By Rebecca Irby | Executive Director
We have been busy, busy, busy, thanks to your help and support of our efforts! We're working on a multi-pronged approach. Since our project has started, we have been working on:
NYC Nuclear Divestment Campaign
Japan Interviews
Youth Conference for NPT
Direct Actions
For the NYC Nuclear Divestment Campaign, we have been working on Council Member Daniel Dromm's Package of Legislation on Nuclear Disarmament. Attached to this report are additional documents about this campaign. So far the YEPE team has participated in 4 trips to City Hall, spoken to over 25 council members and gotten interviews with 4 of them.
We were in Hiroshima, Japan, for the 74th memorial of the atomic bombing. During this time in Hiroshima, we discussed the importance of building a coalition by joining forces with those at the forefront of Nuclear Abolition and Climate Change. We interviewed survivors, students, teachers, activists, and everyday people about the use of the bomb and how it relates to climate change.
We kept hearing the same message - If people saw and understood what happened in Hiroshima, they would realize there are no situations in which we can EVER use them. The other sentiment we heard repeatedly was about climate change. I proposed nuclear weapons are the epitome of our greed and need for power, and climate change is the result of that pursuit. The older generation agreed and said they see it as connected to our need for comfort. They told me to help climate change we will have to get used to the idea that we cannot always have everything immediately, we may need to turn the AC down or even off, we may have to eat food that is in season and grown locally. The younger people were thinking of ways to engage their politicians and raise awareness through their social groups.
All and all, it was a very uplifting trip! We have 35 videos we recorded, and 28 of them are interviews. We plan to use this footage throughout the year to help bolster our campaign. We produced the first video for September 26th, The International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
To bring climate and nuclear activists together, we are working with Peace Action to plan a World Conference on Nuclear Weapons, Climate Crisis, Social/Economic Justice in NYC, April 24-26, 2020. We have begun planning in earnest, and much progress is being made. Committees are being formed, and action plans made.
We believe it's not enough to sit around and only talk about these issues. We are firm believers in direct, non-violent actions and protests. During the UN general assembly, we participated in several conferences, meetings but, I think most importantly, taking what is being discussed inside the UN out into the streets and working with the community to protest and lift our voices together to demand change. We co-sponsored United in outrage: https://www.facebook.com/events/594402484420168/. The protest spanned 3.5 city blocks, and we even made the primetime evening news: https://abc7ny.com/politics/protesters-march-through-manhattan-to-rally-against-trump/5562677/?fbclid=IwAR3G5fjRqXDvOcSi-cn-An0XBttLXpmHSIegjVWf6ITBKsbof6RyUkii4XI. We also participated in the Climate Crisis Rally where we interviewed seven people from all over the world about why they were there and the importance of focusing on the climate right now. All the interviews we have been doing will be used throughout the year to help promote our campaign and will be showcased at the conference in April.
We will continue to send updates on all our activities. In the meantime have a look at some of the pictures from the last few months.
Thank you again for all your help and support - we couldn't continue to do this any of this work without you!
Warm regards,
Rebecca
Rebecca Irby
Founding Partner, President, and Executive Director
PEAC Institute - Peace | Education | Art | Communication
Partner Organization of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, 2017 Nobel Peace Prize
Email: rebecca@peacinstitute.org
Phone: (973) 446-5031 Ext 0001
Cell: (551) 556-7649
www.peacinstitute.org
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." MLK
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