Five Key Events in the 75th Year of the Bomb

Ellen Barfield, Katherine Flaherty, Ellen Thomas, Sameena Nazir, and Robin Lloyd at 2018 ANA DC Days (photo from Robin’s camera).

By Ellen Thomas
Co-chair, Disarm/End Wars Issue Committee

March 2020

In the February eNews we all were invited to join three important peace conferences in April and May. Actually, it turns out there are five important events that the WILPF US DISARM/End Wars Committee is spearheading this spring and summer. These conferences and remembrances are interconnected and will mark this 75th anniversary year of the creation and use of the atomic bomb, and the establishment of the United Nations.

1) Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) DC Days: Capitol Hill, April 19-22.

ANA DC Days is an amazing learning experience for all involved. Register here: DC Days Registration.

For the past three decades a team of people who live in the vicinity of deadly radioactivity have provided this opportunity to learn what’s going on with nuclear weapons, power, and waste, both at nuclear facilities and in government agencies and Congress. Attendees are trained on how to lobby, and we can choose whom we want to visit and what we want to say, with a team of experts to help us.

WILPF US Disarm Committee has been a member of Alliance for Nuclear Accountability for much of its three decades, and every year several WILPF members attend. Cherrill Spencer, Nuri Ronaghy, Alan Shorb, and Ellen Thomas are registered so far this year.

We encourage all branches to send at least one person to this event, which includes an all-day teach-in on Sunday, April 19, then lobbying and gatherings Monday through Wednesday, April 20-22, in Washington, DC. Registration is $185. Student Registration is $85. Some funding is available for youth scholarships to cover partial costs of transportation and DC housing.

As the ANA DC Days registration page explains, “by registering for this event, you will receive:

• Meetings with key congressional and administration officials
• Training from experienced lobbyists and organizers
• Education on current nuclear issues from experts in the field and in DC
• Networking opportunities with like-minded activists from around the country
• Admittance to the pizza party on Monday night
• Admittance to the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday night
• An unforgettable experience!”

Please email us to let us know if you plan to attend!

2) Global Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Riverside Church (NYC), April 24-26

From Global Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Facebook page, image courtesy of Gretchen Alther.

The Global Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, aka World Conference 2020, will be held at Riverside Church in New York City, on April 24-26, 2020. There is no registration fee for attending the conference.

Robin Lloyd is spearheading a WILPF reception on Friday, April 24 at 2 pm for visiting atomic bomb survivors from Japan and other nations (including our own First Nations in Nevada), and hopes that WILPF members and other antinuclear activists from the New York metropolitan area will attend.

Ellen Thomas has been invited to speak at “Of Women, Disarmament & Non-Violent Strategies” workshop to be held on Saturday, April 25, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. She will also be filming the plenaries to post on YouTube later, and hopes to live-stream on facebook "if I can get the knack of it."

Planning to attend the Global Conference from WILPF so far are Cherrill Spencer, Nuri Ronaghy and Alan Shorb from California, Eileen Kurkoski and Joan Ecklein from Massachusetts, Odile Hugonot Haber from Michigan, Ellen Thomas from North Carolina, Jean Verthein and Alice Slater from New York, Marge Van Cleef from Pennsylvania, Dianne Blais from Virginia, and Robin Lloyd from Vermont. Six of these people are signed up to share three double rooms at the Marriott Hotel in Edgewater, NJ; reservations are for the nights of April 23-29. Other rooms can be obtained. If you plan to attend the conference and would like to stay at the Marriott, contact Cherrill Spencer cherrill.m.spencer@gmail.com, who is keeping track of WILPF participants.

3) Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race Conference: Maryville, Tennessee, May 22-25

Graphic from Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race Conference home page, courtesy of Ralph Hutchison (OREPA).

The list of presenters and participants at Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race already includes campaigners from the US, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Australia, and more, including Susi Snyder (WILPF, PAX, Don’t Bank on the Bomb), Alicia Sanders-Zakre (ICAN), K.A. Garlick (Conservation Council of Western Australia), Hideko Tamura, hibakusha (via Skype), John Schuchardt (House of Peace), Ardeth Platte, and Carol Gilbert (Catholic Workers). Marge Van Cleef and Ellen Thomas will be tabling and filming at this event, and we hope other WILPF members and students will attend.

Workshop topics are The Ban Treaty, Don’t Bank on the Bomb, Campus Connections to the Bomb, Mayors for Peace/Cities Appeal, and Resistance. On Monday, May 25, there will be a tour of the Oak Ridge Nuclear Weapons Complex.

Registration is $200 per person for a shared room, $300 for a single room, including food and lodging for three nights. Space is limited, beds are available on a first come, first served basis.  

A limited number of scholarships are available for Next Generation participants (under 30). Contact OREPA at orep@earthlink.net for information, and please inform Ellen Thomas if you plan to attend.

4) No War 2020 Conference: Ottawa, Canada, May 26-31

No War 2020: Divest, Disarm, Demilitarize is sponsored by World Beyond War. Here is the conference Facebook page. This conference is being held in proximity to the CANSEC, a huge North American military trade show.       

Canadian Voice of Women for Peace are major planners of this conference. We are building connections with them, and plan to initiate a network of communities opposed to the F35 nuclear bombers.

We hope WILPF branches located near F-35 bases - Tucson, Madison, and Boise - will send a representative, to help create an even stronger WILPF presence at the conference and the gates of CANSEC. Robin and Burlington WILPF will coordinate our participation in this conference. Contact Robin Lloyd if you can go!

5)  Remembering the Bomb: Trinity (July 26), Hiroshima (August 6), and Nagasaki (August 9)

Let’s make sure no one can forget that it’s the 75th anniversary of the creation of the atomic bomb! And let’s make it interesting and visual!

Last summer, Japanese Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) shipped six large boxes of paper cranes to WILPF US. We want to make those cranes available to all the branches! Perhaps one or two of the branches would be willing to help with this project?

We also want to collect and share information about films, books, and songs, about how to make paper cranes and floating lanterns, and about who plans to do what, where, and when. If you have anything to contribute to this collection, let us know!

We want to collaborate and coordinate with other groups like Raging Grannies, Physicians for Social Responsibility, World Beyond War, Veterans for Peace, and others you can name.

For all this, we need your help! Please share your ideas with us, and if you want to use paper cranes in your Hiroshima & Nagasaki events, let us know!

Please contact Ellen Thomas or 202-210-3886 (cell and text) and Robin Lloyd if you plan to attend any of these events.

Photo from Darien De Lu and the WILPF US Des Moines office.