DISARM co-chair Ellen Thomas demonstrates for an end to nuclear weapons in Asheville, NC, on August 6, 2023, as part of a commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima.

by Cherrill Spencer and Ellen Thomas
Co-chairs, DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee

September 2023

The DISARM committee co-chairs thank the branches and members who attended public events to commemorate the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in these locations: Asheville, NC; Burlington, VT; Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Monterey, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Santa Cruz, CA; Sunnyvale, CA; and Valduc, France. Thank you also to anyone who handed out the special Oppenheimer trifold flyer to moviegoers; that flyer continues to be appropriate for passing out to the public.

WILPF US is a founding member of the very large Peace in Ukraine coalition, and we urge all WILPFers to take part in the Global Week of Action for Peace in Ukraine, from September 30 to October 8. The peaceinukraine.org website has a variety of actions you can take; see www.peaceinukraine.org/piu_act_now for action ideas and www.peaceinukraine.org/events for an evolving list of events all over the United States.

Contacting your Congressional representatives on October 4^th to tell them to stop funding the war will be most effective as activists will be in DC visiting senators that day. Having street corner vigils or tabling at your local farmers market are good ways of educating the public. Written materials and other resources are available at www.peaceinukraine.org/resources.

Photo: This statue in downtown Santa Cruz, CA, is called “Collateral Damage: A Reality of War. In Memory of Civilians Who Have Died in All Wars.” It was erected in 1995 and cleaned during the recent Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstration on August 6, 2023. Photo by Cherrill Spencer.

Can you organize a teach-in at your local college? Contact disarmchair@wilpfus.org if you’d like some ideas for how that might be organized. We really need to reach young people as they will be carrying the financial burden of this war for many decades through their taxes.

WILPF US is also a founding member of the Warheads to Windmills coalitionwhich demands that nuclear weapons be abolished and the money saved be used to tackle climate change. This is another issue we need you to write to your congressperson about and we have an easy way for you to generate a letter customized to your legislators’ known opinions on nuclear weapons. Please go here to find a sample email for you to personalize and send to your congressperson.

It will not take much of your time. If everyone in your branch sends an email, it will be more effective.

Our DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee welcomes new members. We have many ongoing campaigns that need people to work on them; write to disarmchair@wilpfus.org to request to join.