Reading Room


Failure To Disarm

Posted on August, 11, 2019

Posted by Marylia Kelley and Raiza Marciscano-Bettis

Justice Advocates

About 200 peace and justice advocates gathered at Livermore Lab on the morning of August 6 to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The rally also examined Livermore Lab's present-day role in “Designing Armageddon.” Livermore Lab is one of two locations in the U.S. that is creating new nuclear weapons of mass destruction.

With speakers, music, dance and art, the action was a powerful expression supporting the global elimination of nuclear weapons while opposing the U.S. plan to invest $2 trillion over the coming 30 years on novel warheads and new means to deliver them.

The rally’s keynote speakers were Daniel Ellsberg, famed whistleblower, Pentagon nuclear strategist and author of “The Doomsday Machine” and Nobuaki Hanaoka, a retired Methodist minister who, as an infant, survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki that claimed the lives of some of his family members from radiation, including his mother. Marylia Kelley, director of Tri-Valley CAREs, derailed some of the Lab’s nuclear weapons activities.

We offer deep appreciation for all who participated in the event. Special thanks are due as well to Jim Heddle and Mary Beth Brangan of Ecological Options Network who filmed it. The links below offer the major addresses, music and some of the procession and peaceful direct action in the gates. Check it out!

Playlist:

2019 Livermore Lab Rally and Non-Violent Action

Individual links:

Welcome - Andrew Kodama and Julia Malakiman

Marylia Kelley

Rev. Nobuaki Hanaoka

Rafael Jesús González

Dr. Sharat G. Lin

Daniel Ellsberg on the New Nuclear Arms Race

Roxanne

Call to Action - Phyllis Olin and Jackie Cabasso

March & Non-Violent Action