Free Livestreaming of Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe and Peace and Disarmament Vigils in Los Alamos

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 7/31/15 through 8/7/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

• Free Livestreaming of Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe and Peace and Disarmament Vigils in Los Alamos

Pace e Bene, the organizers of the sold-out Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe, is providing free livestreaming of the conference and the two peace and disarmament vigils in Los Alamos at http://livestream.com/streamingnm/cnnc. To commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6^th and August ^9th, 1945, respectively, Pace e Bene is hosting four days of events.

Beginning on Thursday, August 6^th with a peace and disarmament vigil in Los Alamos to commemorate the 70^th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, participants will gather at Ashley Pond at 2 pm. After receiving instructions and a blessing from Father John Dear, participants will carry sackcloths, or burlaps sacks, and ashes and walk mindfully on Trinity Drive towards Los Alamos National Laboratory. Around 2:30 pm, participants will pour ashes on the ground, put on sackcloths, and sit in silence for 30 minutes. Afterwards, participants will walk back to Ashley Pond for reflection, music and speakers.

On Friday, August 7^th, from 9 to 4 pm, a nonviolence training session will be held in the Hilton Hotel Ballroom in Santa Fe.

On Friday at 7 pm, the Campaign Nonviolence National Conference will begin with a keynote speech about mobilizing the nation for the times we’re in by Rev. Jim Lawson, a civil rights leader and one of Martin Luther King’s key strategists.

On Saturday, August 8^th, from 9 am to 9 pm, the conference will take place at the Hilton. Speakers include Erica Chenoweth, author of “Why Civil Resistance Works;” Ken Butigan and Kit Evans Ford will present about the Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action starting on September 20^th; and Roshi Joan Halifax will lead a silent Zen sitting meditation. Panel discussions include working to end war, poverty and environmental destruction, building a new culture of peace and nonviolence, and Los Alamos nuclear weapons. Local panelists include Sister Joan Brown, Marian Naranjo, Beata Tsosie-Peña, Bud Ryan and Jay Coghlan.

On Sunday, August 9^th, beginning at 11 am, there will be a commemoration of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki and presentation of the 2015 U.S. Peace Memorial Award at Ashley Pond. Three buses will leave from the Hilton Hotel at 9:30 am. Another sackcloth and ashes ceremony will take place. After returning to Ashley Pond, a presentation of the U.S. Peace Memorial will occur. The Memorial honors the millions of thoughtful and committed Americans who have dedicated their lives to peace or taken a stand against war in general or a specific U.S. war.

For more information, please visit paceebene.org

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Tags: Ashley Pond, Campaign Nonviolence National Conference, Hiroshima, LANL, Nagasaki, Pace e Bene, Rev. Jim Lawson, sackcloth and ashes, U.S. Peace Memorial Award