Jackie Cabasso is the Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, where she worked since 1984. Jackie grew up in New York and settled in California. As WSLF’s principal organizer, she is responsible for community education, media, networking, client coordination and fundraising. Jackie frequently writes for and travels on behalf of WSLF, speaking at public hearings, conferences and rallies, and meeting with organizers throughout the world. She is a leading voice for nuclear weapons abolition, speaking at events across North America, Europe, and Asia. In her home region, Jackie chairs the Coordinating Committee of the Peoples NonViolent Response Coalition. At the national level, she convenes the Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security working group of United for Peace and Justice. Since 1994, Ms. she represents WSLF at negotiating and review sessions of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1995, she co-founded the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons, which has grown to include more than 2000 organizations in over 90 countries. She is also an author.
Abacca Anjain Maddison, a Senator from the Marshall Islands, was born and raised in the island nation. She has been an integral part of efforts to obtain for the Marshall Islands the proper compensation and support owed by the United States – for its nuclear testing in the south Pacific islands during the 1940’s and 1950’s. She has also participated in bringing the Marshall Islands’ lawsuit to the International Court of Justice, demanding that the nuclear nations adhere to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty of 1970… instead of causing a new nuclear arms race.
Kate Hudson is a British political activist and academic who is the General Secretary for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the UK. She is also national secretary of Left Unity and served as chair of CND from 2003 to 2010. She has been an officer of the Stop War coalition since 2002. She was head of Social and Policy Studies at London South Bank University from 2003 to 2010. She was founding editor of the journal Contemporary Politics. She is now a member of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity and the Greece Solidarity Campaign.
Nadezda Kutepova was born and raised in Ozyorsk, a secret nuclear city in Chelyabinsk Russia where the Mayak nuclear plant was used to make the first Soviet nuclear bomb. A terrible accident at Mayak in 1957 caused great human suffering in Ozyorsk. Nadezda went to work as a lawyer, to defend the human rights of those affected by the explosion and its aftermath. The Russian government and media targeted Nadezda, accusing her of industrial espionage. She was forced to seek political asylum in France, where she lives with her family and continues her work.
Sharon Dolev Sharon was born and raised in Arad, a desert city near the Israeli nuclear plant at Dimona. Growing up with requirements of secrecy about Dimona, Sharon became a political activist for peace – and is now tackling the problem of regulation and transparency on Dimona. She is head of the Israeli Disarmament Movement – with a focus on Israel’s nuclear weapons.
Fujiko Yoshikawa was a child in Hiroshima when the nuclear bomb was dropped there in 1945. Her father died as a result of injuries and contamination he endured in the blast. She walked into town the next day to look for her father, since her mother just recently had a baby and Fujiko was the oldest child (12 years old). They did not have any knowledge of this bomb having radiation, so they did not know of possible problems. People were coming from the city with skin dripping off their arms and people in agony in the river hoping to relieve pain from the burns, as she was going into the city. Her story, Requiem Notes, is excerpted in our program #31… and the full story appears on our Featured Essays page. Fujiko moved to the US to marry and raise a family – and has written for numerous Japanese language journals including Rafu Shimpo Los Angeles.