On January 29, protestors demonstrated against nuclear war by staging a “die-in” in front of the Robert E. Coyle Federal Building in downtown Fresno, California. It was a time for participants to express their deep concern about the possibility of nuclear annihilation.
Being at the federal building assured those protesting that U.S. Senators Padilla and Schiff’s offices and U.S. Representative Costa’s office would be close enough to both see and hear all that took place.
The protest was a combined effort by various peace organizations located in Fresno, and many in attendance were also long-time anti-war activists who have either led or participated in similar protests over the decades since the 1980s, another era of palpable tension around the issue of nuclear weapons.
The Fresno Hub launched last fall, and Hub Leader Carol Goiburn is a member of Peace Fresno and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and also sits on the board of the Fresno Center for Nonviolence.
She shared with us, “After attending Back from the Brink’s webinar featuring Annie Jacobsen, starting a Hub in the Central Valley seemed like a logical move, and once that move was official, the Hub has been a sponsor of numerous events and protests in Fresno. It just made sense to bring the work of abolishing nuclear weapons through the nationwide grassroots movement of BftB to Fresno so that the work all have been doing and continue to do has even more support, more allies, more resources.”
She also prepared a statement to be read at the die-in, which took into consideration the Doomsday Clock that had been set to 89 seconds to midnight just the day prior: “Let’s work to set this Doomsday Clock back, far back to a time when we once lived without the threat of nuclear war and where we, our children and our children’s children can once again live out their lives without this monstrous threat hanging over their heads. Let’s prioritize our lives for peace.”
Future plans for the Hub include working with local college instructors and professors to start Students for Nuclear Disarmament chapters at both Fresno City College and CSU Fresno. Additionally, the Hub aims to convince Fresno’s city council to pass either a proclamation or resolution supporting the TPNW.
A video of the speakers and die-in can be viewed at the bottom of the homepage of peacefresno.org.
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