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.

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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.

War tax resisters have a unique message to bring to these actions, especially at this time. There is a growing faction on the left that is disenchanted with electoral politics and is wanting to take direct action. Already, the NWTRCC office has been contacted by a number of people who are fed-up and don’t want to pay for a trump presidency.

So what can we do about it? Well, war tax resisters are organizing around the country to march, disrupt, and do community education about tax resistance. Check out our facebook event to get in touch with tax resisters in your area who are wanting to march or do an action together on the 20th or the 21st.  

January 20th

The goal of the actions on the 20th are very clear, to disrupt the inauguration as best as possible. There are a diversity of groups and tactics, including nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience. The organizers are encouraging people to help shut down the inauguration in DC as well as disrupt business as usual in cities around the country. On their website, Disrupt J20 writes,

“Trump stands for tyranny, greed, and misogyny. He is the champion of neo-nazis and white Nationalists, of the police who kill the Black, Brown and poor on a daily basis, of racist border agents and sadistic prison guards, of the FBI and NSA who tap your phone and read your email. He is the harbinger of even more climate catastrophe, deportation, discrimination, and endless war. […] From day one, the Trump presidency will be a disaster. #DisruptJ20 will be the start of the resistance. We must take to the streets and protest, blockade, disrupt, intervene, sit in, walk out, rise up, and make more noise and good trouble than the establishment can bear.”

There are currently solidarity actions planned in over 15 cities around the country. The call, to become Ungovernable in 2017, starts on the 20th but is proposed to continue throughout the year and beyond. Read more about the Ungovernable platform and the planned uprisings here.  

January 21st

Hundreds of thousands of people are mobilizing for the Women’s March in Washington, DC on January 21st. Can’t make it to DC? There are Women’s Marches happening around the entire country, such as this one in San Diego and another in Portland, Oregon.

All told, organizers are expecting close to 300 simultaneous marches around the world with millions of people in the streets. This promises to be a powerful showing against the patriarchy and sexism that dominates election cycles, our movements, and the very foundation of our society.

On their website, the Women’s March organizers write,

“We support the advocacy and resistance movements that reflect our multiple and intersecting identities. We call on all defenders of human rights to join us. This march is the first step towards unifying our communities, grounded in new relationships, to create change from the grassroots level up. We will not rest until women have parity and equity at all levels of leadership in society. We work peacefully while recognizing there is no true peace without justice and equity for all.”

You can read more about the Women’s Marches here.

What You Can Do

Organize a war tax resistance action group in your area and let us know so we can publicize the great work that everyone is doing around the country. Check out our facebook event and help coordinate war tax resisters in your area to plan an action or march together.

If you want materials to leaflet with at the actions—Divest from War, Invest in People cards are free to you!— please contact Ruth (nwtrcc@nwtrcc.org) as soon as possible so she can send them to you in time.

(In this piece, lower-case letters are used to challenge the domination of the office of the president of the united states and donald trump)

Post by Sam Koplinka-Loehr

The post War Tax Resisters Plan To Protest The Inauguration! first appeared on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.

The post War Tax Resisters Plan To Protest The Inauguration! appeared first on National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee.