Written by Kathleen Welch, Back from the Brink Hub Leader for the Philadelphia Area
From the National Forest Foundation: Mycelium are incredibly tiny “threads” of the greater fungal organism that wrap around or bore into tree roots. Taken together, mycelium composes what’s called a “mycorrhizal network,” which connects individual plants together to transfer water, nitrogen, carbon and other minerals […] These findings suggest trees have developed complex symbiotic relationships for species survival. The mycorrhizal network is an integral part of this connectivity, and while the fungi are often acting in their own best interests, they facilitate health and survival of even the biggest trees.
I first learned about BftB in 2022 when my husband, Alan McGillivray, and I moved from Maine to the Philadelphia area. We were already members of the Union of Concerned Scientists, who shared that BftB facilitated monthly Local Organizing Meetups, and our involvement deepened when we also joined BftB at the Moral March on Washington D.C. with the Poor People’s Campaign that summer.
I later learned that Philadelphia City Council had passed a resolution endorsing BftB in 2019 when I became more involved with the Hub. How did this happen? When I became the Hub leader, it felt important to understand this process and connect with other groups who helped make this happen and reinforce our Hub’s ties now.
In 2023, I joined the Coalition for Peace Action-Princeton (CFPA), which had endorsed BftB. The CFPA also covers the Philadelphia area and one of their members was on the Philadelphia City Council in 2019 and helped push the BftB resolution through.
At the same time, I learned that the Philadelphia Quakers and Brandywine Peace Community had also worked with the City Council to pass the BftB resolution. My husband and I started attending the Schuylkill Friends (Quaker) Meeting. They joined our Hub, as well as other organizations I connected with to endorse BftB, such as Way Forward and All Together Now—PA.
Another active collaborator in our Hub has been Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW! We worked with them to welcome the Golden Rule (a project of Veterans for Peace) last year, and presented a theatrical piece at the Philadelphia harbor promoting BftB and Golden Rule’s mission.
Most importantly, Philadelphia City Council took another action step after endorsing the BftB resolution when City Councilor, Mark Squilla, presented a citation honoring the Golden Rule and its mission. I then worked with Squilla so he would sign the BftB-organized open letter to President Biden last fall urging his administration to send an observer delegation to the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN.
Furthermore, the Hub, including CFPA and Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW!, have held meetings with Congressional representatives to endorse H. Res. 77.
The latest Hub activity involves Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW! and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in the campaign, “Divest Philly from Nukes!” Our Hub was in front of City Hall on June 13th promoting BftB and Divest Philly’s goal for the city to divest from companies that invest billions in nuclear weapons. This reinforces BftB’s embrace of the TPNW goal to block nuclear development and production.
In addition, last week I worked with BftB HQ and they agreed to become a coalition member of “Divest Philly from Nukes.” BftB signed an open letter to the Philadelphia Pensions Board and Retirement to divest from nuclear weapons. Divestment worked in ending apartheid in South Africa and is being used more and more to tackle climate change and end wars (such as in Gaza).
Hopefully, BftB can continue to work not only with cities, but with universities, corporations, and other organizations to divest their stocks from companies making nuclear weapons. A great resource is Don’t Bank on the Bomb’s list of nuclear profiteers.
I also wanted to add that I really liked the great turnout for BftB’s webinar with Annie Jacobsen on her new book, Nuclear War: A Scenario. It was a great idea for BftB to allow so many of our collaborators to register for the webinar and even become co-sponsors. Including them helped strengthen our ties and evaluating their response to the event will do so even more.
Finally, I give credit to Jeremy Love, national field organizer for BftB, for using the term “mycelium.” He is a master in mycelium networking for peace!
