6/17/18 by Mark Colville Written from jail based on the Gospel reading for that day. Mark 4:26-34 There’s a consolation that flows from this parable, “the seed grows of itself,” that I’d not found before. Day to day life here is dominated by the experience and the effects of scattering. The collective that makes up […]
Monthly Archive for June, 2018
[MOTIONS HEARING STATEMENT: First Draft] Rattling My Cage (Some thoughts on our upcoming trial) by Mark Colville June 5, 2018 One of the blessings that has flowed in abundance during this time of incarceration is recollectedness – a mental and spiritual focus which I often find difficult to access with any consistency “out there in […]
by Clare Grady 5/29/18 I am especially grateful for today’s Gospel reading. I feel that I have been living it and I want to share my experience, strength, and hope…MK 10:28-31: Peter began to say to Jesus, “We have given up everything and followed you: Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no […]
Banner held outside of the Trident nuclear submarine base, Kings Bay, GA. Photo by Beth Brockman.
Hungering for Nuclear Disarmament
by Kathy Kelly, June 19, 2018
In the state of Georgia’s Glynn County Detention Center, four activists await trial stemming from their nonviolent action, on April 4, 2018, at the Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay. In all, seven Catholic plowshares activists acted that day, aiming to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares.” The Kings Bay is home port to six nuclear armed Trident ballistic missile submarines with the combined explosive power of over 9000 Hiroshima bombs.
This week, five people have gathered for a fast and vigil, near the Naval Base, calling it “Hunger for Nuclear Disarmament.”
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A reflection written by Martha Hennessy at the Glynn County Detention Center during the week before her release to home confinement: In southern Georgia it is nearing the end of May and we are approaching the eighth week of incarceration at Camden and Glynn County jails, following the Kings Bay Plowshares action. I am reading […]
Park Geun-gil, aka “Mangi”. Photo by Eunmi Pang
On June 4, Korean peace activist Park Geun-gil entered the Jeju Prison to serve time instead of paying a fine of 4.6 million KRW (around US$4,000). At the rate of 100,000 KRW/day, he will serve 46 days and should be released by July 20. [Update: He was released from jail on June 14 after an anonymous person paid his fines.] Park, who is known as Mangi, joined a demonstration in December, 2015, protesting police brutality the day before in the arrest of a human chain blocking construction of military housing for the long-resisted navy base at Gangjeong village. Mangi was convicted of obstructing justice and injuring a policeman, although it was Mangi’s finger that was fractured by twisting as he was arrested. His conviction was upheld in July, 2017. To read more about the Peace Island of Jeju and the struggle against the new naval base there, visit savejejunow.org.
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May 2018 If you would like to receive a free, sample copy in the mail of the June 1 issue of the Nuclear Resister newsletter, please send your name and mailing address to <nukeresister@igc.org> IN THIS E-BULLETIN OVER 1,000 ARRESTS FOR POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN ACTIONS IN 24 STATES AND D.C., MORE ACTIONS TO COME KINGS BAY PLOWSHARES […]
In Boston, Vietnam veteran Dan Luker is arrested on May 29, 2018. Photo by Steve Pavey via medium.com
The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival launched the day after Mother’s Day with rallies and nonviolent civil disobedience at more than 30 state capitals across the the United States. The Campaign revives the vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1968 Poor People’s Campaign that challenged the fundamental and interconnected injustices of racism, poverty and war. To these triple evils, as King identified them, the 50th anniversary campaign has added ecological devastation as part of the common threat to humanity.
Activist and author David Swanson, arrested in Washington, D.C., identified it as “The first multi-issue coalition we’ve seen in years that properly takes on militarism rather than indulging the fantasy of a $1 trillion a year military coexisting with decent humanitarian and environmental policies.”
The organizing model for this, the first phase of the Campaign, is a series of six weekly rallies and civil disobedience actions, each highlighting facets of the Call. Phase One will wind up on Saturday, June 23 with a “Global Day of Solidarity and Sending Forth Call to Action Mass Rally” in Washington, D.C.
After the first three weeks of action, chronicled below are reports of over 1,000 arrests reported from 24 states and the District of Columbia.* Each week some civil disobedience actions did not result in arrests. The largest number of arrests were reported during the May 14 action in Washington, D.C. when demonstrators occupied First Street outside the Capitol building and refused to leave. One hundred and forty-six people were cited and released.
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