ACTIVITIES IN OAK RIDGE & KNOXVILLE TO MARK HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI BOMBINGS
LOCAL EVENTS PART OF NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION
ACTIONS TARGET Y12 BOMB PLANT AND BECHTEL CORPORATION
“NO” TO NUCLEAR DOUBLE STANDARD; “YES” TO NUCLEAR-FREE SECURITY
Hundreds of peace demonstrators will converge on Oak Ridge, Tennessee on Saturday, August 5 and Sunday, August 6 to mark the sixty-first commemoration of the destruction of Hiroshima, Japan by the Little Boy bomb. The enriched uranium explosive in Little Boy was produced at the Y12 plant in Oak Ridge.
“We will celebrate life,” said Tom Egan, member of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance which will sponsor the events in Oak Ridge. “Our work is about the power of faith, the power of creativity, the power of people to imagine and build the world they want to live in.”
OREPA’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day commemorations are part of a series of events coordinated through a national Call to Action co-sponsored by United for Peace and Justice, Peace Action, and other national groups.
Saturday, August 5
Events on Saturday, August 5 will begin at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge (at the corner of Tulane Avenue and the Oak Ridge Turnpike) at 10:00am. A celebration of creativity will include music, dancing, giant puppets and entertaining skits as well as speakers who will address the US double standard with regard to nuclear weapons.
“The work in Oak Ridge expresses our nuclear policy,” said Ralph Hutchison, coordinator of OREPA. “It’s bad, bad, bad when someone else wants bombs, but okay for us. Not only is this policy morally indefensible, it is obviously ineffective.”
The Saturday peace rally will close with a march to the Y12 Nuclear Weapons Plant, a walk of nearly two miles, where demonstrators will bear witness to their desire for peace with a variety of actions, including tying peace cranes onto the fence surrounding the bomb plant.
“Y12 is currently violating our treaty obligations and our law,” noted Egan. “It’s the right place to be to stand against bombs and for peace.”
Sunday, August 6
An early morning ceremony at Y12 will remember the victims of Hiroshima on Sunday, August 5. The reading of victims’ names will be accompanied by a tolling bell and peace cranes, interspersed with readings from first-hand accounts of the bombing.
“It is important that we remember,” noted Lee Sessions, member of OREPA’s Action and Events committee. “People talk almost casually these days about using nukes against Iran or other countries, as though they don’t understand the devastating power of these bombs. We remember as a way to say, ‘Never again!’ with the people of Hiroshima.”
The Names Ceremony will begin at 6:15am at the East End Bear Creek Road entrance to the Y12 bomb plant and will conclude after a moment of silence at 8:16am to mark the dropping of the bomb.
Wednesday, August 9 • am
Kicking off a wave of actions across the country, demonstrators in Oak Ridge will gather at the Federal Building in Oak Ridge at 6:15am on Wednesday, August 9, to mark the bombing of Nagasaki and to call for an end to war profiteering.
“Since 1945, the United States has spent $5 trillion dollars on nuclear weapons alone,” said Lissa McLeod, organizer of the Wednesday activities. “Where have our tax dollars gone?”
Demonstrators will answer that question physically as the carry a symbolic check from the Federal Building to Bechtel Headquarters on Union Valley Road in Oak Ridge.
“Bechtel is one of the leading war profiteers in the world,” McLeod said. “They lead the arms race by building weapons of mass destruction in Oak Ridge. Their money is blood money; their profits are outrageous. We want people to understand what happens with our tax dollars so we can make informed decisions when it is time to vote or to speak with our elected officials.”
At the Bechtel office building, demonstrators will establish an informational peace picket and will attempt to deliver a letter to Bechtel’s local CEO.
Wednesday, August 9 • pm
OREPA’s annual Peace Lantern ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday evening, August 9 on the bank of the Tennessee River at Sequoyah Hills Park, on the west end of Cherokee Boulevard in Knoxville, TN at 8:15pm.
The Peace Lantern ceremony usually draws more than 100 people to join in a litany, listen to music, and launch peace lanterns into the water following a traditional Japanese custom. Knoxville artist Jodi Manross will play and sing at the ceremony. The event concludes informally after darkness falls and the lanterns are launched.
Friday, August 4
All events sponsored by the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance are nonviolent in tone as well as action. A Nonviolence Training workshop will be held on Friday, August 4 at 6:00pm at Church of the Savior in Knoxville in preparation for the commemorative events. Peacekeeper training for volunteers who help maintain an atmosphere of nonviolence will also be held at 7:00pm at Church of the Savior.
Monday-Friday, July 31-August 4
Last year marked the arrival of giant street theatre puppets in Oak Ridge for the 60th commemoration of Hiroshima Day. This year, the puppets will be back, with a new dramatization. Puppets will be made from July 31-August 4 in a perpetual (9am-9pm) puppet workshop each day. The workshop will be held at 4627 Martin Mill Pike in south Knoxville, and everyone is invited to join—for an hour, a day or for the week.
“We will have experienced puppeteers leading the workshop,” noted Kevin Collins of OREPA, “but we’ll need lots of help. Novice puppetistas are welcome; it’s a great chance to learn by doing.”
For more information on the puppet workshop, call Lissa at 865 609 2012.
Peace convergence
Other events already taking place will come to full flower on Saturday, August 5 in Oak Ridge with a covergence from three points of the compass.
From the south, the Buddhist Peace Walk from Atlanta to Oak Ridge will complete a journey of 300 miles at Y12 on Saturday afternoon. This year’s peace pilgrimage will mark 10 years of peace walks from Atlanta to Oak Ridge by the Nipponzan Myohoji temple. The Buddhists will be joined by others along the walk; they welcome all who want to walk—a mile, a day, a week…
Also expected to arrive on Saturday is the Sacred Run from the Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Portsmouth, Ohio. The Sacred Run is based on a Native American spiritual tradition of running for peace, for protection of creation, and for brother and sisterhood. More information is available at www.footprintsforpeace.net.
Pedaling through the mountains and arriving on Saturday from Asheville, North Carolina will be Bikers for Peace. Last year marked the first bicycle caravan from the east, and organizers will bike again this year from Asheville to Oak Ridge.
MORE INFORMATION
More information on the Global Call to Action and events across the country, including Oak Ridge, is available at www.august6.org.
More information on local activities is available from Ralph Hutchison, OREPA coordinator, at 865 609 2012.
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| Local Press Release OR HDAY 06.doc [2] | 65.5 KB |