If you have watched C-SPAN lately you have probably seen these women in pink protesting the War in Iraq. When I first saw them I did not think much of it. A couple of women in pink vocally protesting during the Petraeus hearings. Perhaps they were friends that just decided to color coordinate; but I kept seeing them. This group is known as CODEPINK: Women for Peace.
Just today I saw a press conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies by Muwafaq Al-Rubaie, the Iraqi National Security Adviser, where after peacefully handing out fliers before the conference even began someone escorted a woman in pink out of the room. This piqued my curiosity, what was this group that inspired such fear and contempt in the neo-cons? I have heard nothing of them in the news, and after doing a quick search for diaries on them on DailyKos, and finding little information, I decided to write my own diary on them.
I am not a member of CODEPINK nor in any way am I affiliated with anything they do. Rather I am an American citizen who opposes this war in Iraq and is curious as to who this group is. All of the information on this article comes from CODEPINK's own webstie unless otherwise specified.
CODEPINK was founded on November 17, 2002, shortly after the Republicans were elected as strong majorities in both the House and the Senate, and long before most of the anti-war movement fomented. They were founded by Medea Benjamin, Starhawk (sic), Jodie Evans, Diane Wilson and "approximately 100 other women". Their name is a pun on the color coded terror threat levels.
Their mission statement is:
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities. We reject the Bush administration's fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead calls for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to non-violence.
CODEPINK seems to consist mostly of older- and middle-aged women; however, these are perhaps only the visible members. This makes sense considering that most of times people see them is when a protest occurred during business hours, hence one expects to people who do not work regular hours. Their group is accepting of everyone, men and women of all ages and races, however they are a "women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement".
I tried to find out if anything was mentioned of this group in neo-conservative newspapers or websites, but found little. What I did find was typical of what one would expect, namely that they are conspiring with the Democrats to topple American democracy, an idea brought to you courtesy of Rush Limbaugh and his listeners, and how they are undermining our war efforts, an idea brought to your courtesy of Human Events.com.
As a grassroots organization they have local chapters, of which they claim to have over 250 around the world. However, they do offer job opportunities and internships. They do not seem to offer financial contributions to political candidates and they are not classified as a PAC or a 527, instead they are classified as a 501-C3 and as such all contributions made to their organization are tax deductible.
To learn more about CODEPINK please visit their website at http://www.codepink4peace.org/