Watch 75th Anniversary Webinars You May Have Missed Plus Two More on Sept. 20 & Oct. 22
Published on September, 44 2020
By Ellen Thomas and Robin Lloyd
Co-chairs, Disarm Committee
September 2020
As you probably know by now, the Disarm Committee has been having a series of monthly Zoom meeting webinars tied to the 75th anniversaries of the United Nations and of the development and use of nuclear weapons. These are listed on the Disarm page and the recordings are available on the WILPF US Disarm Committee YouTube channel.
- May 17 - Martha Hennessy, a member of the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, and three lawyers discuss the use of the “Necessity Defense” in nuclear issue criminal trials.
- June 28 - Phyllis Bennis of Institute for Policy Studies discusses the founding of the United Nations and the uphill battle to democratize it. She is joined by historian and WILPF member Blanche Wiesen Cook, who reveals the role of Eleanor Roosevelt in the early years of the UN. Madeleine Rees, Secretary General of WILPF International, also shares her perspectives.
- July 13 - Tina Cordova, a founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, and Joni Arends, Director of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, share their struggles to get compensation and health care for victims of the July 16, 1945, Trinity A-bomb test in Alamogordo, New Mexico, and the radioactive waste disposal problems faced by New Mexicans.
- August 9 - Dr. Hideko Tamura Snider, author of One Sunny Day and founder of One Sunny Day Initiatives, speaks of her childhood experience of the Hiroshima bombing and life before and after.
- August 15 - Diplomat Elizabeth Shackelford, author of "The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age," who resigned from the State Department in 2017 in opposition to Trump Administration policies, spoke about Africa to the Vermont WILPF gathering at Robin Lloyds Wing Farm.
Two More 75th Anniversary Webinars Sept. 20 & Oct. 22
There are two more 75th Anniversary Timeline webinars scheduled:
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September 20 - Alice Slater, on the board of World Beyond War and several nuclear abolition organizations, explores “Obstacles to Nuclear Abolition: Telling the Truth About the Relationship between the US and Russia.” (September 21 is the UN International Day of Peace and September 26 is the UN International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons - come prepared to share what you or your branch may be doing for these days!) -
October 22 - Ray Acheson, the Director of Reaching Critical Will, International WILPF’s disarmament program, speaks about WILPF’s active role in disarmament efforts before and since October 24, 1945, the date the United Nations was founded.
The Disarm/End Wars Committee plans to continue monthly webinars, beginning with UN Human Rights Day (December 10), when the focus will be AFRICOM. We are in the process of reaching out to Black Alliance for Peace and to WILPF International for speakers.
Please share YOUR suggestions for issues and speakers for 2021!
And let us know if you want to join the WILPF US Disarm Committee twice-a-month conference calls (second and last Sundays, 4:30 pm Pacific time, 7:30 pm Eastern time)!
WILPF US Social Media Training Webinars You Can Learn From
There are two Zoom and one TikTok training that have been uploaded to the WILPF US Zoom meetings YouTube channel:
Zoom training for WILPF US, by Michael Ippolito
Zoom for Organizers with Steven Staples
TikTok training for WILPF US by Michael Ippolito
Other Webinars Worth Watching
There were so many great webinars in August that it was hard to see them all! Here are a few; please send us links to others that you think people should see!
Nagasaki Day: message from a-bomb survivor Terumi Tanaka
https://vimeo.com/445932753
The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons, Documentary Film & Discussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dhn_SNKCWM&feature=youtu.be&t=96.
Climate Emergency and Nuclear War: What are the Connections?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1rSQ9vjKFg
#StillHere - 75 Years of Shared Nuclear Legacy (August 6 and 9)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3zKS54-BuOlMRdyHZ76SWA
From Hiroshima to a Healthy Tomorrow: Embracing Our Common Humanity - Livermore Lab virtual rally, with speakers and music, August 6, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MDuU9XhuEM
Decision to Bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Four historians who have written extensively on the decision to drop the atomic bombs
https://www.c-span.org/video/?474477-1/decision-bomb-hiroshima-nagasaki
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
https://www.armscontrol.org/events/2020-08/webinar-treaty-prohibition-nuclear-weapons-nuclear-nonproliferation-treaty
Paradise VR - Ever wondered what a nuclear explosion would feel like? (film of first hydrogen bomb)
https://www.youtube.com
The Tenth NPT Review Conference: Effective Measures of Nuclear Disarmament (UN Webinar)
https://video.un-arm.org
