Across the country, in more than 80 actions, people celebrated the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on Friday, January 22, 2021. As people posted photos of their actions on facebook, we noticed something—the ubiquitous yellow banner. The banner started as an idea for the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability—what if we had the same banner appearing at each weapons production site? A sign with a simple message: Nuclear Weapons are Illegal.
When we mentioned the idea to Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa they asked an obvious question: Just weapons sites? Why not military bases? Why not everywhere?
So the banner became part of the resource package that we (OREPA, Nuclear Resister, Nukewatch, and ANA) put together as we worked to organize a day to remember. We had no way of knowing who was downloading the template or ordering the banner. Until we started seeing pictures. So we created a brief video celebrating the grand community of people who, from Burlington, VT to the Trinity site in New Mexico; from Newport News, VA to Livermore, CA, collaborated to deliver the message: The Treaty is now in force, and nuclear weapons are illegal!
You can see the video on OREPA’s FB page.
