Think Outside the Bomb
National Youth Conference on Nuclear Abolition
Boston, MA   August 14-17, 2008

The 2008 Think Outside The Bomb national conference in Boston proceeded with nearly 80 participants, almost all under 25 years old. Twenty-one US states were represented at the conference; additionally, we had exchange students present from Germany, Denmark, Ukraine, and Haiti, making this the most geographically diverse Think Outside the Bomb conference yet.

The conference took place at MIT in the famous $300 million Stata Center, the use of which was donated to us by the MIT Technology and Culture forum. Our impressive speakers list, outlined below, shows a growing commitment to the Think Outside the Bomb network from some of the most prominent U.S. activists and scholars working for nuclear disarmament. Our speakers delved into such topics as a full roadmap of an affordable US energy policy without carbon fuels or nuclear power, and a thoughtful examination of the role nuclear weapons have played in enabling an aggressive and militaristic US foreign policy throughout history. More than simply educating students on nuclear issues, however, the conference set out with a goal to engage every single participant intellectually, emotionally, and personally. We sought to give each participant not only the inspiration to work for a nuclear free future for the coming year, but the tools and skills to do that work and the opportunity and camaraderie to start this organizing. To this end, each participant helped create and joined a group to develop an action plan, through which they could enact the things they learned in their own communities through the rest of the year.


Speaker and conference co-organizer Erin Placey maps out the myriad connections in her life to the military-industrial complex. Models like this help engage each participant, who find similar connections in their own everyday lives.

Each day of the conference explored a unique theme, beginning on Thursday, August 14 with “Where do I fit into it? Personal Connections to the Nuclear Complex.” Following breakfast, conference registration and a quick round of personal introductions from all participants, we launched into our first panel, “Finding Your Personal Connection to Militarism and Nuclear Weapons,” featuring Joseph Gerson of AFSC, Ray Acheson of WILPF/Reaching Critical Will, Ester Ceja, formerly of the Snake River Alliance, and conference co-organizer Erin Placey in a wildly popular presentation outlining the connections to militarism and nuclear weapons that have entered her own life, from soccer practice as a kid to searching for her next apartment. After lunch came the day’s second panel, “The broader context of the Nuclear Complex,” with speakers Jackie Cabasso of the Western States Legal Foundation, John Burroughs of the Lawyer’s Committee on Nuclear Policy, and finally Subrata Ghoshroy, professor at MIT and member of MIT’s Technology and Culture Forum, presented “US India Deal -- Why Disarmament Must Be on the Table.”


Participants from Maryland, Iowa, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts bond over lunch.

The theme of the second day was “Connecting communities: Local struggles, Environmental Racism and Indigenous Impacts,” featuring speakers Leimomi Kamiya from the Marshall Islands, Mary Dickson, author and downwinder from Utah, and local media educator Mike Cermak and Boston-area recent high-school graduate Curtis from Environmental Justice Media, talking about student opposition to a Bioweapons Laboratory proposed for Boston. The laboratory as currently constituted is proposed to be built in a working-class neighborhood of Boston. A scheduled tour of that site, unfortunately, was cancelled due to weather. That afternoon, Arjun Makhijani of IEER spoke on his “Carbon Free, Nuclear Free” initiative. “Carbon Free, Nuclear Free” turned out to be a favorite presentation of many participants, due to Makhijani’s exhaustive research and compelling subject matter – a completely financially viable roadmap for transforming the US’s entire energy infrastructure away from both fossil fuels and nuclear weapons. That evening, after dinner, we gathered together at the Community Church of Boston to watch the 2006 documentary, The Last Atomic Bomb, the story of two survivors of the US atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan and their trip through the UK and US speaking to youth about nuclear disarament.


Musician and Clamshell Alliance member Court Dorsey shares stories and songs of anti-nuclear resistance with participants across generations.

Saturday’s theme was “Organizing and resisting: Strategies, lessons, and opportunities,” and focused around participants learning, sharing, and disseminating stories about each other’s work against nuclear weapons, power, and waste, as well as tools and strategies for expanding and continuing these efforts most effectively. Included in the day were skillshares for young activists to learn new skills and a presentation by the Clamshell Alliance about resistance against the Seabrook Reactor in New Hampshire in the late 1970s, followed by a workshop on nonviolence and consensus decision making, a tool from that movement which then spread to social justice organizing across the country. The rest of the day was devoted to bringing participants together in “breakout groups” to be able to create action plans with one another for the coming year. Each participant ended up with an action plan by the end of the conference, and the Think Outside the Bomb network will accommodate and coordinate all of these events over the coming year to help each achieve their maximum effect.

The final day was titled, “A Personal Disarmament, Living Lives of Change,” and centered prominently around a fishbowl discussion, which unexpectedly developed into an incredibly personal conversation involving every single participant, unbelievable in its raw and powerful depth of emotion. This conversation was, from participant evaluations, one of the most popular and moving experiences of the conference. The success of that discussion was evident in the triumphant culmination of four incredible days of learning, communication, inspiration, and coming together. On the fourth and final day, each participant also presented the action plans they had been working on throughout the conference. These included creating a Think Outside the Bomb self-published magazine, or “zine,” a new coordinated youth network in the Northeast, and even plans for future Think Outside the Bomb regional conferences in Utah and Idaho.


Members of the Art and Media breakout group discuss their action plan: forming a Think Outside the Bomb "zine".

This conference also showed the success of the Think Outside the Bomb network in developing its own organizing structure – our conference organizing and facilitation team consisted of seven young people, all of us in our 20’s, who had been involved in prior conferences as participants, and felt passionately enough about TOTB to step up our involvement to make sure this powerful experience could continue to happen. Many participants from this year’s conference have expressed that they wish to continue on a similar path.


During the first day, participants energize themselves for an afternoon panel with a lively game of Rock, Paper, Scissors

We set out for the 2008 conference with a goal beyond education and even beyond creating new actions for nuclear disarmament in the coming year, even though we accomplished both in spades. We sought to establish genuine personal connections between each participant in order to make the conference last longer than these four days in Boston, in order to help coalesce a lasting, organized youth movement for nuclear abolition. At each of our lofty goals, TOTB ’08 wildly succeeded.

Participant Evaluation Quotes:

"This is a great program. I now have passion behind my knowledge. I feel empowered."

"It was amazing, and I learned so much about nuclear issues and how to be an effective activist, and I really look forward to utilizing my new activist skills."

"Best TOTB thus far!"

"Clamshell Alliance stands out as a highlight of my experience here. Their energy and stories were inspiring and entertaining."

"I felt that a community was developed that made me feel comfortable and safe."

"I had an amazing time!  Highlight of my summer, would recommend it to any old or young activists or intellectual seekers."

 

Return here for updates on participant action plans and information about future conferences!