Trident nuclear disarmament activist Steve Kelly, a Jesuit priest, begins his third year imprisoned in a county jail as he and his companions await sentencing. (Photo from previous Plowshares action 7 years ago.)
By Kathy Kelly
April 3, 2020
On April 4, 2020, my friend Steve Kelly will begin a third
year of imprisonment in Georgia’s Glynn County jail. He turned 70 while in
prison, and while he has served multiple prison sentences for protesting nuclear
weapons, spending two years in a county jail is unusual even for him. Yet he adamantly
urges supporters to focus attention on the nuclear weapons arsenals which he
and his companions aim to disarm. “The nukes are not going to go away by
themselves,” says Steve.
The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 now await sentencing for their
action, performed two years ago inside the Kings Bay Trident Submarine
base in southern Georgia. They acted in concert with many others who take literally
the Scriptural call to “beat swords into plowshares.” Commenting on their case, Bill Quigley, a member
of their legal team, told me “their actions speak louder than their words and their words are very
powerful.” Bill encourages us to remember each of them in our thoughts,
prayers, and, hopefully, through our actions. “The legal system is not big
enough for the hearts, minds and spirits of these folks,” he adds. “The legal
system tries to concentrate all of this down to whether you cut a fence or
sprayed some blood.” Bill believes we should instead look at the impending
disaster nuclear weapons could cause, and the continuing disaster they do cause
by wasting crucially needed resources to potentially destroy the planet.
“You’ve got eight numbers just like everybody else.” Jailers
sometimes use this line to subdue or humiliate a prisoner who complains or
seems to ask for special treatment. I learned this during a two-month stint in
a Missouri county jail, (for planting corn on top of nuclear missile silo
sites).
Once inside the prison system, your number is more useful to
the Bureau of Prisons than your name, and you grow accustomed to responding
when your number is called. The eight numbers help blur personalities and
histories.
I think jailers have a hard time finding any instances when
Steve Kelly tries to pull rank or claim extra privileges. He’s a well-educated
Jesuit priest who has traveled the world. Outside the prison, he’d often be
found walking alongside people who migrate from one difficult situation to the
next, blending in, trying to help. Inside a jail or prison, he has often preferred
solitary confinement to “general population” which requires obedience to all
rules. The cramped confines of the Glynn County Jail don’t have a more punitive
space in which to put him. Amid the jail’s crowded, noisy, unhealthy conditions,
he uses his time remarkably well. I surmise this from reading his weekly post
cards which are always humorous, thoughtful, and encouraging.
From his vantage point, amid people immiserated by poverty
and mass incarceration systems, he yet sees the nuclear threat as the one that
most endangers people. When “nuclear states” insist on superiority because they
can menace non-nuclear states, a dangerous nationalism arises. Using arsenals
to back up a fortress mentality undermines our capacity for international
cooperation now massively needed to tackle the major problems we face. “You’ve
got eight numbers just like everybody else” could point to a humbling yet
helpful reminder that we are confined together on this planet and constrained
by the prospect of real crises like the pandemic we’re now weathering.
I can recall walking through wet markets in far-away places and
shuddering at the sight of slaughtered, bloody carcasses hanging from hooks in
the open air. I imagine Steve would catch me, with a certain glance and nod,
and ask what could be more savage and destructive than a lab creating nuclear
weapons to incinerate people.
At the end of World War I, soldiers emerged from trenches in
the front lines and felt puzzled by the silence. Realizing the terrifying,
horrific explosions had ended, that the war was over, they didn’t clap or
cheer. Exhausted, they slumped over their packs, awaiting migration back to
their homes.
When the COVID-19 pandemic ends, global silence may be appropriate.
A new biological threat will still be conceivable, one that could equal climate
change and a nuclear meltdown or nuclear winter. Climate catastrophes could exacerbate
our human immunological vulnerability. It’s grim to reckon with the potential for
a new, mutated wave of coronavirus or another virus altogether to cause further
sorrow and death.
We’ll all need to pick up our packs and go back to work,
determined to be far better prepared for life saving actions as we move into an
uncertain future. Ideally, nuclear weapon arsenals will be recognized as a
crazed burden we must finally shed if we’ve any hope of surviving our past recklessness.
At some point, hopefully, my friend Steve Kelly will hear a
voice over a loudspeaker telling him to pack his belongings. He’ll have
survived this chapter of punishment. He won’t very likely be released, as there
is a warrant for his arrest for a previous protest action, but he’ll carry a
small pack beyond the confines of the Glynn County Jail. More importantly, he’ll
carry the challenge to continue dedicating his life to ridding the world of
nuclear weapons. In these challenging times, those eight numbers distinguish
him as a fine and invaluable leader to follow.
Kathy Kelly (kathy@vcnv.org)
co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org)
716-332-3904 716-931-3520 7/29/18
Dear Friends,
Here comes another busy week with lots of opportunities to work for justice and peace.
Please join us today at the Racial Justice Taskforce meeting 1-2:30pm, again at the WNYPC, 1272 Delaware Ave (entrance & pkg round back of bldg).
Also today, is Stop The Violence Coalition Memorial Celebration of Lives Lost to Homicide, Noon- 7pm. Please join us at MLK Park, Best & Fillmore Aves, for the 8th Annual of this event, free for all the community, family, and friends. Food and prizes, fun and laughter. Unification is the only way we can stop gun violence. Many thanks to and for Nona Holman, main organizer. (Donations welcome to help cover expenses).
And of course on Monday, Kathy Kelly, Co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, renown peace activist and Nobel Prize Nominee, will speak at Focusing on Yemen, July 30, 7pm at Burning Books, part of the Infringement Festival. Kathy gives both peoples stories as well as the facts, figures, and policy framework for a deeper understanding and commitment to action!
Many thanks to those who came out to #FocusOnYemen yesterday, and directly afterwards, to rally for justice in Iraq, followed by Women In Black’s regular nonviolence vigil. To continue working to stop our government’s militarism, violence, and war crimes, please join us Weds, Aug 1 at 5:30-7:30pm at the Niagara Porter Library to start a roundtable for increased collaboration on same.
Please note too that we are having the first of a regular weekly Vigil for Victims of ICE Terror – Thursday(s) at 5-6pm in front of ICE at Delaware & Chippewa Sts. Please bring signs.
Also Wednesday, at 6-7:30, there’ll also be a meeting of the Poor People’s Campaign –WNY, at 1199 SEIU Bldg, This critically important effort will #UnitetheStruggles and pursue #PowertothePolls for #PowertothePeople!!
Go to wnypeace.org to see our calendar for more details and events! as
well as the rest of this post on the home page.
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCAST
MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or
streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu or
#UniteTheStruggles #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver #LoveisLoveBUF
Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page);
– Taskforce items and campaigns; and
– regularly scheduled events – all in that order.
And be sure to go to wnypeace.org/calendar for more event listings – there’s plenty more and additions are frequent! …..
No hate, no fear as we are #StillResisting. #UnitetheStruggles !
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love. #loveisloveBUF <3
716-332-3904 716-931-3520 7/4/18
Dear Friends,
What a wonderful Families Belong Together Rally & March we had last Saturday! Many thanks to all who supported and participated. An estimated 1,500-2,500 came out, because the City of Good Neighbors will stand up for Humanity over Oppression every time! Si, se puede!
If you want to sign a petition in support, you could sign this one calling on governors to refuse to send the National Guard to militarize the Mexican border.. at https://petitions.moveon.org/sign/dont-let-your-governor.
And as a next step, please plan to join us for the Celebration For Change: a Poor People’s Campaign Event Thurs, July 12, 5:30 til 7:30pm at MLK Park. We’ll celebrate the 40 Days of Action and the many more to come as we #UnitetheStruggles. Music will include a Community Jam Sessions with Ismail & Co, and with the Women’s Resistance Revival Chorus; food (hot dogs and potluck); and great information and inspiration from supporting groups. Voter registration also included, and our #LoveisLove signs will also be on hand as membership gifts.
At the Celebration For Change, we’re excited that you will also meet our new Assistant Director, Gabrie’l Atchison – a longtime activist and organizer. We are thrilled to have her on board! If you’re associated with a group that wants to cosponsor, that means to publicize and table, just let us know at 332-3904, silverlight143@ymail.com or staceysm@buffalo.edu. You can also join us for a planning meeting on Thursday, July 5, 3:15, at the WNYPC, NRC Bldg, 1272Delaware Ave, Buffalo (entrance & pkg round back behind building). #UnitetheStruggles.
On this 4th of July, let’s remember the message of renowned peace activist, author, and historian Howard Zinnprogressive.org/howard-zinn-s-july-4-wisdom-stands-test-time/?utm_source=THE+PROGRESSIVE+UPDATED+LIST&utm_campaign=579ea26c32-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_03_21_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_194f0c7083-579ea26c32-186688709&mc_cid=5
Also please go to our website to see another July 4th illumination, as well as a number (3) Environmental Justice Taskforce events in the next two days.
Camp Peaceprints is also fast approaching. IF YOU ARE A LIFEGUARD AND ARE WILLING TO WORK 1-2PM ON TUES & THURS, with travel time and expenses also covered, IE, JULY 17, 19, 24, & 26, PLEASE CONTACT US AT 716-931-3520(CALL OR TEXT)!
Lastly don’t forget to sign your 8 to 13 year olds for Camp Peaceprints, now in its 11th year, July 16-27, M-F 10am-3pm; with swimming (4 times); field trips to new Underground Railroad Museum in/and Niagara Falls, as well as Tifft’s Nature Preserve. We’ll also be meeting with Mayor Brown. Sign them up with registration form accessible at wnypeace.org/education&humanrights
Many Thanks, Peace, Solidarity, and yes Love.
Go to wnypeace.org to see our calendar for more details and events! as well as the rest of this post.
And remember to tune in: DEMOCRACY NOW! IS NOW BEING BROADCAST MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8AM-9AM (LIVE) ON WBNY 91.3FM. Hear it over the radio or streaming live at wbny.buffalostate.edu or http://tunein.com/radio/WBNY-913-s27549/. #UniteTheStruggles #PowerWITH-NOTPowerOver #LoveisLoveBUF
Below are
– more event listings (see also calendar & facebook page);
– Taskforce items and campaigns; and
– regularly scheduled events – all in that order.
And be sure to go to wnypeace.org/calendar for more event listings – there’s plenty more and additions are frequent! …..
No hate, no fear as we are #StillResisting. #UnitetheStruggles !
Peace, Thanks, Solidarity, and yes Love. #loveisloveBUF <3
