OCTOBER NEWSLETTER | Nina Simone Reminds Us to Invest
Hi friends,
As 2025 nears its end, we're rocking our winter coats in the rain, cooking up our inherited holiday recipes, and renewing our commitment to investing in conversations.
In that spirit, here’s the unlocked link to Modernist “Free Tools for the People” with guides for meaningful convos, at holiday time or any other time. We’re also recapping our recent event with Southern Poverty Law Center, year-end tax planning notes from Georgia, and Nina Simone singing to build our legacy of justice.
Onward,
Team Modernist
INVESTING INSIGHTS
In our Q3 Market Commentary we took a look at labor data (what we had) and what a cooling job market could mean for the economy.
The OBBBA aka the Big Brutal Tax Act has social impacts, tax impacts, and even a “Hidden Tax Valley” due to the now higher deduction cap on State and Local Tax aka the SALT cap.
Read up on all the Tax Planning details on our Wealth + Politics evergreen post.
from the team:
We were thrilled to host Southern Poverty Law Center for an evening centered on how the legendary org confronts hate and extremism today.
SPLC’s Rachel Carroll Rivas and Michael Lieberman shared research, insights, and tools from the front lines of hate in America.
Read our event recap for what we learned and what we can all do now to stand for justice.
Literary Arts hosted On Tyranny’s Timothy Snyder last month here in Portland. We were there and now anyone can tune in to the insightful conversation via The Archive Project!
Structure Your Wealth Around Your Values
We know taxes are the most efficient method to fund solutions to systemic issues; we aim to reduce hunger via food stamps and WIC, healthcare via ACA premiums and insurability guarantees, housing security via Section 8 vouchers and HUD Houseing. These systems aren’t perfect, yet the recent government shutdown was a preview of the devastations the OBBBA will have on our most vulnerable neighbors.
In this video, Georgia notes how back in 2017, the 45th administration used wonky tax policy changes in the TCJA to foment dissent among wealthy left-leaning taxpayers by enacting a “blue state tax” that limited SALT deductions (aka the long standing ability to deduct the full cost of your state and local taxes).
We’re wondering, how could we confront unnervingly common anti-tax narratives from the left and center, when we know they’ve been spawned from the alt-right “sovereign citizens” movement. Read up on some helpful historical context from SPLC! Let us know what you discover!
Modernist Takes It Outside
On a new episode of So Money, Georgia and Farnoosh chatted about the real impact of the Big Brutal Tax Act and why we should discuss politics alongside money in this moment.
George Orwell put it best: “The opinion that art (i.e. taxes, wealth, investments) should have nothing to do with politics is itself a political attitude.”
Shoutout to our fabulous clients and community who are GRATEFUL to have these conversations, to understand their savings, and the inspiring actions they take to resist with their wealth (time, money, relationships, skills, wellbeing). 💪 Join us.
Fund Your Heroes
Join us and our clients in setting a “giving rule” based on your income. Georgia calls her rule a “reparations income tax”.
Given that most folks are continuing to save 3-5% in taxes due to 47’s Big Brutal Tax Act aka the OBBBA, we like starting with 3% as the floor for annual giving.
Here’s how to do it:
Set a rule to give away 3-5% of your gross income.
Choose an org impacted by 47’s systemic dismantling of the social safety net.
Commit to your rule by making a one-time or recurring donation.
If you’re in Portland (or just love us over in Oregon), check out our rad Give!Guide to find a heroic organization doing good work in the area(s) for which you’re most concerned.
Good News
Our beloved downtown Portland Art Museum underwent a transformation and now its doors are open, with a new cafe (Providore on the West side!), new gift shop, plus 100,000 square feet of new exhibition space, including Black Art & Experiences galleries made possible by a five year grant from the 1803 Fund.
Come check out the refresh, spend your dollars at a downtown restaurant, then do your holiday shopping using the guide from Small Shops Big Hearts to plan your route!
a song That’s Really About perseverance
Nina Simone wrote “Mississippi Goddam” after two white supremacist terror attacks: The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing that killed four girls and then the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. “It was my first civil rights song,” she said “and it erupted out of me quicker than I could write it down.”
Lord, have mercy on this land of mine / We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here, I don't belong there / I've even stopped believing in prayer
Picket lines, school boycotts / They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality / For my sister, my brother, my people, and me
As a gifted interpreter of Bach, she was denied entrance to Julliard because of her skin color. Yet she persevered, writing music that inspires us to feel our complicated history, from it’s terrors to our long held fight for justice.
And we remember: This is why we fund the arts, not as an act of generosity, but as an act of reparations for the past and hope for the future. Join us.