Tune in on Saturday, May 9th at 12pm EDT for a special webinar: Disarm and Divest during COVID-19. The webinar will be moderated by Norman Solomon, RootsAction co-founder, author, & political columnist, and includes:

  • Medea Benjamin, Code Pink co-founder, author, and global activist
  • Dr. Cornel West, Harvard Divinity School, author, activist, and social critic
  • Jeremy Scahill, The Intercept co-founder, investigative journalist, and author

Kings_Bay_webinarThe panel will be discussing the need for civil resistance disarmament actions such as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7, the continued build-up of militarism, and the destitute condition of our world before and during the pandemic. They will also speak on divesting military funding to serve human needs during COVID-19 and beyond.

When: Saturday, May 9th, 12-1pm ET

Topic: Kings Bay Plowshares 7 Webinar: DISARM & DIVEST DURING COVID-19

Please click the link below to join the webinar via Zoom:

Webinar ID: 889 0794 9724

Or iPhone one-tap: US: +16465588656,,88907949724#  or +13017158592,,88907949724#

Or Telephone: Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 646 558 8656 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799

International numbers available: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kppxpKEJr

Register via this page for automatic webinar reminder early Saturday morning.

You can also watch the Webinar Livestream on YouTube cosponsored by Code Pink on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSTEGsYwuvPpwjtIufg7gzA?view_as=subscriber

The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 are scheduled for sentencing on May 28 and 29 in Brunswick, GA for their nonviolent symbolic disarmament action at the largest nuclear sub-base in the world on April 4, 2018. Kings Bay is the Atlantic home port to a fleet of Trident submarines that contain one-quarter of the U.S. deployed nuclear weapons. Their action occurred on April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 are Carmen Trotta of NYC St. Joseph House Catholic Worker; Mark Colville of New Haven, CT Amistad C.W.; Clare Grady of Ithaca C.W.; Fr. Steve Kelly, S.J. (held for the last two years in GA county jails); Martha Hennessy of NYC Maryhouse C.W. and a granddaughter of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement; Elizabeth (Liz) McAlister of Baltimore’s Jonah House and widow of Phil Berrigan, and Patrick O’Neill of Fr. Charlie Mulholland C.W. in Garner, N.C.

Sentencing recommendations call for 18 months for Liz McAlister (already served 17 months), up to 47 months for Steve Kelly (served two years), and up to 27 months for the others. We do not know at this time if the sentencing will take place in person in a courtroom or remotely.

There will also be a Zoom call with the defendants on Saturday, May 16 at noon where there will be more time for discussion. Details to be announced.

It’s time to wash our hands of Trident, to demand that money should be directed towards health care for all, particularly during the COVID-19, for all future pandemics, for all human needs, and to cut funding for the military. The next generation of Trident submarines will cost $1.2 Trillion over the next ten years. The Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) has pointed out that the U.S. spent $35.1 billion on nuclear weapons in 2019. This could have provided: 300,000 intensive care beds, 35,000 ventilators, and the salaries for 150,000 nurses and 75,000 doctors. Furthermore, if only a small portion of conventional weapons spending were redirected many more resources could be available to provide for the rest of the world’s survival needs rather than the endless wars our government pursues now. Our world would discover its real security lies in shared humanity, not in nationalist arrogance or domination.

TAKE ACTION!

Call Congress to redirect funding from the military, particularly Trident, towards human needs. More info here.

Sign the petition for Ahmaud Arbery, a 25 year old black man who was murdered by two white vigilantes on February 23 in Brunswick, GA while he was jogging. Sign here.

Your support for the Kings Bay Plowshares 7 will help cover the ongoing costs  surrounding the seven co-defendants while in prison and their families and communities. Checks can be sent to Plowshares, PO Box 3087, Washington, DC 20010. Or donate online here at this new link: Isaiah project. Thank you.

One thought on “Kings Bay Plowshares 7 Webinar on May 9th: Disarm and divest during Covid-19”

  1. This was such a powerful and important webinar! I hope that the recording will be made available soon so we can share it. Such an inspiring and educational teach-in. Every speaker was great! Thank you all.

    Reply

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