We are a coalition of individuals working to divest the city of Chattanooga, TN from the war machine!

Divestment from the War Machine means divesting (removing invested assets) from companies that derive their profits from nuclear weapons, military interventions, the global arms trade, and the militarization of our streets.

Sign our divestment petition here!

Sign on as an endorsing organization here.

For more information, contact [email protected].

Divest Richmond from the War Machine is a coalition of different people and organizations, organized around a single focus of divesting money from militarism and into community-focused programs like education, healthcare, and climate action to the greatest extent possible within Richmond. Our short-term goal is to pass a Move the Money resolution in Richmond to demonstrate our city’s support for redirecting military spending towards human and environmental needs, with a long-term vision of divesting Richmond’s public funds from weapons manufacturers and defense contractors. We also collaborate with organizations across Virginia and the United States interested in furthering our shared goal of combating military interventionism and endless wars.

You can learn more about the campaign and see a list of current coalition members here.

EMAIL/LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN

📧 Email/write your Richmond City Councilmember asking them to pass a Move the Money Resolution that will urge Congress to fund human and environmental needs, not military expansion!

Sample letter:

Dear Councilmember,

I urge the City of Richmond, Virginia to pass a Move the Money resolution calling on the federal government to move significant funds away from the military budget to fund human and environmental needs.

According to the National Priorities Project, the average Virginia taxpayer paid $4,578 on military spending in 2019 alone. At the same time, Virginia currently ranks 41st in the nation in per-pupil spending on education, and studies show that just a $1,000 increase in this area is enough to raise test scores, graduation rates, and college enrollment. In fact, studies show that investments in education, healthcare, and clean energy would create more jobs - and in many cases, better-paying jobs, than military sector spending. 

Likewise, the Pittsburgh bridge collapse that happened earlier this year is a stark reminder of the risk of neglecting domestic needs, and one that hits close to home, since hundreds of bridges in Virginia are also structurally deficient and in need of repair. At the same time, President Biden recently proposed ratcheting up the Pentagon budget to $770 billion. Our infrastructure is literally crumbling at the same time that our nation’s military budget gets higher and higher every year, further fueling a wasteful and ineffective system that wages endless wars abroad while doing nothing to improve the lives of American citizens.  

Move the Money is a national movement that calls on the government to redirect military spending towards vital human and environmental needs. The Move the Money movement starts in our cities, where dozens of municipalities across the country — including Charlottesville right here in Virginia — have already successfully passed resolutions calling for cuts to the Pentagon budget. 

Americans are supposed to be directly represented in Congress. Our local and state governments are also supposed to represent us to Congress. Most city council members in the United States take an oath of office promising to support the U.S. Constitution. Representing your constituents to higher levels of government, through municipal resolutions like the Move the Money campaign, is part of how you can do that.

Additionally, the Move the Money movement builds on our country’s rich tradition of municipal action on national and international issues. For example, as early as 1798, the Virginia State Legislature passed a resolution using the words of Thomas Jefferson, which condemned federal policies penalizing France. A more recent example, the anti-apartheid movement, illustrated the power that cities and states can hold over national and international policy. Therefore, I urge the City of Richmond, Virginia to pass a Move the Money resolution calling on the United States Congress to move our tax dollars from militarism to human and environmental needs.

Signed,

Send a message to your city councilmember below, telling them to move the money from the military to human and environmental needs!

Tell the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund Board to Divest from War! 

Right now, hundreds of millions of dollars of Chicago teachers' pension are being invested in the largest weapons corporations in the world. Teachers do the most important job in our city: don't let their pensions fund genocide, dictatorships, and war.

If you are a Chicago teacher, consider signing this petition to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) with your CPS school email, and share your own feelings in the comments to the CTPF.

Any questions, comments, or concerns please send to: [email protected]

*By signing this petition, you are signing up to join the CODEPINK and World Beyond War email lists.

PETITION

To: Chicago Teachers Pension Fund

From: [Your Name]

To the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF),

As a Chicago resident, I am asking you to divest from companies which perpetuate and profit from war. According to its Spring 2021 report, the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund has at least $260 million invested in global weapons companies including the top five: Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin. With these investments, the CTPF is, most likely unknowingly, using teachers’ wages to support war and genocide. We have been made unwittingly responsible for a contribution to the worst type of crime that exists. 

Military products made by corporations that the CTPF is invested in are used for the most severe crimes on earth today. For example, the illegal invasion of Yemen from 2015 through the present has intentionally targeted civilians thousands of times, as well as food shipping ports, and healthcare facilities, creating what the UN calls the “worst humanitarian crisis in the world” [1], and what many have termed genocide [2]. U.S. corporations have provided 89% of the invaders' bombs [3], directly killing an estimated 91,800 in Yemen so far, and an estimated 223,000 more have been killed due to the loss of food and healthcare, mostly children [4]. 

Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin are creators of more than just one catastrophe. They’re five of the world’s largest weapons exporters [5]. They are the largest military contractors to the U.S. government, which arms 73% of the world’s dictators [6], and three fourths of all national armies that conscript child soldiers [7].

These corporations contribute to the existential threats of climate change and nuclear destruction. Just one client, the US military, emits more greenhouse gasses than most entire countries [8]. This, alongside their nuclear arms production, makes these companies a danger to all peoples and species on earth.

The CTPF reinvests our earnings to secure our future, and must make good on its commitments to “keeping the respect and trust of the participants”, and ensuring its investment practices are “in compliance with applicable laws” [9]. Even if every pension in the country invested in these companies, it would be no excuse for the CTPF. Chicagoans are responsible for our money, our actions, and each other. CTPF has invested a substantial amount of our money responsibly [10], and we are thankful for that. However, we can’t let any more of it be used in support of war crimes or genocide. We ask you to reinvest these funds somewhere else, so we will not be responsible for killing any longer.

We ask that the CTPF sell existing investments and securities in these companies and all weapons manufacturers listed on this linked database, and adopt a Socially Responsible Investment Policy prohibiting future investments in weapons producing companies.

Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Signed,

_______________________________

Together with the Divest Chicago from the War Machine Coalition

Footnotes/Resources

[1] Humanitarian crisis in Yemen remains the worst in the world, warns UN, UN News, 2/14/19, URL

[2] Bachman, A ‘synchronised attack’ on life: the Saudi-led coalition’s ‘hidden and holistic’ genocide in Yemen and the shared responsibility of the US and UK, 2019, URL; Bachman, Jeffrey, PHD, The Conversation, 11/26/18, URL; 8 U.S. Code § 1091. Genocide, URL

[3] Trade Registers, SIPRI, URL.

To identify 89% statistic: “Supplier(s)” is set to “All”, ‘recipients’ is set to “Saudi Arabia”, “years” is set to 2015 to 2020, and “weapons” is set to missiles. Counting only the numbers “delivered”, reveals 54,989 US missiles, and 7000 from all other countries. Of 61,989 total missiles, U.S. missiles are 89% (88.7%). Of U.S. missiles delivered to Saudi Arabia, 17,493 or 32% are from Raytheon, 1,850 or 3% are from Boeing, and Lockheed sold 34,346 or 62%, Other: 2100 or 4%.

[4] Moyer, Assessing the Impact of War on Development in Yemen, UNDP, 11/23/21, URL; Yemen Snapshots: 2015–2019, ACLED, 6/18/19, URL

[5] Bowler, Which Country dominates the Global Arms Trade? BBC, 5/10/18, URL; 2021 Top 100, Defense News, accessed 12/21, URL, accsd 1/7/22

[6] Whitney, US Provides Military Assistance to 73 Percent of World’s Dictatorships, Truthout, 9/23/17, URL

[7] Stohl, The Trump Administration is Failing to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, The National Interest, 8/24/18 URL; Trump, Presidential Determination with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, White House, 9/28/18, URL; Obama, Memorandum for the Secretary of State, Presidential Determinations with Respect to the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, and Delegation of Authority Under Section 404(c) of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, White House, 9/28/2016, URL; Obama, Memorandum for the Secretary of State, Presidential Memorandum — Child Soldiers Prevention Act, White House, 10/25/2010, URL; Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008: Security Assistance Restrictions, Congressional Research Service, 07/10/19, URL; Becker, US State Department’s Lie about Child Soldiers, 6/26/17, URL; Foreign Policy Magazine, 6/30/17, URL

[8] Kehrt, The U.S. Military Emits More Carbon Dioxide Into the Atmosphere Than Entire Countries Like Denmark or Portugal, Inside Climate News, 1/18/22, URL

[9] Mission and History, CTPF, 12/21, URL

[10] Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund Remains Leader among Pension Funds in Minority, Women and Disabled-Owned Business Enterprise Efforts, CTPF, 8/20/20, URL

Additional Resources:

https://medium.com/@divestchicagoteachers/ctpf-petition-works-36d05d5427cb 

Tell the Chicago Committee on Finance to Divest from War!

Chicago is currently investing taxpayer dollars in the War Machine through its pension funds, which are invested in weapons manufacturers and war profiteers.

Fortunately, Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa has introduced a resolution into the Chicago City Council to Divest from War which currently has 9 co-sponsors.

The Resolution was just moved to the Finance Committee, and they need to hear that constituents support it!

📧Email and ☎️Call the Finance Committee asking them to support the Chicago City Council Resolution to #DivestFromWar!

*By signing this petition, you are signing up to join the CODEPINK and World Beyond War email lists.

🎉 On Monday, November 7, 2022, the Corvallis, Oregon City Council unanimously passed a resolution to prohibit the city from investing in companies which produce weapons of war! 🎉

You can read more about this exciting victory here.

We desire to live in a nation where military spending is based on actual national and human security needs, not influenced by profits on weaponry. Our country's currently excessive "defense" expenditures should be curbed in favor of supporting our outstanding needs for health, environmental sustainability, education, justice, and peace in our world. Read more on why divestment matters here.

Could your town be next?

For more info or to join CDfW, contact [email protected].

Vision: 

We desire to live in a country where decisions about defense spending are  based on actual national and human security needs, not influenced by profits on weapons. We recognize that "defense" expenditures eliminate jobs that could contribute to a healthier, more sustainable, and more peaceful world.

Mission:

Divestment from the War Machine means divesting (removing invested assets) from companies that derive their profits from nuclear weapons, military interventions, the global arms trade, and the militarization of our streets.

Strategy:

We endeavor to research the extent to which entities within the state, and the state of Vermont itself have their investments tied to major weapons manufacturers, and to create relationships with investors and investment decision makers to allow us to work with them to see the wisdom of divesting from companies that profit from weapons and war.  

🎉On Monday, July 12, 2021, the Burlington Vermont City Council passed a resolution to divest from weapons manufacturers in a 10-1 vote.🎉

You can read more about this exciting victory here!

Get involved and Contact:

Are you interested in getting more involved with the campaign to divest Vermont from the war machine? Sign up here and an organizer will be in touch! Or, you can reach out to John Reuwer [email protected] 

Campaign Co-Sponsors:

WILPF, Veterans for Peace, World Beyond War 

Campaign Resources: 

• Divest List: Find the list of companies we are seeking to divest from and the sources of that information.
• Burlington, Vermont City Council Resolution
• Divest/Invest Screen: Screen our individual and institutional investments to exclude companies that profit from war.
• Reasons to Divest from the War Machine NOW! 

Individual Divestment: 

Our ultimate goal is to divest local institutions which have thousands and sometimes millions of dollars invested in weapons manufacturers from the war machine. However, individual divestment can be a powerful first step! Here are steps you can take to divest yourself from the war machine: 

1. Take this Divestment Screen to your financial advisor to make sure you're not personally invested in the war machine.
2. Use our guide to ethical banks to find banks that are working toward environmental and social governance and/or
   community development 
3. You can talk to socially-responsible investment firms located in Vermont about managing your socially responsible investments and divesting from the war machine: 
   • Greenvest- Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investors  
   • Rock Point Advisors 
   • Clean Yield Asset Management 
4.  If you are interested in looking at particular mutual funds or exchange traded funds in your personal investments or 401K or 403b plans to see if they are invested in weapons manufacture, here is an easy to use screen.   If you've chosen to personally divest, we'd love to celebrate-- contact [email protected] to let them know! 

Webinar:

On Wednesday, May 19 2021 we hosted a Divest Vermont from the War Machine webinar to discuss the campaign. You can watch the educational webinar here: https://youtu.be/PXPb92ngDww  

A coalition of peace activists in Rhode Island are working to pass legislation to reduce the danger of nuclear war and identify the state's investments in military contractors.

H.7518 is a resolution that urges the federal government to pursue a broad range of measures to reduce the danger of nuclear war, to sign and ratify the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (TPNW) to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of our national security policy, and to spearhead a global effort to present nuclear war. 

H.7482 calls for the Treasurer's office and the state investment commission that manages the state pension fund to identify the pension funds holdings, direct or bundled, of military contractors stock.

Read more: Local peace groups support state legislation on nuclear weapons and state investments in war

Resources:

• Divestment Fact Sheet 
• Divest from the War Machine Infographic

Support for last year's organizing efforts: 

• Christian Sorensen, Senior Fellow with the Eisenhower Media Network
• Lawrence Wilkerson, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret).
• Leslie William T. Robinson
• Linda Stevens
• Sister Mary Pendergast RSM
• William J. Astore
• Les Robinson speaks at the UN International Day of Peace event in Rhode Island

Take action to Divest Philly from Nukes!

Four of the financial institutions that manage the Pension Board’s assets — Lord Abbett High Yield, Ariel Capital Holdings, Fiera Capital, and Northern Trust — collectively have billions invested in nuclear weapons. We’re urging the Philadelphia Board of Pensions to instruct these asset managers to exclude the top nuclear weapons producers from its holdings.

You can learn more about the campaign and see a list of current coalition members here.

Cities across the U.S. are being deprived of vital funds as the result of an inflated military budget that places war and militarism as higher priorities than the true needs of communities and citizens. As a result, our communities are deprived of adequate funding for life-affirming sectors, while billions of tax dollars are funneled directly to weapons companies each year. Following on the heels of Philadelphia's successful divestment from private prisons and gun manufacturers, we urge the Board of Pensions to pass a resolution divesting the city from nuclear weapons. Approximately 15,000 nuclear weapons are presently deployed in at least 9 countries, many of which can be launched and reach their targets within 45 minutes. An accidental missile launch could lead to the greatest global public health disaster in recorded history. The city of Charlottesville, VA divested from the war machine! It's time for Philly to follow Charlottesville's lead and divest from nuclear weapons.