind War Tax Resistance (Actual footage from Sam’s presentation at Bates College)

While the future of the resistance’s plans are ultimately in the hands of R2-D2 (interpret how you see fit…), it was clear that the relationships Princess Leia (Sam) built with people along the way would carry the resistance forward on these small yet important planets. For many facing the empire’s strong presence taking over their small communities throughout the galaxy, this truly felt like A NEW HOPE.

Aight…. Now for the non-star wars fans out there, here’s a brief summary of my last organizing trip in perhaps a more clear yet *clearly more boring* fashion…. In the middle of October, I did three back-to-back presentations at colleges in the Northeast as part of a whirlwind self-dubbed Tax Resistance Education And Power-up Tour (TREAPT, another catchy acronym like NWTRCC…).

The first one was at Haverford College, hosted by Grace Brosnan and the Anti-capitalist group at Haverford. We ended up having a blast, with lots of good conversations and about twenty students trickling in as the night went on. It was clear that people were thirsty for concrete resistance steps in a time of so much societal oppression. Students were particularly excited about trying to get more money from their rich institution and rich people at the college to be redistributed to community organizers in Philadelphia.

The next presentation was at Amherst College as part of a panel discussion on divestment strategies and regional campaigns for justice. Other panelists included Anthony Tallow and Susan Theberge from All Nations Rising and the Sugarshack Alliance. The two groups have brought native and non-native people together in resistance to the proposed pipelines in the Western Massachusetts region. Another panelist talked about the ongoing campaigns at UMass Amherst and Amherst College to get their colleges to divest from prisons and fossil fuel companies. I talked about when I was a student activist and how to not get co-opted by administrators, and how maintaining radical politics and direct action is important for ourselves and others. The other panelists and many of the students there were stoked about tax resistance and wanting to learn more.

The last presentation I did was at the Queer and Trans Youth Conference of Maine at Bates College. This was a group of high school and college students. My talk and following discussion, Resisting False Solutions: How trans liberation is being defined by our participation in state violence, drew on my blog post about the “Trans Military Ban” and engaged people in an honest discussion about how we as trans and queer people could refuse to assimilate and resist all oppression instead.

All told, it was a dope college tour. It’s clear we need to do more of these, and that we should have young folks doing the presentations. Being able to bond over being young and wanting to resist was important. I still have a lot of follow-up to do that has slipped behind with getting ready for the NWTRCC gathering and all, but now I am able to catch up a bit. There were a number of students that were interested in interning with us over the summer, so we’ll see where it goes from here!

The post A NEW HOPE (Sam’s October College Tour) first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post A NEW HOPE (Sam’s October College Tour) appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

Image created by Sam Koplinka-Loehr, NWTRCC

There has been renewed interest in war tax resistance following Trump’s inauguration. Something has clicked in the minds of thousands of people across the country… we don’t want to pay for Trump’s agenda! While many of the reasons people are fed up—extreme militarism, mass incarceration, police brutality, and mass deportations—are part of the foundation of our country, it is exciting to see many new people contacting NWTRCC and wanting to organize in their communities.

We have a series of webinars coming up in the next few weeks to support this new wave of resisters. Join us online to learn more about war tax resistance and our redirection effort for this year!

Webinars

UPDATE: These webinars are over, but you can see recordings on our YouTube channel! And check out the analysis below by NWTRCC’s field organizer.

War Tax Resistance 101 with Erica Weiland, NWTRCC Social Media Coordinator
Saturday, February 18th, 1 – 2 pm EST

Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance! with Sam Koplinka-Loehr, NWTRCC Field Organizer
Saturday, February 25th, 2 – 3 pm EST

War Tax Resistance 101 with David Gross, a long-time war tax resister
Saturday, March 4th, 2 – 3 pm EST

War Tax Resistance 101 will cover the history of war tax resistance, which modern taxes go to war and militarism, reasons to resist, and ways to resist. There will be time for Q&A at the end.

Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance! will cover the collective redirection initiative of war tax resisters around the country this year. It will also include information on the logistics of redirection, and how tax resistance can be a tactic for racial justice.

RSVP is required for the webinars; please register here.

NWTRCC is hoping to support independent organizing efforts as well as provide some vision during this period of increased resistance.

***

To help frame this time in history, I want to address the glue that binds the whole system together: white supremacy.

Whether we are looking at drone strikes in Pakistan, police killings in Philadelphia, or the national guard holding checkpoints out at Standing Rock, there is one common theme: our government is escalating violence against Black, Brown, and Indigenous People. This is not new—indeed, white supremacy and violence have been the bedrock of our country since its founding—but the Trump administration has taken the extra step to raise the thin veil, making the system of white supremacy explicitly clear.

During the first days in office, the Trump administration took a series of actions reinforcing white supremacy. While some of them were very well publicized, like the Muslim immigration ban, others were more subtle. One of the first things on the new White House website was a policy statement that read, “The dangerous anti-police atmosphere in America is wrong. The Trump Administration will end it.” This effectively put Black Lives Matter organizations and any group that is challenging racist police violence on notice. Then, just yesterday the administration approved the Dakota Access Pipeline, the path of which crosses directly through the territory of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

Image created by Erica Weiland, NWTRCC

War tax resistance takes direct action to challenge this racist system. During a workshop I helped lead in Philadelphia last month, I was reminded of Wally Nelson’s saying, “What would you do if someone came to your door with a cup in hand asking for a contribution to help buy guns and kill a group of people they didn’t like?” But in my mind it shifted to, “What would you do if a random organization wanted to build hundreds of prisons, give people guns on the streets, build tanks and fighter jets, all to lock up, kill, and oppress Black, Brown, and Indigenous People?” We would see it for what it is—a white supremacist organization—and many more of us we would refuse to pay.

Tax resistance is just one piece of the puzzle though; redirecting that money is the next piece. This year, I am excited to announce a new initiative that war tax resisters are taking on across the country, to redirect tax dollars to Black, Brown, and Indigenous organizers who are fighting for liberation. To read more about this critically important effort and to get involved, check out our website! You can also join me for a webinar, Redirecting Taxes to Black, Brown, and Indigenous Resistance, that will be on Saturday, February 25th from 2 – 3 pm eastern time.

Onwards in the struggle together!

Sam

The post Upcoming Webinars on War Tax Resistance and Redirection first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Upcoming Webinars on War Tax Resistance and Redirection appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

One of the most gratifying things about war tax resistance for many of us is being able to use our money, time, and passion to build a better world right now. If I give my tax dollars to non-profits, I promote and help enact the type of world I want to live in (and depending on my income level and donation amounts, I might reduce my taxable income too!).

If I am able and choose to live under the taxable income line, I may have extra time to redirect to community projects. For example, longtime war tax resister Karl Meyer has been able to rehabilitate several homes to form the Nashville Greenlands community (read this article from 2000). These low-cost homes allow folks to live on low incomes and spend more time on activities that are most meaningful to them.

And for folks like Elizabeth Boardman, who are holding their war taxes aside as they pursue legal challenges to our military taxation system, and for everyone who resists paying war taxes, they are still redirecting their consent from the military to peace.

It is impossible to remove all of our money, time, and effort from the military – the web of militarization and taxation covers so many aspects of society. But the joy of war tax resistance is redirecting, as much as possible, from that system to the world we want to create.

Post by Erica

The post Redirecting Our Money, Time, and Focus from War first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post Redirecting Our Money, Time, and Focus from War appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.