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
These topics are excellent for webinar format. Will spread the word!
Great! Here’s the link to the facebook event to share: https://www.facebook.com/events/418664928473045/
Will these be recorded to listen to later if I can’t attend at the scheduled time? We’re holding a lobbying training event the same time on the 25th. Will the March 4th and Feb. 18th webinars be identical, or contain different or additional information?
Thanks for your questions! The webinars will be recorded and distributed publicly afterwards. The Feb 18 and Mar 4 webinars cover the same topics.
Why didn’t you start this when President Obama began bombing more countries than President Bush? Also the inaction of the federal government to control the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore were also under President Obama. The protests at Standing Rock were also ignored by President Obama.
While I did not vote for President Trump,neither did I vote for Hillary Clinton. This seems more like a rage response to ” your over confident pre ordained Candidate” losing what she considered her rightful throne.
My candidate didn’t win either; I will however support our lawfully elected government . Oddly enough ,that can be done while disagreeing with individual policy decisions. Same as I had done with President Obama’s ” I have a pen and a phone ” declaration. A declaration that anyone no matter what ” corrupt” political party one follows, should have been taken as an declaration of disdain for the American Constitution and the individual powers granted to each branch of the government.
Hi Mathieu,
Thanks for the great question! Indeed, you are completely right that President Obama and his administration oversaw intense military and state violence, oftentimes with very little public outcry or protest—but we were resisting. Speaking personally, I started war tax resistance under the Obama Administration—as he maintained illegal wars, deported thousands of people, increased drone warfare, and did not do enough to stop police murdering black and brown people in the streets in our country. All to say, war tax resistance is actually not tied to a particular candidate or resistance to a particular party. This blog post is specifically about reaching folks who are politicized during this time and wanting to take action because of Trump’s escalation of violent policies (wanting to increase military spending to $1 trillion every year, increased border militarization, immediate repression and violence against water protectors at Standing Rock, etc). But check out our blog and other resources to see how we have been active in supporting war tax resisters under administrations since our coalition formed in 1982.
So far, democrats, republicans, or whoever has been in the White House makes relatively little difference—the United States status quo has been one of violence here at home and violence abroad all targeting black, brown, and indigenous people. That said, during this particular time, many people are seeing these systems for what they are—and we are inviting them to join us in resistance and redirecting tax dollars to black, brown, and indigenous organizers who are working for justice.