PaulPallazola
November 13,1978 Fall River & Boston, Massachusetts
When I joined the Clamshell Alliance In 1976 I learned about an Oklahoma union activist named Karen Silkwood. Karen had died in a suspicious car accident on November 13, 1974, en route to meet a journalist with documentation proving safety records at the Kerr-Mcgee atomic facility had been falsified. A detective hired by the Oil, Atomic, and Chemical Workers Union said her Honda Civic had been struck from behind. On November 13, 1978 I boarded a bus from Fall River to Boston, arriving in South Station about an hour later. I took the subway to Park Street and met up with several activists from Boston Clamshell. We spent the afternoon getting the word out, leafleting at Boston mass transit stops to keep public awareness of her case alive, & to educate the public about the nuclear threat just north of Boston-the Seabrook nuclear power plant under construction there.
When we ran out of leaflets, we boarded a subway train to Central Square. Over Pizza & beer we talked about the prospects for the blockade, and other strategies to stop the Seabrook Nuclear plant from being built. I admired the Boston Clamshell activists. Many of them were college kids fighting against corporate power for the first time. Their energy was infectious.
The stories of your experience like this are similar to the movie story!
Yes I think the film with Meryl Streep and Cher educated a many peopļe to who Karen was.
May the sacrifice of Karen was not in vain!
She is revered as a martyr among many trade unionists in North America. Silkwood was a very courageous woman who exposed the treachery of a very dangerous industry in the United States.
Each choice has its consequences and risks, we and she must understand it. Her courage must have brought her to the greatest risk. Well, she really deserves to be called a martyr!