Sacred Sites Peacewalk For A Nuclear Free World Comes To The Bay Area

Buddhist peace walkers, Chumash and other Native American leaders, along with dozens of activists, including mothers with children began thier march with prayers, drums, and chants at the gates of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant on October 22nd and will conclude sixteen days later on November 6th at a sacred Native American site in Vallejo. The march is co-sponsored bySan Luis Obispo's Mothers for Peace to raise new awareness about nuclear power and its risks, specifically operations at Diablo Canyon and San Onofre.

Linda Seeley, head of the Mothers for Peace intervenors, remarks, “Our group appreciates the workers at Diablo—they keep us safe. However, nearly five million pounds of highly radioactive waste is now stored on-site, most in open-air pools. The amount grows daily—with no solution in sight.”

Some of the peacewalkers are from Japan, fresh from the disaster at Fukushima. Nuclear energy can never be made wholly safe, they assert; especially nuclear facilities like Diablo that should never have been sited near earthquake and tsunami-prone zones.

Adds Seeley: “We’re walking in support and solidarity with the people of Fukushima. What happened at Fukushima, happens here, too—we are all connected.”

The general public is warmly invited to take part in the peace walk; volunteers may elect to walk for an hour, a day, or the entire walk. Discussing the walk on the Community Currency radio show, organizers Linda Seeley and Louise Dunlap, also expressed solidarity with the occupations and hoped that their walk would also visit the occupations along the way, including the ones in San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, San Jose, and Oakland. In many ways the walk and the occupations are similar, in that they bring people together for a shared purpose and nurture community, building the vital foundation for social change.

They will be in Santa Cruz on Friday and some will probably visit the occupation. On Saturday, October 29th, they are scheduled to walk from the Resource Center for Non-Violence to visit a sacred site. [Some will also be speaking at the 1:00 pm Peace and Unity March at Watsonville Main Plaza (Main St. & East Beach)] In the evening at 6:30 pm there will be a Potluck dinner and informal sharing/storytelling at 612 Ocean St. (new RCNV building).

Sunday through Tuesday, they will be walking to and through San Jose. From Mission San Jose, they will head for Livermore on Tuesday. Wednesday, November 2nd, will bring them to Hayward. Thursday, November 3rd will they will walk to Oakland. Friday they will walk to Berkeley for an Evening Pot Luck Dinner, Speak Out & Discussion facilitated by Joanna Macy at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, at Cedar and Bonita at 6 pm.

The last weekend of the walk will take them to Richmond on Saturday, November 5th, and on Sunday to Sogorea Te (Vallejo).

The invitation is open-

"Join us for all or part of this journey. Bring sleeping gear, water bottle, plate & fork, a good heart and good walking shoes, but PLEASE travel light." Routes, schedules, and details at www.mothersforpeace.org and at www.canuclearwalk.com.