We’re going to be honest with you; our fundraising isn’t where it needs to be. We’ve raised just under half of what we’ll need to keep our programs going in 2020. We believe this work is important because we believe a better world is possible: just read from staff below. And we know that as a supporter, you share WRL's commitment to antiwar work.
Which, is why we're asking you to do one of two things today: Support WRL’s work by giving today (your gift will be matched!) OR forward this message to your contacts explaining why you believe in this work and ask them to make a donation.
Heading into 2020, we’re seeing the results of antimilitarist organizing: more and more criticism of “endless wars,” especially as 2020 Presidential hopefuls take the stage; groundbreaking resistance to the ways ICE, Border Patrol, the police, and the military work together to endanger our communities; and increasing recognition of the ties cultural institutions have to the arms industry.
We hope you'll read year-end reflections from WRL’s national staff below and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for daring to dream with us, to imagine, and to reshape our very sense of what’s possible in this world.
The world is rumbling with revolutions. Watching young people everywhere jump turnstiles, face off against armed police, bust through fences, and link arms in the streets has me feeling moved by the urgency and possibility of what a global antimilitarist movement can be, and must be. A demilitarized world of sovereign peoples is in our future, and WRL has been hard at work strategizing our path ahead: we build the capacity of frontline organizers, train people across generations in revolutionary, nonviolent direct action, and generate the tools and resources that have been used to end SWAT trainings, campus military recruitment, and the construction of nuclear power plants, among many other victories. The military industrial complex grows weaker by the day with your support. Thank you for struggling with us! - Yuni Chang, Field Organizer
We’ve been building so much this year with new staff, new direction, and a sense of our rooted history as an organization. WRL, with so many other groups around the world, is committed to challenging state violence in all its forms. From traveling to the WRI conference in Bogota, hosting teach-ins on antimilitarist approaches to the Trans Ban, coordinating direct actions outside of the National Homeland Security Conference, and training activists in revolutionary nonviolence, this work is resource intensive. If you believe in the power of internationalist, principled antimilitarism and an antiwar movement that is connected to the wider ecosystem of resistance, I hope you’ll help us keep the lights on and the work going by supporting us with a donation this year. - Tory Smith, National Organizer
This has been a tumultuous year, full of excitement and challenges. WRL has been in the streets protesting war, militarism, and injustice; and we have also been in the office, at meetings and trainings, and strategy sessions. We have held panel discussions, conference calls, and gatherings to generate ideas for action, to educate and inspire people to join the struggle, and to develop the big picture guiding us forward. We have made phone calls, coordinated mailings and developed and shipped out new resources used by you all over the country as you organize against militarism, war, racism, sexism and all the root causes of war. As we head into the next year, we need your support. Please dig deep and give what you can. - Linda Thurston, Office Coordinator
This has been SUCH a fulfilling couple of months working with WRL on a bold, new counter recruitment resource this season! It has been so refreshing to be surrounded by my comrades who support the work to resist militarism in all forms. Doing this work can sometimes mean taking a long, hard look at our histories and holding space for learning and growth. I am forever thankful for the chance to stare history directly in the eyes to build a world we deserve to be proud of today. There truly is strength in numbers when organizing towards a more peaceful, brilliant future. Happy December to all; I am so grateful for all your support in this work. - Heath Rudd, Bilezikian Intern
I’m joining War Resisters League at a time when the stakes are high: we are seeing an upward trend in fascism and an uptick in mass mobilization movements. We are also seeing an urgent need within the left to promote a politic that remains consistent between settler-colonial and authoritarian political structures. As communications coordinator, I’m asking myself: how can WRL, a Western-based, English speaking organization, harmonize its communications across protest movements for justice around the world? War Resisters League is the place where we can not only explore these questions and challenges, but begin to build, to act, and to achieve gains. Thank you for making this work possible. - Shiyam Galyon, Communications Coordinator
As climate change, fascism, and white supremacy gain traction around the world, it’s vitally important that we remain clear-sighted about what we want and need; I’m so grateful for WRL’s commitment to boldly believing that we can do better. I’m also keenly aware that if we want to win, we need to have the freedom to experiment. That’s part of what has kept WRL’s work relevant for over 95 years; the agility that comes from a funding model that relies on the support of individual people who believe in WRL’s vision and who fund our work with small and large donations. I hope you’ll help to keep this important work alive by making a special year-end gift, and thank you for all you do! - Emma Burke, Development Coordinator
