NorCal War Tax Resisters Grant $$$ for COVID Crisis & Racial Justice Groups

The People’s Life Fund, a group of Northern California tax resisters, will grant $12,000 of re-directed tax money at a public meeting to community based groups and individuals leading the movement for racial justice and divesting from police violence, as well as those addressing the COVID crisis through powerful mutual aid projects.

The Fund will make these grants on July 15 from 5-6 p.m. PDT in a public online granting session that will include representatives from the groups and members of the People’s Life Fund (PLF). (see below for list of recipients)

“The recent massive protests call all of us to take concrete actions to redirect resources away from racist and armed institutions, into Black-led efforts that begin to repair damage to communities of color. Investing resisted war taxes in these projects is a step in that direction,” said PLF member John Lindsay-Poland.

This event will complement war tax resistance protest campaigns organized across the United States—from San Diego to Manhattan—on or near Wednesday, July 15. All protests call for an end to endless war on people of color both inside and beyond the borders of the United States. Plans include traditional protests at post offices and street corners, joining with Black Lives Matters protests to defund racist mechanisms of so-called security, and making their presence felt online by posting the call: “Don’t Pay for War!”

In 1971, war tax resisters in the San Francisco Bay Area formed the People’s Life Fund (PLF). Each April 15, the PLF makes grants to community organizations. Since 2010, PLF has made grants totaling $270,000 to organizations working for peace, social justice, and a sustainable environment. This past April, PLF members redirected $21,850 in resisted war taxes to eleven local social justice organizations that fill human service needs unmet by government agencies and programs.

[LIST OF ORGS AND INDIVIDUALS]
Confirmed Grant Recipients Include:
Black Organizing Project
HOMIES Empowerment Project FREEdom Store
Oakland Communities United for Equity & Justice - Food & Hygiene Distribution
Feed the People - Hotels Not Graves Fund
Anti-Police Terror Project
Jerralynn Brown Blueford, mother of Alan Blueford, killed by OPD
Maria Moore, sister of Kayla Moore, killed by BPD
Encampment for Citizenship