Protest at Unconventional Women Event
11 a.m.: About 45 CODEPINKers stood up with banners, chants and singing inside the Unconventional Women event held inside the Denver Performing Arts Center.
Many of them, in their bright pink glory, were escorted out by security to the entrance of the main lobby. But moments later, founder Medea Benjamin (still inside) emerged into the lobby and began chanting, and other members swarmed back to her, and an impromptu protest began. Flustered security called for back-up, and a phalanx of police arrived, about 50, into the center.
The CODEPINKers stood in two lines, banners held in front of them, and began singing “We Are Ready For A Peaceful World” and other chants, and Medea began explaining the crowd that CODEPINK wants peace to be the number one priority on the Democratic platform.
Reporters, surprised by the event, made their way over to the group and police, realizing the women were harmless, moved back. Photos and video to come….
Tags: DNC, PeaceRoom 2008, Rock the Parties!
August 25th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Excellent Action for Peace!!!
Thank you for your decisive articulation!
Bless you for your forthright manner!
Know there are thousands of us back home physically there with you in spirit and unity following your actions!
August 25th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Well lookee here, Salon.com’s already on it: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/08/25/pelosi/index.html
“Some very pink, very loud, very awkward protest drama erupted in an unexpected venue on Monday morning when more than a dozen members of antiwar group Code Pink hijacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s appearance. . .”
But this is my favorite line: “When most of the group had been removed, Pelosi piped up to say, ‘We are a party and a country that welcomes freedom of expression.’”
August 26th, 2008 at 7:08 am
After reading the Salon article, I wondered — could the action have retained the support of the crowd that existed in the beginning if protesters had simply held the banners prominently without chanting or interrupting? This may have been more powerful — and when a crowd is with us, the power is increased. Another concern: It’s different calling someone a “liar” than it is saying “that is a lie.” I think the moral high ground is lost when folks engage in name-calling, and it actually takes away from the important issue at hand if the focus is put instead on shaming an individual. For me, this was one of the crucial lessons of the civil rights movement: separate the doer from the deed. Retain the dignity of the adversary while speaking the truth about injustice.
– a Pink sister in Austin
August 26th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Susan,
You raise some excellent points. I know you in Austin have tested these issues a bit—I wonder if you’d mind elaborating on your own experiences here?
August 26th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
To my dear pink sisters,
Remember who we are and what we want. Our actions are so often the magnet that attracts others. While I applaud your courage in Denver, I think we are losing crediblity, dignity and our “emphasis on joy and humor.” Think pink, sisters. Keep the faith!
August 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
When I first joined CodePink, I was often appalled at the contrast between the comical look of a grown woman wearing a pink slip over her clothes and a goofy hat that went out of ’style’ fifty years ago,oh yes, and a feather boa, too, with the dire seriousness of our endeavors. How in the world can we expect to be taken seriously, I wondered. I still think this is a problem, and that it undercuts our message. Especially since every CodePink member I’ve ever met is a very sophisticated and knowledgeable political animal.
I was shouting “Liar” while the very conventional butts in seats shouted for me to be thrown out, so they could return to the platitudes and pablum they long for. They’re probably going to Disneyland on the way home. I am as angry as I can stand. I am sick that my country is repeating its Vietnam mistake, and the more Democrat delegates I talk to, the more sick I get. I’ve had a Democrat tell me that it wasn’t strategically smart to fight for poor peoples’ votes to be counted,because if he’d won, Iraq would have become Kerry’s problem to solve. How many have died since then? Sorry – I’m just not that patient a person. Nancy Pelosi lied right to my face when I asked her very politely how she could urge passage of the ‘Iraqi’ oil law. “My” Congressman stood there and gave me the ‘brush-off’, after telling me we had to drum up suport for ending the war. We did that. And we’re scum to him (George Miller). I want my money back!
August 27th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I appreciate reading the comments, and I love all the blogging, photos, etc. that you all are sending out about the DNC goings-on! I’m glued to your coverage!
My earlier comments regarding the Pelosi confrontation have to be taken as my own views and not necessarily representative of the views of others in our local group. But, yes, my observations do result partly from some of our local group’s experiences.
In one of our most powerful local actions (I think), we held a banner at our State Capitol in the Senate chamber where TX Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was speaking during the TX Book Festival last fall about her new book about women leaders. Our banner read “Lady, lead us out of war” as a play on the book’s title, “Leading Ladies.” Because we were silent, we were not thrown out, and the Senator had to deal with us (dressed in pink slips which also contained messages that we revealed one by one as we each slowly stood up in turn alongside the banner.) When time came for questions (she only left time for one — from one of our CP women!), the Senator actually began by thanking us for allowing her to speak without verbal interruption.
In a more recent action, our local group appeared as a band of supersheroes at the Pelosi talk at the Netroots Nation convention in Austin. We hadn’t planned on the group being able to get into the Pelosi talk, actually — and had just planned to flier attendees as they entered, encouraging them to “use their superpowers” to call for impeachment and end the war. Once inside the convention hall, some of the folks in our group decided to ramp up the message by walking up and down the aisles and then shouting out a bit during the last question. I understood the frustration that led to it — Pelosi’s evasion of the important issues and her tendency to “filibuster” on less significant matters. The crowd seemed glad we were there in the beginning, but didn’t like the interruptions, for the most part. It made envision, later, other ways we might have made our point stronger by harnessing the early support of the crowd — not that being a crowd-pleaser is the goal. That said, I know we often have to be spontaneous and make decisions on the fly, and I wouldn’t want to miss the creative things that can happen spontanteously by being too rigid, nor would I want to stifle our important voices in any way — as long as we try as much as possible to uphold the dignity of everyone involved, including those who are considered opponents.
Carry on!
– Pink sister in Austin
August 27th, 2008 at 11:01 am
I agree, but as a mother of one of the girl scouts in the front row it was NOT an appropriate place. There were 150 young girl in that auditorium. Some with mothers, some with troop leaders. Those girls were scared and as they were literally climbing over myself and my daughter, my first instinct was to protect her. My daughter is 13 and I was able to explain the importance of protesting, but ya know she was one of the older scouts there and she was VERY scared. I can only imagine how all the other little girls on the other side of us were feeling. We went there to empower our daughters. To unite women. The world is not so black and white. There is a time and a place. That was NOT the place!!
August 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Codepink inspires me! You all have found a place in my heart because of the way you conduct demonstrations and what you stand for–PEACE. I know that freedom of speech is important, and I know that we can’t acheive everything while being complacent and polite, but sometimes remaining silent is one of the most powerful things someone can do.
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
As a founding member of CODEPINK LONG ISLAND, I have been following all the bold, creative actions at both conventions. I am heartened by your courage and persistence.
Having been an educator for 50+ years, I doubt if any permanent damage was done to the girl scouts- seeing women like their mothers protesting is a possibility model, after the initial shock wears off. Though I applaud all your actions at the RNC, I hope to hear about our cooperation with other peace activist groups. Have you been able to network or have the ‘preemptive raids’ hindered that communication? Pinksters unite to ‘right’ the Right!
July 29th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Beautiful site,