A group of about 20 peacemakers are embarking on an 11-day, 110-mile walk from Savannah, Ga., to Kings Bay, Ga. Named, “Disarm Trident: Savannah to Kings Bay Peace Walk,” the action is a call to abolish nuclear weapons globally and is supporting the seven Catholic activists arrested back in April on the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base back in April.
“We will walk in nonviolence and prayer with the hope of bending the moral arc of the world towards justice and peace,” Kathy Kelly, one of the organizers of the walk, said in a news release.
The Kings Bay base is home to six of the 14 nuclear-armed Trident submarines in the U.S. arsenal. One submarine carries 20 missiles, each of which have multiple warheads, amounting to an explosive power per submarine that is thousands of times greater than the single bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
“What we’re talking about is the very life and death of the entire planet,” Ken Jones, an organizer of the walk, told Sojourners.
Seven Catholic activists are facing trial for participating in Plowshares actions, which have taken place worldwide since 1980. These actions are named after the call in the book of Isaiah to “beat swords into plowshares.” Activists have participated in symbolic acts which include hanging banners and pouring blood on the base logo.
Patrick O'Neill is one of the seven activists awaiting trial who is also participating in the Disarm Trident peace walk. In a conversation with Sojourners, he shared that he fears he is “turning over a world gone mad to my children and grandchildren.”
O’Neil hopes that this walk will enlighten people about the various risks that these nuclear weapons pose to the people and wild life near the base, as well as to the planet. Another goal of the walk is to raise awareness about the upcoming trial and draw others into the work.
“To symbolically disarm a nuclear weapon is very inspiring to me,” Beth Brookman shared with Sojourners. An activist based in Durham, N.C., Brookman took notice of what the seven activists did in April and decided to participate in this walk.
“This whole military industry is idolatrous,” she said.
Daniel José Camacho is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications such as The Guardian, Sojourners, and The Point. He is currently working on a book about Bartolomé de las Casas with Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
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