In preparation for the April 16, 2011 peace demonstration in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the youth planning committee today released their declaration, A Safer World Is Our Right. The declaration lays claim to a future free of nuclear weapons and stands in opposition to the announcement of plans for a new nuclear weapons production facility in Oak Ridge. You can read the declaration here, and also download a pdf version suitable for sharing.
Some groups have already indicated they will use the declaration as a petition, asking others to sign it so it can be sent to the White House. Some are planning to enlarge it to poster size to get signatures.
A Safer World Is Our Right
Youth Declaration for Nuclear Abolition
16 April 2011 • Oak Ridge, Tennessee
We are the future and we are here to claim it.
Today, we live in the shadow of a bomb.
The Department of Energy has announced plans to build a new nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, right in our backyard.
Not only are bombs destructive to the environment, they threaten our future.
President Obama promised us a world free of nuclear weapons, yet his policies reflect otherwise, with increased spending on weapons production and the construction of a new facility to build bombs.
His promise for change is hollow, as the United States maintains a stockpile of more than 1,500 nuclear weapons.
We must hold our government accountable; we cannot continue to produce nuclear weapons.
We renounce the false security of weapons, rejecting their use as a means for national defense.
We cannot expect foreign powers to diminish their stockpiles if we are not willing to do the same.
We must set the standard.
We must be heard. We must declare ourselves the last generation to live in the shadow of a bomb.
We want to raise our children in a safer world, a world free of nuclear weapons.
We speak with one voice, proclaiming the end of all nuclear weapons. Our hopes and dreams do matter. Our leaders must understand that.
All countries must rid themselves of these devastating weapons.
We want to be proud of our country and our world.
We are the youth of the United States of America.
A safer world is our right.
a safer world declaration 2011
