our speakers:

Get CODEPINK's New Book

"CODEPINK is not an organization but a phenomenon"
— The Nation, March 8, 2003

"You pink ladies are everywhere—didn't I see you in Salt Lake City last week?"
— White House strategist Karl Rove in Washington DC, Spring 2003

Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, CODEPINK

Topics:

• CODEPINK: Women for Peace
• Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism
• Occupation Watch International Center in Baghdad

Travel from: California

Benjamin and Evans are activists and co-founders of CODEPINK, a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement that has been organizing creative actions against the war and occupation of Iraq since 2002. The organization currently has more than 100 chapters throughout the United States.

CODEPINK seeks positive social change through proactive, creative protest and non-violent direct action — pushing for a reorientation of U.S. budget priorities away from war and towards healthcare, education and housing.

Benjamin and Evans co-edited the recently released book, Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism. The book is a diverse collection of essays from the peace movement's freshest, most dynamic voices, including Barbara Ehrenreich, Eve Ensler, Arianna Huffington, Alice Walker, Helen Thomas, Camilo Mejia and Jody Williams.

The name CODEPINK plays on the Bush Administration's color-coded homeland security advisory system that signals terrorist threats. While Bush's color-coded alerts are based on fear, the CODEPINK alert is based on compassion and is a feisty call for women and men to "wage peace."

Medea Benjamin

A co-founder of the international human rights organization Global Exchange, Benjamin has been a tireless advocate for social justice for more than 20 years. Described as "one of America's most committed—and most effective—fighters for human rights" by New York Newsday, Benjamin has distinguished herself as an eloquent and energetic figure in the progressive movement.

In June of 2005, she was one of 1,000 exemplary women from 140 countries nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize collectively, on behalf of the millions of anonymous women who do the essential work of peace worldwide.

Benjamin has also led several fact-finding delegations to Iraq and helped establish the Baghdad-based Occupation Watch Center.

During the 1990s, Benjamin focused her efforts on tackling the problem of unfair trade as promoted by the World Trade Organization. Widely credited as the woman who helped place the issue of sweatshops on the national agenda, Benjamin was a key player in the campaign that won a $20 million settlement from 27 U.S. clothing retailers for the use of sweatshop labor in Saipan. She also pushed Starbucks and other companies to start carrying fair trade coffee.

Benjamin is currently focusing U.S. attention around the Downing Street Memo, a secret British intelligence memo that proves the Bush Administration "fixed" intelligence and facts to justify sending the United States and Britain into a costly and now seemingly endless war. Benjamin has been working to educate the American people about the importance of the Downing Street Memo and why we need to push Congress to initiate a resolution of inquiry to determine whether President Bush lied to lead us to war.

A former economist and nutritionist with the United Nations and World Health Organization, Benjamin is the author/editor of eight books, and lives in San Francisco with her husband and two daughters.

Jodie Evans

Jodie Evans has worked on behalf of community, social-justice, environmental, and political causes for more than thirty years.

Evans co-created the first Dubrovnik Peace Conference in June 2000 and produced Shadow Conventions 2000, held in parallel to the Republican and Democratic national conventions.

From 1973 to 1982, Evans worked on the campaigns of California governor Jerry Brown and served as his director of administration. She also oversaw the Office of Appropriate Technology, ushering in breakthroughs in wind and solar energy. Between 1985 and 1990, she supported women candidates for federal office as a board member of the Women's Campaign Fund and Women's Political Committee. Evans was responsible for running Jerry Brown's campaign for president in 1991.

In the early 1990s, Evans opened the first environmental department store, Terra Verde, along with Tom Hayden and Cathryn Tiddens.

Every three years, she co-produces the World Festival of Sacred Music, and in 1998 she produced the documentary "Stripped and Teased: Tales of Las Vegas Women."

Evans serves on the boards of 12 non-profits, including Rainforest Action Network, Drug Policy Alliance, Bioneers, the Garden Project, Community Self-Determination Institute, 826 LA, and the Circle of Life Foundation.

A mother of three, Jodie Evans is a harpist, gardener, and potter when not working to end war.

home | categories | what's new | contact us | event inquiry

Copyright © Speaking Matters®, a speakers bureau offering public speakers for
lectures, speeches, panel discussions, and keynote addresses.