CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR AT THE NUCLEAR TEST SITE
By Marc Page
A few years ago NevadaDesertExperience.org created an event which brought
over 500 people from around the world to Las Vegas and the USA’s nuclear
Test Site for an alternative celebration of New Year’s Eve. The group hosted
workshops and ceremonies in Las Vegas and out in the desert at the Nevada
Test Site at midnight to welcome the new
millennium taking action for peace. More than 300 people were arrested
at the Test Site just after midnight, ringing in the new year on January
1st 2000---the first mass arrests for civil resistance of this century,
less than a month after the battle for Seattle. Unfortunately, the prayers
didn’t have an immediate effect: as we all have seen, the
domination system in this century seems to uphold injustice and violence
ever more viciously. From the cries of the victims of 9-11 to the
USA’s
plans to further
cripple and destroy the people of Iraq, to the impending growth of the
carcinogenic nuclear
industry with its inherent
dangers, humanity is in deep trouble. Now more than ever, people
need to gather and take collective actions based in Love and Peace. So
Nevada Desert Experience (NDE) again is calling people to return to the
desert to create peace on earth & good will to all.
NDE will hold ceremonies at the
Nevada Test Site
following a march on the Las Vegas Strip on December 31st
2002. The New Year’s Eve gathering begins December 30th at St. James Church
in North Las Vegas, and ends at brunch on January 1st. Join the company
of Western Shoshone
Spiritual Leader Corbin Harney,
Pace e Bene's
Ken
Butigan, eco-philosopher Joanna
Macy, cross-cultural educator
Fran Macy,
depleted uranium expert Damacio Lopez, author & nonviolent
activist John Dear, and many others "For the Sake of the Future", in Southern
Nevada. The group will carpool to the Mercury Exit of Interstate 95 (60
miles from the edge of Las Vegas) for a candle-light procession into the
Nevada Test Site.
While some people will inevitably camp out
at the Test Site's Peace Camp
on their own, during those days, if you wish to participate fully in Vegas from December 30th
to January 1st, with seven vegetarian meals and housing included, a fee is requested;
(sliding scale, as much as you can donate, up to 0 ).
For more info, contact: For
the Sake of the Future c/o JPIC Office, 1500 34th Ave, Oakland CA 94601.
and check out: NevadaDesertExperience.org
for more details on this lovely way to spend your New Year’s Eve!