by Sean Meyer
Two days after the election, many of us on the Back from the Brink team got together over Zoom. It was deeply personal, emotional and comforting. It wasn’t a “what do we do now?” conversation but rather a “how are we all doing and how can we support each other?” conversation. The answers varied — some of us were dealing with real-life concerns and threats to ourselves, our families and loved ones. Many of us were exhausted and dispirited. Some of us were mad and bewildered. Some were ready to roll up their sleeves and get back to work, while others needed more time or felt a serious need to think deeply about what comes next and how we carry on.
We’re here because we are a community — a community of people who are deeply passionate and dedicated to ridding the world of nuclear weapons, and taking care of each other as we do it. It’s core to who we are as human beings and the values we cherish: justice, protecting and caring for one another, selflessness, compassion, concern, fairness and, of course, peace.
Back from the Brink’s tagline is “Bringing Communities Together to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.” Indeed, that one phrase succinctly captures the essence and identity of this campaign. Two nights ago, we held our monthly Local Organizing Meetup where the spirit of community was alive and well. We broke into small groups and created space for folks to share and learn from each other — and bolster our collective spirits for the important work ahead. A whole bunch of new folks showed up! It was especially poignant to have Hideko Tamura, who survived the Hiroshima bombings as a 10 year old, join us and talk about her efforts to share her story and cultivate peace. She is the author of One Sunny Day: A Child’s Memory of Hiroshima.
So many Back from the Brink folks around the country are showing us what “bringing communities together” means in practice. Our Southern California Hub, based out of the Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles (PSR-LA) office, is deepening their collaboration with environmental justice organizations and connecting the dots between our struggles. In Seattle, Back from the Brink and Washington PSR organizer Harry Katz is working together with other area activists to develop relationships with local labor, business and Indivisible folks. Nationally, we are partnering with United Religions Initiative and their Voices for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons project for an exciting new campus faith initiative (stay tuned for more details). We’re working closely with young folks through our partnership with Students for Nuclear Disarmament.
To be sure, challenging times lie ahead. We face serious headwinds and a great deal of uncertainty with Donald Trump as president and some members of Congress who will be pushing us hard — in the wrong direction! We can expect a lot of chaos and moments of crisis.
It’s vitally important in this moment to show up for those facing dire, immediate threats to their lives and well being. And for us to be patient and accepting of the fact that the real and urgent threat posed by nuclear weapons is not top of mind for so many people and communities who are facing real-life immediate challenges, such as lack of housing, gun violence, extreme weather caused by global warming, poverty and food insecurity, attacks on LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities, and the widespread impact of substance abuse and addiction.
Our collective job is to connect the dots with these other struggles and to find common cause building off of those shared values we mentioned earlier.
In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll talk a lot about agency and urgency and continually offer our supporters and activists tools and resources so all of us can all feel and know we are making a difference, and doing so as part of a community.
Action and advocacy in support of a world free of nuclear weapons can come in many forms — engaging with your members of Congress or their staff and local/state officials; reaching out and working with other allies and groups in your community; hosting events/talks with a Back from the Brink speaker; working with area college students or faculty; writing letters to the editor or doing radio interviews; and posting and amplifying key messages and engaging others on social media. We’re to help you find your role and voice.
Let’s take good care of each other and build community as we continue to do this vital work. Please reach out to us at info@preventnuclearwar.org if you feel called to join our campaign.
