Anti-nukes activist still sounding the alarms

It hasn’t always been easy. Before the biggest concerns that troubled society were COVID, wildfires and global warming, there was the threat of nuclear warfare and radiation hanging over everyone’s head. One of the most effective voices raised against “nukes” in those times was that of an Australian pediatrician, Dr. Helen Caldicott, who will be speaking to an online audience via Zoom on Friday, Aug. 13.

Educated in medicine at the University of Adelaide and Harvard, Caldicott started a pediatric clinic in Australia but her prominence came in 1971 when she led an international lawsuit against France for its atmospheric nuclear testing in the South Pacific. Perhaps surprisingly, that lawsuit was successful, and she turned to working with Australian trade unions to ban uranium mining.

Still focused on nuclear power, she left her medical practice in 1977 to call attention to the “insanity” of the nuclear arms race, and nuclear power, recruited over 20,000 of her colleagues to the organization Physicians for Social Responsibly to help build momentum for the anti-nuclear movement.

She, and the organizations she worked with, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.

This along with many other awards and recognitions have made Caldicott a recognized voice of expertise in the ongoing conflict between nuclear energy and human values. Her most recent book was “Sleepwalking to Armageddon.” More about Caldicott and her accomplishments can be found at helencaldicott.com.

She will speak for the Praxis Peace Institute members and visitors on Friday, Aug. 13, from Australia at 6 p.m.

A week later, American journalist Marc Frank will return to the Praxis podium live from Havana, to discuss the current unrest in the island just 90 miles off Florida’s cost. Frank, a freelance writer for Reuters, the Financial Times, and other publications, is the author of one of the best books on contemporary Cuba available today, “Cuban Revelations: Behind the Scenes in Havana.”

“What we hear about Cuba in the U.S. is mostly anti-Cuba propaganda, promoted by a mainstream media that fails to question U.S. sanctions against the Cuban people,” said Praxis in announcing the event, which will take place on Friday, Aug. 20, at 1 p.m.

For more information and ticket links, visit praxispeace.org/events.