Our country is at a crossroads, and while momentum and people power against the status quo are growing worldwide, so is the backlash from the powers that be. Every day, it becomes clearer that we have to make the choice between a path of divesting from what harms us or continuing to destroy everything we hold dear.
As an organization of post-9/11 veterans and service members committed to making an About Face on the militarism we were part of, we know the right choice is not only possible, but necessary. That's why we're using our experiences in the military to expose the truth about endless war and instead demand a foreign policy that centers people & the planet.
Our path to transformation, healing, and positive action has been steep, but 15 years into it, we are still here, refining our ability to stay in the struggle as it unfurls, learning as we go, and building to win.
As we share this, post-9/11 veterans are gathering in Washington, DC and New York, NY to make our voices heard this Veterans Day. From joining Jane Fonda’s #FireDrillFridays at the White House to protesting Trump’s appearance at the parade in NYC, we’re taking action against the so-called “War on Terror” and demanding that our country's resources be redirected to where communities need them most.
This past year, our veteran members have:
-- Taken the US government to court and WON after being arrested at the border in solidarity with the migrant justice movement
-- Led multiple tour stops from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in South Dakota to the Bay Area, Knoxville to Los Angeles for our Drop the MIC (Military Industrial Complex) Initiative, connecting the dots between the militarism that justifies wars outside the US and that threatens our local communities with policing, ICE, and more here at home
-- Held a community medic training to transform our life-saving skills from a military to a movement context, as the threat of white supremacist activity and state violence grows
-- Mobilized to support indigenous resistance at Mauna Kea, where the National Guard was deployed against Native land protectors defending their sacred mountain
As people rise up worldwide to demand the future we deserve, we know it’s critical that we do EVEN MORE in the year ahead. That’s why we’re inviting you to pitch in to elevate our work from this Veterans Day to the next.
With your help, next year we will:
-- Continue to provide a political home, community haven, and launching pad for servicemembers and veterans as they transform from serving the MIC to exposing it
-- Culminate our Drop the MIC Tour 2.0 with a Week of Action in the spring of 2020, using bold and creative civil disobedience to pressure nominees towards meaningful positions against war and militarism
-- Join with allies across movements to be on point throughout the election season next summer and fall, making visible the profit motive, conflict of interest, and overall immorality of the military industrial complex and how it has insinuated itself in our political system
-- Make sure that decolonization is a cornerstone of our anti-militarist organizing, through creating curriculum focused on the relationship between US militarism and colonization and responding directly to requests for support from Native-led organizing
-- Take our community safety program to the next level through the development of our training capacity and resources; supporting communities who are vulnerable to and/or under threat, including around voter suppression; and holding our second community medic training
If you truly want to honor veterans (or even if you don't) please join us by making a donation to our work for a world that doesn't create them.
Visit our website at aboutfaceveterans.org to sign up for our newsletter and learn more.
