Looking Ahead: What to Expect in the World of Nuclear Weapons Abolition in the New Year December 27, 2022

2023 is right around the corner, and PSR is here to give you a sneak peak at what to expect in January 2023. Keep reading to learn about what is sure to be an exciting month!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

In 2023, Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday will be Monday, January 16.  Many organizations around the country, including faith-based groups, celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with marches and other events to support Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of a better world built on justice and peace. 

Anniversary of Entry into Force of the Ban Treaty

January 22 will be the second anniversary of the Entry into Force (EIF) of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.  PSR is one of 650 partner organizations of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in 110 nations. ICAN is promoting EIF activities all over the world.  PSR / National and several PSR chapters are part of a loose-knit  Nuclear Ban Treaty Collaborative that is promoting activities stateside to draw attention to the Treaty (which has been largely ignored here in the United States) on this anniversary. Many of the USA-based groups that will take action on January 22–including PSR chapters– are located near parts of the nuclear weapons complex – labs (such as Oak Ridge in Tennessee,  Livermore in California, Los Alamos in New Mexico),  production facilities (e.g. Kansas City Plant), universities heavily funded for nuclear weapons work (such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore), or locations where nuclear weapons are stationed (e.g., Bangor submarine base on Kitsap peninsula, Washington.)

Beatrice Fihn, ICAN Executive Director, says the Ukraine war indicates we have “a terrible problem and there is space for us to come in and offer a solution.” The Collaborative offers all kinds of support for EIF-related activities in ANY community at nuclearbantreaty.org. 

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists ‘Doomsday Clock Announcement

For over 75 years, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists confers with their Science and Security Board to discuss the myriad threats that inch us closer to ‘doomsday.’ The Doomsday Clock announcement each year has served as a tool for public engagement and has even become a staple of pop culture. The Bulletin reported that the 2022 announcement was covered in more than 3,200 news articles, has been viewed more than 2 million times, and generated more than 900 million impressions on social media.

For 2023, The Bulletin, PSR, and several other anti-nuclear organizations will be hosting events, writing op-eds, engaging in social media campaigns, and more to bring even more awareness to our movement to abolish nuclear weapons. Both PSR National and PSR chapters will be creating ways for you to partake in this monumental moment. So, keep your eyes peeled for more information in the coming weeks on how to get involved!

#DemandAccess Training 

As part of PSR’s #DemandAccess campaign, we will continue hosting a series of trainings on skill-building and topics related to the campaign. The next training will take place in January, so stay tuned for more information on the date and topic! In the meantime, you can take a look at the resources that came out of the first training: all about how bloated military budgets are bad for our health and messaging tactics to advocate on this issue.