By working together, our CODEPINK team in Detroit brought a lot of smiles, creativity, and solidarity to the USSF. We made it happen, from carrying banners to speaking at workshops to circulating petitions and flyers and tabling to shuttling folks to jail solidarity to pitching in for whatever was needed at the moment, together. And there was a magical element working with us too, which was especially present when the skies were clear on the day it was supposed to rain during our Hummer Burial, and when the full moon arose over the river as we did a spiral dance, and when we secured an indoor table to share with National Assembly, and so many other little bright moments throughout.
On Memorial Day 2010, I remember Abeer Hamza, the 14-year-old stalked, raped and murdered by predatory US soldiers who also murdered her family. I remember Nadja Al-Ali, Iraqi-German author of What Kind of Liberation?, talking about Iraqi women dying from cancer after exposure to Depleted Uranium. I remember being spell-bound by charismatic Afghan parliamentarian in exile, Malalai Joya, as she told a crowd in Berkeley about “democracy-loving leaders” in her country: “We have a LOT!” she declared with eyes blazing.
The Hummer is dead. Not even the Chinese could revive it. The Hummer was emblematic of a Rambo-like era, culture, lifestyle, and political philosophy disrespectful to both human beings and mother nature. It is now time to bury the militaristic, gas-guzzling, polluting 8,400-pound hunks that drove environmentalists and peaceniks crazy as they cruised down our city streets.
Last Monday, March 8, women (and our male allies) around the world marked the 100th year since International Women's Day was conceived. But have the fruits of women's labor birthed a new global paradigm?
“Lift the siege of Gaza! Free Palestine!” young men are chanting as they slog through the muddy road and, noticing me holding out a plastic bag filled with square pink peace flags, crowd around to grab one. The prayer flags quickly pepper the march with soft pink hues and the endearing messages of peace from kids and their grandparents, moms and daughters from all over America contrast with the loud chants coming from the rear of a pickup truck equipped with mega speakers and the mostly male march. Other signs saying “Women Say Free Gaza” in English and Arabic and are also snatched up by the male marchers. But men carrying signs speaking for women is not enough and I can’t stop wondering, “Where are the women?”
Three years ago, on March 1, 2007, we opened the doors to a brick townhouse in the northeast quadrant of DC and decided to call it home. Little did we know in the years to come this 5-bedroom house near Capitol Hill would become a ground zero for CODEPINK activism in the halls of Congress. We not only brought a flash of hot pink to the sea of drab gray and black Congressional suits, but we broke through the inside-the-beltway politics with a refreshing dash of people power. The costs of maintaining the house and paying the rent have become an overwhelming burden for CODEPINK and we must now move on from the house into the next course of action. The Pink House will close at the end of February, but CODEPINK in DC will maintain a virbant presence and invites activists to join powerful actions in March in the beltway!
Monday, June 28, 2010
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