UNM Associate Professor Myrriah Gómez and graduate college students Sachi Barnaby (pc science) and Yoma Wilson (artwork) joined college and college students from eight U.S. universities, in addition to U.S. Catholic clergy, on a pilgrimage to Japan to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During the weeklong journey, the UNM delegation participated in Catholic lots and civic gatherings, together with tutorial panels. The college students joined friends from eight different universities within the U.S. and Japan for seminar discussions.
“Our pilgrimage to Hiroshima and Nagasaki was simply transformative,” said Barnaby. “The conversations I had with Japanese and American college students, in addition to college and clergy, challenged me to ask deeper questions on nuclear weapons, and I’m wanting to proceed our peacebuilding efforts past this journey.”
Gómez delivered a chat titled From New Mexico to Nagasaki as a part of the “Walking Together: A Gathering of Pilgrims for Peace” symposium in Nagasaki. The occasion was organized by the Partnership for a World Without Nuclear Weapons (PWNW), which incorporates the Archdioceses of Santa Fe, Seattle, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in collaboration with Notre Dame University, Georgetown University, Loyola University Chicago, Marquette University, Sophia University (Japan), Nagasaki Junshin Catholic University (Japan), and Nagasaki Protestant universities.
Myrriah Gómez delivering dust from El Santuario de Chimayó
As a part of her speak, Gómez delivered dust from El Santuario de Chimayó to the Urakami Cathedral in Japan as a logo of her pilgrimage—from the place the place the plutonium bomb generally known as Fat Man was developed and examined to Nagasaki, the place it killed 40,000 individuals on influence. The unique Urakami Cathedral was on the hypocenter of the blast.
Her speak, From New Mexico to Nagasaki: A Pilgrimage of Hope, was delivered in each English and Japanese on the Urakami Cathedral. The unique cathedral was on the hypocenter of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki by the United States on Aug. 9, 1945. The prototype for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki was developed in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and examined on the Trinity web site in south-central New Mexico.
“There had been many reflections of New Mexico in Japan, which is so essentially totally different, however there have been two issues for me that had been strikingly related: the Catholic religion and the language of nuclear abolition,” stated Gómez.
Other individuals on the panel included Archbishop Emeritus Takami of Nagasaki; Hirano Fusako, a hibakusha (atomic bomb survivor) from Japan; and Nishimura Yuji, a Nissi Hibakusha (second-generation atomic bomb survivor) from Nagasaki.
“The partnerships developed earlier than and through this journey will prolong into the long run by way of binational collaboration. We hope to convey a touring exhibit from the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum to UNM in 2027,” Gómez acknowledged.
Barnaby and Wilson joined 33 different college students from U.S. and Japanese establishments in a discussion board that met twice earlier than the pilgrimage and twice in the course of the journey to debate nuclear weapons. They additionally listened to hibakusha testimony and visited the atomic bomb museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with different cultural landmarks.
“It was great to connect with other students from American and Japanese Universities on our goal for nuclear abolition,” said Wilson. “We were able to exchange information and stories and some of the Japanese students were hearing about the [Trinity] Downwinders for the first time.”
“The better part was taking two UNM college students to collaborate with the three dozen college students who participated on this convergence. Yoma and Sachi have already began an area chapter of Students for Nuclear Disarmament since we returned,” Gómez concluded.
The trio will co-author a chunk, Finding Querencia in Japan: A Nuclear Pilgrimage from New Mexico to Nagasaki, in an upcoming particular challenge of Nexus: Conversations on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.