Hiroshima, August 6 – 1945
Human shadows were burnt into sidewalks and walls in the first nuclear war.
The Shadow Project – 2006
61 years later, we chalk shadows on the streets of Portland, so that the blinding light of nuclear war is never seen again.
Hiroshima Day marks the anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, 1945. Over 200,000 people were killed by those two bombs. Since then, nuclear weapons have posed the single greatest threat to the survival of our species.
I’ll be attending with my two kids and will return with photographs from the event.
The Administration has plans for increasing U.S. nuclear weapons programs and so we urgently need to remind Oregonians and our lawmakers of the horrific consequences of nuclear weapons. We cannot let the memory of Hiroshima fade and allow our leaders to make this grave mistake again.
The Shadow Project is political art, by the people, for the world. People all over the world will make chalk shadows on the streets of our cities, remembering the human shadows burnt into the streets of Hiroshima by nuclear bombs. We do this the week before Hiroshima Day, August 6th, with the hope of preventing nuclear shadows from ever being cast again.
Come to a Chalking the Sidewalk Session: materials, permits, techniques, and others to chalk with.
August 6 – Japanese-American Plaza – 4:30 pm – NW Couch & Naito. The half hour training will be followed by chalking shadows near the training site.
“The Shadow Project began in 1982 and was organized as an International Shadow Project from Portland in 1985 in 426 cities worldwide. The Cold War may be over, but with the lapse of treaties and nuclear oversight, and research to build new atomic bombs, the threat of nuclear disaster is closer than most people think. Recently our fears have been focused on terrorism, but the old terrors have not gone away.” For information on the Shadow Project – www.ShadowProjectHome.org
Program:
Joel Iwanaga, Channel 6 News, emcee Reverend Alcena Boozer, president of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Polo Ronault Catalani, civil rights attorney and columnist for The Asian Reporter Chisao Hata, dancer/choreographer Dr. Martin Donohoe, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility Reverend Jack Takayanagi, United Church of Christ. Music by Toki Taiko drums and Aurora Chorus.
Co-Sponsors: Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Japanese American Citizens League, Portland Branch of WILPF – Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Hiroshima Club,
American Friends Service Committee, Code Pink Portland, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Friends of Sabeel – North America, the Military and Draft Counseling Project, Oregon Buddhist Temple, Oregon PeaceWorks, Rural Organizing Project, WAND – Women’s Action for New Directions, Wasco County Citizens for Human Dignity, Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group, Veterans for Peace Chapter 72, Church of Scientology of Portland, Multnomah Friends Meeting, Soka Gakkai International (SGI)-USA