Table of Contents
- Introduction
- News, and Other Relevant Links
- Related Organizations and Resources
- Featured Resolutions
Boston is the birthplace of numerous anti-nuclear movements that have catapulted to nationwide advocacy.
Since the 1950s, Boston has been a hub for anti-nuclear activism. As the capital of Massachusetts, the most populous city in the Commonwealth, and the location of the Massachusetts State House, Boston has been a key place for successful lobbying efforts. Boston is the birthplace of numerous anti-nuclear movements that have catapulted to nationwide advocacy.
The Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR) was founded in 1961. This group of physicians advocated for the recognition of the health risks associated with nuclear weapons development, testing, and deployment. The group began by publishing a series of essays in the New England Journal of Medicine, exploring what would occur if a 20-megaton atomic bomb were dropped on Boston. Since its inception, the group has expanded in both membership and scope to increase public awareness of these risks. Currently, the group publishes reports on the public health effects of potential nuclear actions, reflections on proposed policy from a physician’s perspective, and hosts frequent webinars and conferences.
In 1979, Randall Forsberg, then a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ignited the nationwide Nuclear Freeze campaign after writing “Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race.” This document called for a bilateral freeze on the production, testing, and deployment of nuclear weapons from the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This piece marked the beginning of the Nuclear Freeze movement, which eventually spread nationwide, making Boston an epicenter of 1980s nuclear disarmament advocacy.
On December 8, 2021, Boston signed a “Resolution Renouncing Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Urging the United States to Pull ‘Back From the Brink’ and Prevent Nuclear War.” This resolution aligned Boston with the security policy recommendations established by the Back from the Brink Campaign, signaled Boston’s outward support for the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), urged the U.S. federal government to join the treaty, authorized Boston’s participation in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ (ICAN) Save Cities Campaign, and transmitted the resolution to Boston’s congressional representatives. This resolution demonstrates Boston’s multi-pronged efforts to promote nuclear disarmament. As the capital of Massachusetts, this action also set an example for other cities in the Commonwealth on aligning with peace.
News, and Other Relevant Links
City Council resolution urges U.S. to pull ‘Back from the Brink’, prevent nuclear war
City of Boston (2021)
“Call to Halt the Nuclear Arms Race” Draft 3, 1979
Cornell University Library
Related Organizations and Resources
Featured Resolutions
Public Meeting Summaries
RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION RENOUNCING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
PROLIFERATION AND URGING THE UNITED STATES TO PULL
“BACK FROM THE BRINK” AND PREVENT NUCLEAR WAR
DECEMBER 8, 2021
The Resolution Renouncing Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and urging the United States to Pull “Back from the Brink” and Prevent Nuclear War aims to urge federal leaders to bring anti-nuclear policy to the forefront of their attention. The Resolution urges the federal government to abide by the suggestions of the Back from the Brink Campaign including “Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first,” “Establishing a system of checks and balances ensuring that the President of the United States no longer has the sole and unchecked authority to launch nuclear weapons,” “Taking US nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert,” “Cancelling the plan to replace the entire United States nuclear arsenal with next-generation nuclear weapons,” and “Actively pursuing a verifiable and multilateral agreement among nuclear-armed States to eliminate nuclear arsenals.” The resolution also urges the United States to join the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It authorizes Boston to be a part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Save the Cities Campaign. The resolution concludes with the acknowledgment that the city clerk will disperse the document to U.S. Senators Markey and Warren, and U.S. Representatives Lynch and Pressley.
Boston City Council President Pro Tempore Matt O’Malley: “Madam Clerk, would you now please read docket 1245. Docket 1245.”
City Clerk Maureen Feeney: “Docket 1245 Council of the following resolution denouncing nuclear weapons proliferation and urging the United States to pull back from the brink and prevent nuclear war”
President Pro Tempore O’Malley: “The chair recognizes the district Councilor Liz Breadon. Councillor Liz, the floor is yours.”
Boston City Councilor Elizabeth A. “Liz” Breadon for District 9: “Thank you, Mr. President, Mr Chair, this resolution renouncing nuclear weapons proliferation, urging the United States to pull back from the brink and prevent nuclear war. This is a grassroots campaign called Back from the Brink to the call to prevent nuclear war, and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons are calling for our federal government to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of our national security policy and join the global effort to prevent nuclear war. I have a personal history in advocating for nuclear disarmament as a young person in the 1980s I was involved with, there was increasing nuclear tensions and the US deployed nuclear missiles to green__ common in England and they had this huge outpouring of sort of a resurgence of an anti nuclear movement that had been sort of um dorment almost since the 2950s. Um and one of the most memorable experiences I had was at a meeting in which someone had um a bucket of um ball bearings and each ball bearing represented a nuclear missile existence that um is equivalent to the bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima and uh it was an interfaith gathering to talk about nuclear disarmament and the person slowly but dropped the bucket like just let the ball bearings drop out of the bucket into another bucket and it seemed like an eternity but those thousands of ball bearings and each one equivalent to the nuclear bomb that dropped on hiroshima and it went on and on and on and just as this huge number of nuclear weapons that don’t exactly make us any any safer and in january of 2020 22 1920, 2021 the United Nations enacted a treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons which finally classified nuclear weapons in the same status as chemical weapons, biological weapons, land mines, and cluster munitions which are already prohibited by international treaty the treaty currently has 56 ratifications and 86 signatures but the United States is not yet a signature. Back From The Brink started right here in Massachusetts. In 2017, I was prompted to offer this resolution after being contacted by Dr. Ira Helfred of Physicians for Social Responsibility and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. We also heard from jack trapernick a boston lab high school senior and student organizer who has, part of a student effort to circulate a position, petition collecting over 300 signatures from BLS students and I have all of the signatures from the BLS students is here they passed, they passed on the petition, passed the petition onto our office and shared messages from students in support. One BLS student, Rachel Wantagh, said, “It is shocking that we are that when we learned recently learned that the US has the ability to inflict catastrophic damage on people and children just like us anywhere in the world in one single moment. The US claims to be a leader among nations, but to fulfill that title, we must lead the way in global nuclear disarmament. We should not have to worry about if one temperamental move from a misguided president could spell certain doom for millions. We urge you to adopt this resolution and support nuclear disarmament so we, the United States, serve as a role model for peace and not aggression.” I urge you to pass this resolution today. Thank you.”
President Pro Tempore O’Malley: “Thank you, Councillor Breadon. Would anyone else wish to speak on docket 1245. Would any Councilors wish to add their name as a cosponsor to docket 1245. Madam Clerk please add Councillor Arroyo, Councillor Baker, Councilor Bok, Councillor Campbell, Councillor Essaibi George, Councillor Flaherty, Councillor Flynn, Councillor Mejia, Councilor Murphy. Please add the chairs name as well. Councilor Liz Breadon seeks suspension of the rules adoption of docket 1245 all those in favor please indicate by saying aye. Oppose Nay. The aye’s have it. The docket has passed.”