by Jamilah; Berkeley
I have just finished watching White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at Revolution Books here in Berkeley. I am
speechless, struck silent as I try to reconcile the fact that if you
knew what this type of weapon does to people then how in the world can
you even joke about the use of nuclear weapons on a country or keep
“all options,” including the use of nuclear weapons, on the proverbial
table. This film documents the effects of the world’s first use of the
atomic bomb, by the U.S. on the people of Japan, as a weapon of war and
it doesn’t hold back.
I strongly encourage everyone to find a copy of this movie and watch it now. This movie makes real the effect of nuclear fallout with footage and stories that I had never seen or heard before. Watching images of children severely burned, suffering so, and then to see them, over 50 years later, as elderly men and women telling us about their lost family members with pain so real it is as if this all happened yesterday can be too much for some to bear. And it should be. We should not get to the point where our hearts are not moved by the suffering of others and I think that it is a love for humanity that can keep us going even though . Through my tears, I found myself with a greater understanding of the reality of what a nuclear attack looks like and the horrors it causes.
This movie made me realize that when politicians and pundits say that all options are on the table, including the use of nuclear weapons, when dealing with Iran, it’s not just political rhetoric. I liken it to pre-meditated murder, on a mass scale, because the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki never had a chance. And the people of Iran will have had no chance if we don’t stop this shit now.
This is one reason why going to Denver, joining in protest, and carrying loud the message that an attack on Iran is unacceptable is not just important, but urgently necessary. Iranians are real people. They have value just like you and I. They have parents and siblings and they love and feel pain just like we do. But just because we find ourselves living in a country in which its ruling class seeks to further it global reach by threatening, invading and occupying countries that are in strategic locations, does not mean we throw up our hands in hopeless acceptance.
We raise our fists in determined defiance. See you in Denver.
word Jamilah ! – and i can’t believe McCain came out and said -“nuclear power was safe then and its safe now” – without a single journalist taking him to task for its failures and its ominous lingering environmental hazards; e.g. Chrynobel (sp.?) waste storage et cetera. But my favorite unasked question is this : now that america is in the throws of its environmental late life conversion and its so very popular to be “green” and respect the earth : what would happen if a single natural disaster dislodged nuclear waste and other enriched radioactive material ? How much ov our food and water supply would become infertile and what is our plan if such a scenario should occur. Many nuclear plants are built near oceans (e.g., 3 mile island/seabrook/indian point) – which make them triple threats to the abundance of the lords vineyard. How do the “in god we trust ” people feel about that ? I guess it hasn’t made their chart of profitable issues yet. Do they think they could build a “natural disaster wall” that could withstand the ,often invoked, – “lords wrath” ? 45 new nuclear plants ? Sorry there’s no glowing radioactive smiley. 🙁 – Don’t let it happen america !!!