Ralph Hutchison
The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance has a series of events in Oak Ridge and Knoxville this week on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II.
The events will recall the bombings and address present-day nuclear weapons production, a press release said.
The events kicked off with an evening with Gar Alperovitz, author of “The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb,” at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville on Sunday and continued on Monday with faith leaders speaking about the bomb in Market Square in Knoxville.
They continue today (Tuesday, August 4.) Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday, August 4: One Thousand Cranes—The public is invited to join OREPA and others in folding 1,000 paper cranes in memory of Sadako Sasaki. The event begins at 10 a.m. on Market Square. OREPA will have paper, instructions on how to fold a crane, people to give hands-on help, and will be there until participants have folded 1,000 cranes.
Thursday, August 6: Names and Remembrance Ceremony—6-9 a.m., Y-12 National Security Complex main gate, intersection of Scarboro and East Bear Creek Road, Oak Ridge.
Friday, August 7: Nonviolence Training—1-5 p.m., Knoxville, Church of the Savior, 934 North Weisgarber Road, Knoxville. The training will offer a refresher on nonviolence skills in preparation for the Saturday event in Oak Ridge. It’s good for beginners or veterans, organizers said.
Friday, August 7: Hungry for Disarmament—East Tennesseans will participate in an international day of fasting to call attention to the need to abolish nuclear weapons, the press release said. “You are invited to observe the fast in the way most appropriate to you.”
Friday, August 7: Unfinished Business—An evening with Transform Now Plowshares. 7-9 p.m., Church of the Savior, 934 North Weisgarber Road, Knoxville. Michael Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed will discuss their July 2012 action at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex in Oak Ridge and the work remaining to be done to end weapons production there.
Saturday, August 8: Hiroshima + 70—“It started here; it should end here. Now.” organizers said. Concert for Nuclear Abolition at Alvin K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge. 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Music by The Emancipators, Joe Williams, and the Raging Grannies. Hear John LaForge and Ralph Hutchison on the state of nuclear weapons today. See a skit by the Catalystica Players—it’s all free, and part of creating a world of peace, the press release said.
Saturday, August 8—2 p.m.-March to Y-12 nuclear weapons complex from Alvin K. Bissell Park. “Say no to the UPF (Uranium Processing Facility),” organizers said. “Say no to the UPF: Action for Disarmament at Y12.”
Sunday, August 9—8 p.m.-Peace Lantern Ceremony; Sequoyah Hills Park, just off the parking lot at the west end of Cherokee Drive: Traditional Japanese folk dancing, music, peace lanterns.
The press release said all OREPA events are free and open to the public. All events are nonviolent in tone as well as action. No drugs or alcohol permitted. If you are not able to respect these guidelines, please do not attend the event.
For more information, contact Ralph Hutchison, OREPA coordinator, at (865) 776-5050 or [email protected].
See the OREPA schedule here:Â August 2015 Schedule.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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