NWTRCC will be hosting another introduction to war tax resistance (WTR 101) on Thursday December 7th at 2pm Eastern time and 11am Pacific time on Zoom. You can find out how to register in the section under WTR 101 as well as previous sessions. Other videos can be found on NWTRCC’s YouTube channel, especially the short, informative video explaining W-4 resistance. As 2023 comes to a close, this is a great time to adjust your W-4 in preparation for resisting taxes for war prior to Tax Day, April 2024.
Folleto sobre controlando las deducciones del impuesto federal
al salario usando resistencia a la Forma W-4.
While NWTRCC was gathering at the Friends meeting house in Purchase, New York, people were gathering in the streets throughout the country as they have been since October 7 when a new wave of violence erupted in Israel and Palestine. There was a rather large demonstration in Washington DC on that Saturday. A couple of the panelists on Friday evening were traveling the next morning to attend and emphasize the world wide call for peace.
In addition to the panels that took place throughout the weekend, discussing the funding of current wars and the horrifying prospect of nuclear war, NWTRCC joined the Concerned Families of Westchester during their weekly Saturday vigil since 2001. Lincoln Rice, Coordinator of NWTRCC, addressed the crowd that had focused on the theme of “Guns and Butter” and shared information about how people can resist paying for wars.
It seems we are at a turning point where people are engaged. As we were gathering at our November meeting and had discussions about how to outreach to people increasingly concerned about the slaughter happening with US taxpayer money, people were discovering and sharing the vast NWTRCC resources. People were also gathering online to find ways to stop paying for these wars.
Divest from the Pentagon, Invest in People. Redirect your taxes from war to peace! National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, nwtrcc.org, 800.269.7464
In the days before NWTRCC gathered, two of the tweets we shared had received close to 5,000 views. Previously, it may take a few months to gather that many impressions on the platform currently known as X. People were also fanning out on different mediums: our following on Instagram increased from a few hundred to over 6,000 in just a few weeks. People are seeking ways to transform their outrage at this mass slaughter of innocents with our hard earned money and find ways to invest in peace and justice for our world.
We are witnessing NWTRCC’s network expanding! There was a tenfold increase in people attending our WTR 101 sessions with over 300 people attending the 2 sessions over a week time span. We have been contacted by many people interested in learning more about how to stop funding war.
From its inception, NWTRCC has always been sharing up to date information about resisting workers’ hard earned money for war and to provide a community of support to those resisting. We have also partnered with other organizations who are active in peace and justice making.
At the heart of NWTRCC, we are a community. One highlight of the weekend was having the War Resisters League traveling exhibit to commemorate 100 years of peacemaking. Ruth Benn, Ed Hedemann, and Rick Bickhart, members of both NWTRCC and WRL, collaborated on creating the panels that included the history of WRL, some of their campaigns as well as photos of some of the actions over the decades. All of the content of the panels are in the book War Resisters League: 100 Years of Resistance to War and the Causes of War. If anyone is interested in hosting the exhibit, more information can be found here: warresisters.org/host-wrl-centennial-exhibit-your-community
Encourage people to reach out to fellow activists of all ages. We are hearing from people who have known about WTR and are now ready to commit. Some of the common themes coming out of these gatherings and sessions has been the need to emphasize a positive peace, that we are building the world we long for through the redirection of our tax money and other resources, knowing we do not have to do any of it alone.
There is a Pace e Bene Tax Resistance Affinity group that will be meeting on December 2nd at 12pm Eastern time. You can find more information about this affinity group here or email outreach@nwtrcc.org for more information. Please help us spread the word!
Post by Chrissy Kirchhoefer
I wanted to leave you with some beauty, Here is a poem by Em Berry
(but things can change) Because of Us
This morning I learned
The English word gauze
(finely woven medical cloth)
Comes from the Arabic word […] Ghazza
Because Gazans have been skilled weavers for centuries
I wondered then
how many of our wounds
have been dressed
because of them
and how many of theirs
have been left open
because of us
NWTRCC has been with us for over 40 years now. Thanks to a wide variety of support from many people. We are working for the change in the world that we want to happen. For some of us, this has been an endless task for our entire lives, and we are glad to see more people joining in the effort. Change is not easy and it will not happen if we do nothing.