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Submission: Leftists and anti-authoritarians have an obligation to vote out Trump

October 30th, 2020

Dear Friends,

Earlier this month we shared with you our Editorial Committee's letter on 2020 Elections and Antiwar politicsWe're pleased to share this piece in response from Joey Ayoub, a Lebanese academic based in Zurich who writes extensively on anti-authoritarian struggles worldwide. He writes: Biden is problematic, but he can be pushed to the left if we intensify our struggles for justice and equality.

Call for Submissions | Reimagining Safety → Problematizing Policing and Envisioning Alternatives

It’s undeniable: the violent police crackdowns against Black Lives Matter protests throughout the United States in summer 2020 have decreased public support for police and increased criticism of their role in American society. Images and video of heavily armed and armored police tear gassing, pepper spraying, and assaulting demonstrators have vividly called into question the police’s role as “protectors.” These police responses to the sustained calls for racial and economic justice, underscored their role in enforcing the existing oppressive structures of white supremacy and capitalism. Given that policing in the American context has its roots in slave patrols and anti-labor repression, what might alternatives to policing look like? 

We made serious mistakes. An apology to action participants.

Dear friends, organizational partners, allies, and community members:

We’re here to share with our broader community some insight to what WRL has been focusing on internally, and to apologize to our community members and comrades who have been harmed after participating in a WRL action.

For background, we recently held an action in Trump country. Security, safety, coordination, and tactical aspects of the action were planned poorly, and it put people in harm’s way. Risk assessment was miscalculated, particularly for BIPOC folks. Participants were followed, harassed, threatened, and physically attacked by white supremacists.

After action leadership debriefed with the participants, it was clear that we did not adequately prepare our people - who collectively risked so much in every role - for the danger of doing a direct action in a rural white community.

Resources to Stop a Coup

Trump has repeatedly said he will not peacefully transfer power and there is legitimate fear that the election may be stolen. If Trump makes good on this promise, then make no mistake: we are headed towards a coup. 

The President has also called on white supremacists to “protect the vote,” threatened to call out troops to protect (his) ballots and is actively seeding doubts about the integrity of the election process in order to contest it. 

We cannot sit back and watch Republican-led efforts suppress the right to vote.Remember: Black organizers and activists fought for decades using nonviolent tactics to win the right to vote. In a settler-colony like the United States, it's imperative we mobilize to defend hard-won rights so that we may move even closer towards an equitable country.

From rural to suburban to urban areas, people in the United States are organizing in powerful ways to confront white supremacy and police in the streets, to defend our election against a coup, and to de-escalate conflict on the ground. 

We've compiled a list of resources, readings, and free online trainings to help with these efforts. It’s going to take all of us to stop a coup: please read + forward this resource guide to activate more people in defense of our democracy.

What to watch for in tonight’s presidential debate

Ahead of tonight’s U.S. presidential debate, we are thinking of the root causes of war, chiefly: racism, sexism, and all forms of exploitation.

While we don’t know exactly what will come up in tonight’s debate, here are some things to watch out for:

Taxes. We shouldn’t be merely calling for Trump to pay his taxes, or laud the Biden-Harris campaign for paying a significant amount in taxes; nearly half of income tax goes to funding war and militarism. Yes, it is its own issue entirely that wealthy people evade paying their fair share of taxes, but we must always take responsibility for the way our taxes are spent. Check out our pie chart, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes to learn more.

U.S. Elections | Pre-Debate Notes

It is 11 days until election day and tonight is the last debate between the two people who are essentially running to be Commander in Chief of the United States Military. Based off of what we know what topics the moderator will cover, here is what you should watch out for in tonight’s debate:

“Fighting COVID-19”

Both Trump and Biden use “war” language to frame how the government and essential workers are responding to the pandemic: that we are “fighting COVID-19” instead of managing the pandemic, healthcare workers are “battling on the frontlines” instead of being well equipped to safely do their jobs. Remember that we have the resources to invest in public health - we’ve chosen not to.

Race in the United States

The Trump administration has declared war on Black Lives Matter movement, framing the uprising as a series of violent protests. Both the Trump and Biden campaigns repeat the misleading rhetoric of “peaceful” vs “violent” protests. As one of the oldest pacifist organizations in the United States, we’ve heard this rhetoric before. Read our statement debunking common myths on “violent protests.”

For our 97th Birthday, take our membership survey for a chance to win raffle tickets!

Jessie Wallace Hughan

On October 19, 1923, New York City educator and queer activist* Jessie Wallace Hughan wrote in her diary:

“Tracy [Mygatt] to dinner—had hair done—organized real War Resisters League.

That was 97 years ago today.

At WRL resisting war has always meant addressing the root causes of violence by forging relationships and building movements that empower individual people to take collective action. Resisting war requires that we trust each other, know each other, and share alignment in values.

It's time for LANDBACK.

In honor of Indigenous People’s Day we are amplifying visionary, Indigenous-led leadership today from our friends at the NDN Collective, who are launching the LANDBACK Campaign.

LANDBACK is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous lands back into Indigenous hands -- and is more than just a campaign. It is a way of understanding the world that allows us to deepen our relationships across the field of organizing movements. Through LANDBACK, we envision a world where Black, Indigenous & POC liberation co-exists.

This is how LANDBACK describes their work:

No To War in Artsakh! Solidarity with antiwar Armenians and Azeris! Զոորակցություն Հայերի Հետ

No to War in Artsakh!

At least 150 people have been killed so far from the fighting between Turkey-backed Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh and Karabagh) which began last week on September 27th when Azeri forces shelled the area. This conflict, with roots in Russian-drawn borders, Soviet-era imperialism and propped up by the modern day global arms sales, must not be allowed to claim more lives. Below, we are amplifying statements from Armenian and Azeri antiwar activists in the region and in the diaspora with a call to action if you are in the United States:

Call for Submissions: 2020 Elections + Antiwar Politics

2020 Elections & Antiwar Politics

October 3rd, 2020

Friends,

I'm excited to share with you the first call for submissions from War Resisters League's newest committee, the Editorial Committee. We are comprised of writers and organizers based across the Americas with ties to Black, Indigenous, MENA, Latin American, and white communities of resistance. Every month, we meet to discuss pressing issues facing our communities today and invite you to join with a call for submissions. Accepted pieces are published on our page War Resisters on Waging Nonviolence. This month, we discuss elections. Read more below:

-Shiyam

Update October 12th: Call for submissions now closed. Thank you to everyone who pitched, and stay tuned for next month's letter!

Dear Readers,

As millions of people around the world prepare for—or are reacting to the outcomes of—2020 elections, some central questions for activists and organizers are: What is at stake for antiwar and antimilitarist politics? What kinds of violence are associated with elections, and who are often the victims? What prospects are there for advancing a peace agenda? And is any election anywhere free of interference, economically, diplomatically, psychologically, if not militarily?

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