Around Town

Watertown Group Discussing Erasing of Indigenous History in Town, Columbus Monument

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The following announcement was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment:

Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment will hold our September Monthly Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:45 PM. All are welcome. Our topic this month is: Engaging Our Past For A More Truth-filled Future. Please join us for a very special monthly meeting featuring the Pigsqusset Decolonization Team, a group of Watertown citizens who organized in early 2020 to engage the public in a conversation about the erasure of the Indigenous history of the place we call home. Their initial goal is to create a conversation about the future of the monument to Christopher Columbus in the Town Square.

Around Town

Watertown Group Remembers Victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombs

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Attendees of a vigil for the victims of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombs hold a banner. The event on Aug. 9 was organized by Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice & the Environment. The following report was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment:

On Sunday evening August 9, over sixty people gathered for an annual remembrance of the more than 210,000 lives lost in the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Organized by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment, the remembrance was co-sponsored byMassachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), New England American Friends Service Committee and Survival Education Fund.

Around Town

LETTER: Watertown Group Commemorating Bombing of Hiroshima, Nagasaki

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Candleboats float on the Charles River in Watertown in memory of those who died in the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Watertown Citizens for Peace Justice and the Environment is holding a commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Sunday, August 9, the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki. NEVER AGAIN – NO MORE HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI – NO MORE VICTIMS – ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS

7:30 PM – Silent Vigil – Watertown Square8:00 PM – Music and Testimonials8:30 PM – Launching of the Candle boats on the Charles River

NEVER AGAIN! NO MORE VICTIMS! ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS!

Letters

OP-ED: Call to Dismantle Nuclear Weapons 75 Years After Atom Bombs dropped on Hiroshima, Nagasaki

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Candleboats float on the Charles River in Watertown in memory of those who died in the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The following piece was submitted by Jeanne Trubek, Sue-Ellen Hershman-Tcherepnin, Pam Phillips and Sue LaDue of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment:

Seventy-five years ago, the United States opened a new era, the Age of Nuclear Weapons. In August, 1945, the US dropped one atomic bomb on Hiroshima and one atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Those two bombs killed 226,000 people — immediately. In the years that followed, the survivors — in Japanese as “Hibakusha” – suffered cancer and chronic disease as a result of the extreme radiation.

Around Town

Watertown Group Hosting Discussion on Paying for the New Green Deal

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The following information was provided by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment:

Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment will hold our July Monthly Meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, July 15, at 6:45 PM. All are welcome. Our topic this month is: Warheads to Windmills:How to Pay for the Green New Deal

Please join us to hear Dr. Timmon Wallis and Vicki Elson of NuclearBan.us identify the three major crises threatening the planet today: 1) the climate crisis 2) expanding nuclear arsenals 3) extreme economic inequality – and propose a solution: redirect funds and technology for nuclear weapons to the development of green energy and green jobs. Warheads to Windmills: How to Pay for the Green New Deal, written by Dr. Wallis, provides a detailed analysis of what it will take to adequately address the climate crisis and where the needed funds, scientific and engineering expertise could come from: the nuclear weapons program. To quote Dr. Timmons, “It’s not an exaggeration to say that these weapons threaten our very existence as a species, and so does the climate crisis.

Around Town

Vigil for Black Lives Draws Hundreds to Watertown Square

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Some of the hundreds of people who participated in the Vigil for Black Lives in Watertown on Tuesday evening. Hundreds of people lined streets of Watertown Square Tuesday evening for a vigil for George Floyd and other African-Americans killed by police around the nation. The event was one of many public gatherings across the nation held after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25. The local effort was organized by Watertown Citizens for Black Lives, which is part of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment. Watertown Citizens has held vigils in the past, including for Black Lives, but none drew crowds as large as Tuesday’s event.

10th Middlesex

Candidates for 2 State Rep. Seats Appearing in Online Forum

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Watertown is part of two districts in the House of Representatives and both have contested races in 2020. The candidates will appear on an online video forum hosted by Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment. The forum will be held on Zoom and will take place on Sunday, June 7 from 1:45 p.m. to 4 p.m. A link to join the forum will be posted on the group’s website: http://watertowncitizens.org/

“We invite all to join us to hear from the candidates for State Representative as they share their perspectives on Peace, Justice and the Environment,” the announcement from the Watertown Citizens group said. Most of the town, 9 of 12 precincts, is located in the 29th Middlesex District, which also includes parts of Cambridge. State Rep. Jonathan Hecht has announced he is stepping down.

Around Town

LETTER: Local Peace Activists Protest Raytheon’s Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia

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Peace activists from Watertown joined a protest against Raytheon for selling arms to Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, May 16, Peace Activists from Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment joined others from Massachusetts Peace Action and from Veterans for Peace to protest local company Raytheon’s continuing partnership with Saudi Arabia in the destruction of Yemen, even in the midst of a global pandemic. The people of Yemen have been enduring famine and war for over 5 years. Now they face the threat of COVID-19 with a public health system that has been horribly damaged by war. Local Activists stood along the sidewalk of Route 2 at Fresh Pond Shopping Center early Saturday afternoon.