The following post EMERGENT is being posted over and over again in r/50501. I have nothing to do with any of the organizing formally, informally, or otherwise and have no idea what's going on other than the information that is being publicly shared.
I did want to take a moment to explain briefly why non-profits, trademarks, and PACs are important though. Non-profits as both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) provide a formal legal entity that can hold assets (like money) and conduct activity (like pay for materials or pay for legal services). 501(c)(3)s are one of the ways we organize. It's also important to remember that 501(c)(3)s are actually prohibited from being political. 501(c)(4)s are similar to 501(c)(3)s, but donations to them can not be tax deductible, however they are allowed to engage in political activities, like writing legislative proposals and lobbying elected representatives to effect change. And if you want to take in funds to run a campaign to elect certain people to office that is where a PAC would come in to play.
These are formal organizing tools that have been used in social movements consistently going all the way back to the civil rights movement. They are not bad or a determent to organizing. They are how people organize formally. It is also worth remembering that Labor Unions are a type of non-profit, as are Churches. They are a vehicle with a purpose and anyone can form one, they just have legally prescribed purposes and bounds for how they can act.
But then could just anyone form a non-profit and call themselves the same thing to confuse people and potentially tarnish the work you're doing? Maybe.. The way you legally protect your brand and your logos and keep them from being used in an unintended way is through trademark. If you have an image or insignia that is ubiquitous with your organization then you want to trademark it so that someone else doesn't use it for unauthorized purposes (like a false flag violent action).
None of these things are harmful and are tools to facilitate openness and accessibility and movement building if governed in that fashion. An example everyone should be familiar with is Open Source License, which is how and why "freeware" is free and available to distribute and change. It is licensed for that purpose and protects from someone stealing it to license for-profit.
These are tools for organizing in the light and out of the shadows. It should be transparent who is running these, who owns the trademarks (which can be found through the trademark office), and how they are being run. Bylaws for non-profits should be available for inspection as should financial records. And the bylaws would dictate how people are elected or appointed to run these organizations.
Given the times the people who are taking charge of this are taking on serious risk because this is organizing in the light. People associated with these are volunteering to become targets. I don't know the background as to how things were formed or what level of coordination occurred. But just keep in mind that those involved with these are known, they can not be anonymous. For those that organize in the shadows or on twilight's edge, these structures are not the enemy, they are a different parallel method. As long as everyone is fighting for the same goal we should all have solidarity.
Originally Posted By u/lokey_convo At 2025-04-24 11:38:15 PM | Source