In 1981, shortly after Ronald Reagan became President, the right to choose to have an abortion and sexual freedom was increasingly under attack.

The Feminist and Lesbian and Gay Task Forces of the Mobilization for Survival (MfS), a national network that included WRL, with goals to: abolish nuclear weapons and power, stop military intervention, meet human needs, and reverse the arms race, introduced this resolution:

On September 11, 2001, War Resisters League staff person David McReynolds, wrote this from the WRL National Office which was only a mile and half north of the World Trade Towers.

April 29th, 2021

Uncovering the roots of Barbara Deming’s revolutionary nonviolence and feminism

By Joanne Sheehan

This article has been adapted from a talk on “The Revolutionary Nonviolence by Barbara Deming: Two Handed Practices” which Joanne Sheehan gave with Ynestra King, who is writing a book about Barbara Deming.

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.