Very close to the zero point where the first atomic bomb (A-Bomb Dome) exploded is the Café Book Social Colibrí (Hachidori-sha Social Book Café) that drives Erika Abiko in Hiroshima.
A very cozy area full of books and rustic wooden furniture that mix Japanese (sitting on the floor) and western (in chairs) use to everyone's taste.
In this space, the documentary “The Beginning of the End of Nuclear Weapons” was screened on January 13, as the members of the World March Base Team passed through Japan.
An event with the collaboration between the World March and Peace Boat
The event was made possible by the relationship established between the World March and Peace Boat in Barcelona in October 2019, and the commitment of its activists.
The fact that it was celebrated a few hundred meters from the epicenter of the first atomic explosion against people, one of the most tragic moments in the history of mankind, made it a challenge of high symbolic value that would surely bring important memories and experiences to the attendees
It began with a brief presentation of the World March, highlighting the commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons and support for TPAN as one of its main axes.
The public was distributed among members of some associations (National Off. On Human Rights and Peace), former United Nations officials (T. Morikawa), some media (Kyodo News), and the regulars of Café Book Colibrí, youth and older, some close to the time of the event and even one of the protagonists of the documentary, the Hibakusha Setsuko Thurlow.
An empty “zero row” for those absent
In front of them, a "zero row" of empty seats for the absent.
Everyone saw the projection with intense and restrained attention that remained even in the moments of most crudeness and also in the prolonged silence that filled the room and replaced the applause at the end.
After five minutes of pause suggested by Erika to resume the connection with the everyday and to be able to get away from the horrible scenario of that same place a few decades ago, recently revived in the film, a colloquium began around the question of how to get some real breakthrough so that That never happens again.
In the face of the disbelief of some of the attendees, the situation in which international support to the TPAN is explained, with only 16 signatures missing for its entry into force at the United Nations and with a possible time horizon of less than one year to come true.
Sadness and worry gave way to hope, but it was the proposal of the World March coordinator that definitely changed the general mood by finally giving rise to a spontaneous applause from all attendees: celebrate, the day of entry into TPAN vigor, a big party in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A party that spreads and infects all the cities of the world with Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the epicenter, this time, of joy.
The members of the World March are committed to disseminating and supporting this proposal everywhere.
Author: Rafael de la Rubia
Photographs: Rafka, Erika A.
We appreciate the support with the dissemination of the web and social networks of the 2 World March
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