Medea Benjamin

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Medea Benjamin

Medea Benjamin is married to Kevin Danaher.

About

Medea Benjamin is the founding director of Global Exchange, helped to bring together the coalition United for Peace and Justice and co-founded CODEPINK, a women initiated grassroots movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect resources into life-affirming activities.
She is the co-editor (with Jodie Evans) of Stop the Next War Now. In 2005, she was one of 1000 women from around the world nominated collectively for the Nobel Peace Prize. Her work for peace and human rights has taken her to many parts of the world, including China, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2000, she was the Green Party USA candidate for United States Senate from California.

'Freedom Flotilla'

L-R Hassan Ghani, John Hurson and Yvonne Ridley reunion, Istanbul, April 2024

On April 28, 2024 in an article titled "Golden oldies prepare for aid flotilla mission to Gaza", Yvonne Ridley writes about a so-called "Freedom Flotilla" designed ostensibly to bring aid to Gaza in the wake of the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. :[1]

"The training sessions have become more realistic, that’s for sure, even if the guns are cardboard. Virtually everything else is the same as before, though, as peace activists come together in Istanbul to embark on the latest Freedom Flotilla aiming to take humanitarian aid to the besieged and embattled Gaza Strip.
There are some familiar faces from earlier aid efforts: Irish truck driver John Hurson; the heroic Code Pink women, including Retired US Colonel Ann Wright and Medea Benjamin; plus formidable lawyer Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American activist who co-founded the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led organisation which uses non-violent protests and international pressure to support Palestinians. And yours truly, of course.
The laughter is loud and raucous; Hurson’s jokes have actually got funnier with age. He is a veteran of many campaigns to promote awareness of the injustices heaped against the people of occupied Palestine, including the legendary Viva Palestina road convoys launched by George Galloway MP fifteen years ago...

Pro-Hamas Letter

In the wake of a terror attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, Harvard University students signed an open letter blaming Israel. After the students received negative media coverage, the ANSWER Coalition jumped to their defense in an open letter titled: "Open letter against intimidation at Harvard: Defend the freedom to speak in support of Palestine!" Medea Benjamin signed the letter. Excerpt:[2]

We stand together against the racist harassment and demonization of Pro-Palestine student activists at Harvard and elsewhere across the country. These attacks are designed to intimidate, weaken, and silence people's right to speak out in support of the Palestinian people's struggle against occupation and apartheid. Their educational and professional futures are being threatened and right wing political operatives have even rented a TV truck to drive around campus displaying the students' faces. Some are even receiving death threats..."

Ukraine: 'Commitment to Sending No More Weapons'

Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?

A discussion dated Sept 26, 2023 titled "Time for Ceasefire in Ukraine?" features Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.[3],[4]

"In an endless war with already a half million casualties, is it more helpful to continue it -- risking nuclear apocalypse and guaranteeing impediments to addressing climate collapse -- or to demand a ceasefire, peace negotiations, and a commitment to sending no more weapons?
A public discussion featuring Medea Benjamin, Helena Cobban, Ray McGovern, and David Swanson.
Just World Educational, World BEYOND War

Endorsers

Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice, RootsAction.org, The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Charlottesville Friends Meeting.

War Industry Resisters Network

Dan Kovalik, Nicolas J.S. Davies and Medea Benjamin

Nicolas J.S. Davies, Dan Kovalik and Medea Benjamin took part in a webinar dated February 8, 2023 criticizing the United States efforts to help Ukraine in the wake of the invasion by Russia.

From an the Massachusetts Peace Action website:[5]

"The war in Ukraine tragically goes on and on, creating enormous suffering, most intensely inside Ukraine, but also across Russia, and, with soaring energy prices and grain shortages, around the planet. The United States continues to send billions of dollars worth of military weapons to Ukraine, generating enormous profits for the war industry.
This webinar will examine how US military contractors and the energy companies are benefiting from the war, their influence in government policies, and how we can oppose the war profiteers and politicians who are content to see this war drag on and on.

Nueva Peru

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Revolution Within the Revolution

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No to the New Cold War

Twitter advertisement for No to the New Cold War Zoom Meeting

Medea Benjamin was a featured speaker at an anti-American, pro-China event called No to the New Cold War, which is affiliated to Code Pink and the ANSWER Coalition.

From their website as of July 25 2020:[6]

"This event will see some leading analysts from China, the US, Britain, India, Russia, Canada, Venezuela and Brazil come together to discuss how to counter the New Cold War."

Henry Reeve Medical Brigades

Marguerite Horberg July 10 2020·

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Meet a few of the amazing actors, poets and activists expressing solidarity with the Henry Reeve Medical Brigades who have treated Covid patients in more than 30 countries - Concert for Cuba salutes these humanitarian workers and calls for the end of the US blockade of Cuba. 2 nights of music and solidarity streaming live exclusively on HotHouseGlobal at Twitch.tv/hothouseglobal. Register https://www.eventbrite.com/e/concert-for-cuba-tickets-111083545876 — with Councilmember Mike Bonin, Mike Farrell, David Soul, Danny Glover, Felix Gonzales, Ed Asner, Baltazar Castillo, Jesse Jackson, Sr., Judith LeBlanc, Jesus Garcia, Medea Benjamin, Jonathan Jackson, Juan De Marcos Gonzalez, Medea Benjamin, Ronnie Malley, Ronnie Malley, Chelis Lopez and Judith LeBlanc LMT.

Peacenews.org

As of February 14 2018, contributors to Promoting Enduring Peace flagship magazine PeaceNews.org include Medea Benjamin, Amy Goodman, Joseph Daher, Arik Ascherman, George Gantz, Joseph Gerson, Jeff Halper, Conn Hallinan, Kathy Kelly, Ralph Nader, Stanley Heller, Andy Piascik, Melinda Tuhus, and Mazin Qumsiyeh.

CoC National Conference endorser

In 1992 Medea Benjamin Global Exchange, San Francisco, endorsed the Committees of Correspondence national conference Conference on Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s held at Berkeley California July 17-19.[7]

Socialist Scholars Conference

The eighteenth annual Socialist Scholars Conference took place in New York before about 1,800 participants from more than a dozen countries. The Conference theme was “Rockin’ the Boat: Building Coalitions for a New Century,”

“The Battle After Seattle: Globalization and Its Discontents” featured Medea Benjamin co-founder and executive director of Global Exchange, David Abdulah, education director of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union of Trinidad and Tobago, Hector Figueroa of the SEIU, and Mark Seddon from the executive committee of the Labour Party in Britain[8].

Benjamin spoke of channeling grass roots movements for global justice into battles that are directed at local institutions and are winnable, such as the anti-sweatshop campaigns being waged at universities across the country, and the pressure campaign against Starbucks to promote less exploitative trading agreements.

"WAKE UP DEMOCRATS! Take Back the Country"

"WAKE UP DEMOCRATS! Take Back the Country" Conference, with Rob Reiner, Robert Reich, Robert Rosendahl, Rep. Hilda Solis, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Ed Begley, Jr., Robert Borosage, Vincent Bugliosi, Warren Beatty, Susan Lerner, Rep. Maxine Waters, Roy Ulrich, Medea Benjamin, S. David Freeman, Peter Navarro, Hon. Jackie Goldberg, Harold Meyerson, Hon. Antonio Villaraigosa, Amy Wakeland, Bob Erlenbush, Hon. Eric Garcetti, Tom Hayden, Aqella Sherrills, Parke Skelton, & Lila Garrett. Sponsored by SCADA. L.A., CA, 6/24/01.[9]

Committees of Correspondence Conference 2002

At the Committees of Correspondence National Conference and Convention, July 25-28, 2002 San Francisco State University, the Plenary Panel and Discussion on Electoral Reform and the Struggle for Democracy comprised;

John Nichols, Gus Newport, Medea Benjamin, Mildred Williamson The protection of the right to vote, ballot access, electoral campaigns that are independent of corporations and major political parties.[10]

"NO WAR, NO WAY"

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Jan 19, 2003, ANSWER brought together an impressive array of speakers at two rallies—one that began at 11 a.m. in the sprawling National Mall, and a concluding rally at the Washington Shipyard.

Moonanum James, co-chair of United American Indians of New England and a Vietnam-era veteran, opened the rally by connecting the U.S. government’s ongoing racist war against Native peoples with their preparations for a racist war against Iraq.

Anti-war speakers included Charley Richardson and Nancy Lessen from Military Families Speak Out and Liz McAlister, partner and widow of the late peace activist Philip Berrigan. “No blood for oil!” demanded disabled Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, author of “Born on the Fourth of July.”

Speaking out for labor against the war: Brenda Stokely, president of AFSCME 1707 and Local 215 as well as a co-convener of New York City Labor Against the War; Fred Mason, president of statewide Maryland and D.C. AFL-CIO; Michael Letwin from U.S. Labor Against War and Dr. Nadia Marsh from Doctors and Nurses Against the War.

ANSWER speakers included Youth and Student Coordinator Peta Lindsay, Elias Rashmawi from the Free Palestine Alliance. Jennifer Wager from IFCO/Pastors for Peace, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard from PCJ and Larry Holmes and Brian Becker, both from the International Action Center.

Speakers representing other anti-war coalitions included Bill Fletcher, Jr., co-chair of United for Peace and Justice; Damu Smith from Black Voices for Peace; Medea Benjamin from Global Exchange, and Miles Solay from Not In Our Name.

Jesse Heiwa, from Queers for Peace and Justice, New York, pointed to the growing coalition of lesbian, gay, bi and trans organizations against the war. Brooklyn-based activists Viola Plummer from the December 12th Movement and City Councilman Charles Barron raised the need for anti-racist solidarity, including fighting for reparations. Singer Patti Smith and D.C. cultural artists Pam Parker and Lucy Murphy performed. [11]

Not In Our Name

In August 2004 Medea Benjamin endorsed an anti “Bush Team” Protest at the Republican National Convention in New York, organized by Not In Our Name, an organization closely associated with the Revolutionary Communist Party[12].

911 "Truther"

Medea Benjamin was one of 100 "prominent Americans" who signed an October 26 2004 statement[13]circulated by 911Truth.org calling on the U.S. Government to investigate 9/11 as a possible "inside job".

...we have assembled 100 notable Americans and 40 family members of those who died to sign this 9/11 Statement, which calls for immediate public attention to unanswered questions that suggest that people within the current administration may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war.

Travelling with CODEPINK's "Fallujah Aid" Contingent

diplomatic courtesy letter from Rep. Henry Waxman to Daniel Goodspeed, Consul General, U.S. Embassy in Aman, Jordan. Dec. 14, 2004. (click to enlarge)

In December 2004, US Senators Barbara Boxer of California, Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Congressmen Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Henry Waxman of California provided diplomatic courtesy letters to a contingent of anti-war groups and individuals desiring to Fallujah, Iraq. Among those travelling in the contingent were: Rosa Suarez del Solar and her husband Fernando Suarez del Solar; Jeffrey Ritterman, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink: Women for Peace; Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange and CodePink; Hany Khalil, national organizer, United for Peace and Justice. The organizations sponsoring the tour were CodePink, Project Guerrero Azteca for peace, Global Exchange, the Middle East Children's Alliance, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, and Voices in the Wilderness.[14]

Fernando Suarez del Solar stated that had it not been for the help of the two congressmen, the tour would have not seen the light due to obstacles laid by the Pentagon. The contingent traveled from December 27, 2004 through January 8, 2005.

The contingent delivered $100,000 in cash and and $500,000 in humanitarian aid. At the time the diplomatic courtesy letters were issued, Medea Benjamin had stated that the aid was intended for families of the “other side” in Fallujah.[15]

Visiting Chavez

from left: Cindy Sheehan, Jodie Evans, Hugo Chavez and Medea Benjamin

On 28 January 2006, Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and Cindy Sheehan visited with president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

United for Peace and Justice

In 2005 Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange was on the Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice.[16]

Quito "peace" conference

March 5-9, 2007 Hundreds of activists from around the world came together March 5 through 9 to attend the International Conference for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases at the Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador.

Many U.S. activists were present at the conference including Medea Benjamin from Global Exchange and Code Pink; Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee; Ikaika Hussey, a Hawaiian anti-base activist; Genaro Rendon, Co-Director of the Southwest Workers Union and the Committee for Environmental Justice Action in San Antonio, Texas, and John Lindsay-Poland of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

Medea Benjamin pointed out how the American people are hurt by U.S. foreign military bases as it diverts money from social causes and promotes militarism. "The U.S. people do not want more bases abroad. We know it is not about protecting people but protecting corporate profits. We are victims of the empire and our kids are getting killed." [17]

DC Protest Against "The Surge"

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Medea Benjamin, Sean Penn, Maxine Waters, Jesse Jackson, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and others lead Jan 29, 2007 march.

Open Letter to Obama on Iran

In 2008 Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange/CODEPINK, San Francisco, CA signed an online petition “A Open Letter to Barack Obama on Iran”.

Colombia Support Network

As of 2008, the Colombia Support Network Advisory Board consisted of ;[18].

Progressive Democrats of America

Medea Benjamin serves on the Advisory Board[19] of Progressive Democrats of America.

Healthcare-Now!

2023

Medea Benjamin is on the Healthcare-Now! Advisory Board as of Oct 13, 2023.[20]

2009

As of 2009 Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK, San Francisco, CA served on the board of directors of Healthcare-Now! .[21]

National Peace Conference

The National Peace Conference, took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Albany New York, July 2010. Many workshops are scheduled and many leaders of the peace and progressive movements will be there: Cindy Sheehan, Kathy Kelly, Medea Benjamin, Ann Wright, Dahlia Wasfi, Leila Zand, Michael McPhearson, Kevin Martin, David Swanson, Glen Ford, and many others.

Keynote speakers were Noam Chomsky and Donna DeWitt (President of the South Carolina AFL-CIO).

Iraq: The Legacy of the 7-Year U.S. Occupation

On Sunday, August 29th 2010. at Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Sts. NW, Washington, D.C., an event "Iraq: The Legacy of the 7-Year U.S. Occupation" was held;

Is the U.S. military really leaving Iraq or just rebranding? What is the toll of seven years of occupation on Iraqis, U.S. soldiers and our economies? What is the status of Iraqi refugees around the world? Is it still possible to hold accountable those who dragged us into the war or committed crimes such as torture? What role did Congress and the media play in facilitating the invasion/occupation? We'll also look at the role of the peace movement -- its strengths and weaknesses -- and draw key lessons to make our work for peace, including in Afghanistan, more effective.

Speakers/performers included:

The event was sponsored by: CODEPINK, Peace Action, Institute for Policy Studies, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Global Exchange, Just Foreign Policy, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Military Families Speak Out, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), U.S. Labor Against the War, ANSWER, World Can’t Wait, Voices for Creative Nonviolence, War is a Crime, Rivera Project, Washington Peace Center.[22]

Bradley Manning Support Network Advisory Board

As of December 2011, the Bradley Manning Support Network, Advisory Board consisted of;[23]

PDA meeting, Maryland

Thursday March 15, 2012, PDA National Director Tim Carpenter, PDA National Vice Chair emeritus Stephen Shaff, PDA National Deputy Field Director Andrea Miller and Mike Hersh welcomed speakers Rep. Donna Edwards (Md-6), Professor Eric Kingson from Social Security Works, and Alex Lawson from We Act 1480 AM Radio to Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Current and former PDA National Board Members Medea Benjamin, Joe Libertelli and Steve Cobble, Healthcare NOT Warfare co-chair Donna Smith, and Maryland Senator Paul Pinsky also helped welcome progressives to Prince George's County's newest meeting place. The turnout included several important progressive leaders from Maryland's 4th, 6th, and 8th districts.

Special thanks to the Very Important Progressive Host Committee including--Stephen Shaff; PDA board member Bill Fletcher, Jr., Raucus Activist Writer; Alex Lawson, Social Security Works and WE ACT Radio; Heather Booth, Activist; Steve Cobble, PDA Political Advisor, and Institute for Policy Studies; Medea Benjamin; Tom Hucker, MD Delegate, D-20; Greg Moore, NAACP/Political Consultant; Beth Becker, Progressive PST; Naomi Bloch, Activist who donated a small library of books; David Hart, Physicians for Social Responsibility; Beth Schulman, IPS; Greg Smith, Activist; Joe Libertelli; Mark Dudzic; Jimmy Tarlau, Communication Workers of America; Kerren-Pope Onwukwe, Attorney/Activist; and Andrea Miller.[24]

Against NATO Summit

According to an April 2012 press release from Lauren Love, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and Eric Ruder, Coalition Against NATO/G8, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other community and labor leaders will gather on Thursday, April 19, at 11:15 am on the 2nd floor of City Hall to announce their plans to march in opposition to NATO. The march will take place on Sunday, May 20, which is the first day of the NATO summit, and is being organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8 War and Poverty Agenda (CANG8).

Rev. Jackson will also announce his plans to speak at CANG8’s People’s Summit at Occupy Chicago’s headquarters on May 12–13, the weekend before the NATO summit.

Standing with Rev. Jackson to announce their support for the march and People’s Summit will be Occupy Chicago; the Chicago Teachers Union; the National Nurses United; and members of the Service Employees International Union.

“Our world has become jilted by war and weapons,” said Rev. Jackson. “There is simply too much violence, too much concentrated wealth and too much poverty. I hope on May 20 there will be a large demonstration with global participation. It’s time we go in a different direction. I am urging us to shift our priorities. This demonstration is designed to appeal to the leaders of the world to choose to depend less on military intervention and more on negotiations to try to heal these societies ravished by poverty and internal strife.”

CANG8 organizers are pleased to be joined in their efforts by many other community and labor leaders in addition to Rev. Jackson. “ “This march will take place at a crucial moment in NATO’s war on Afghanistan as a majority of Americans have now turned against further U.S. involvement there,” said Joe Iosbaker, a CANG8 organizer.

“Occupy Chicago is proud to support the May 20 march being organized by the Coalition Against NATO/G8,” said Rachael Perrotta, a member of Occupy Chicago’s press team.

Many nurses from the Chicago area and beyond have been active in the Occupy movement and in challenging budgets that prioritize war spending over public health. “As an ER nurse, I see the suffering of the 99 percent firsthand,” said Dennis Kosuth, a registered nurse at Stroger Cook County Hospital. “The global 1 percent and the G8 are calling for austerity cuts to vital social services while draining trillions of our tax dollars into the NATO war machine. Our tax dollars should be going into our public schools, healthcare services, libraries, public transportation—back to the people of Main Street. Registered Nurses of the National Nurses United will be marching alongside CANG8 this May to protest NATO and to call for a Robin Hood Tax on the G8 global 1 percent.”

Christine Boardman is the president of Service Employees International Union Local 73, which represents 25,000 public employees in Illinois and Indiana, and she is urging union members and working people to attend the protest in large numbers. “G8 policies have supported so-called ‘free trade agreements,’ which have caused the loss of millions of jobs,” said Boardman. “Instead of funding for war and supporting ‘free trade’ for corporations, which means ‘slave trade’ for workers, it must become our national priority to keep good jobs here and to fund services for our communities.”

Other noted speakers at the May 20 march and the People’s Summit include Malalai Joya, former Afghan member of Parliament and internationally renowned opponent of NATO’s occupation of Afghanistan; Reiner Braun, International Coordinating Committee of the European No to NATO network; Kathy Kelly, Voices for Creative Nonviolence; Malik Mujahid, Muslim Peace Coalition; Medea Benjamin, Code Pink; and Col. Ann Wright (ret.), antiwar activist.

In addition to specifying Jesse Jackson, , speakers will now include, along with those announced earlier: Leah Bolger, head of Veterans for Peace, who was recently tried for “disrupting” the so-called SuperCommittee in Congress; Carlos Montes, who was targeted by an FBI raid in Los Angeles; Kari Fulton, of the Environmental Justice movement; and Larry Holmes, of International Action Center.[25]

People’s Agenda march

August 27, 2012, well over 1,000 people rallied and marched in the streets of Tampa to demand good jobs, affordable education, healthcare, equality, and peace. Although the Republicans cancelled the first day of their convention due to Hurricane Isaac, organizers with the Coalition to March on the RNC went through with their promise to march on the first day of the convention to show their opposition to the agenda of the 1% and their support for a People’s Agenda.

Notable speakers included Carlos Montes, a leading immigrants’ rights leader; Joe Iosbaker; a spokesperson for the anti-war movement; Skye Schmelzer, representative of the National Students for a Democratic Society; Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of Code Pink and major peace activist; Ciara Taylor, a representative of Dream Defenders and a Black community organizer; Nelini Stamp, one of the original organizers of Occupy Wall Street; and Oscar Otzoy, a Florida farm worker organizer with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Organizations present included Students for a Democratic Society, Veterans for Peace, Southern California Immigrant Coalition, Southern Christian Leadership Conference, five Florida Occupy chapters, six Fight Back Florida chapters, Dream Defenders, United National Anti-war Coalition, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, International Action Center, Code Pink, four Florida AFL-CIO labor councils, and Region 3 of AFSCME Council 79.

Organizer Fern Figueroa stated: “Today we took a stand with more than 1,000 people against the Republicans and their agenda of hatred, poverty, and war. Today we stand up for all the good things people need and strike a blow against those who deprive us that.”

Jared Hamil, Corey Uhl were also organizers. [26]

Peace Action Advisory Board

Peace Action Advisory Board as of 2014;

Cuban Embassy soiree

It was remarkable how many non-Cubans knew the Cuban national anthem well enough to sing along July 2015 as the flag was raised over the newly re-established embassy on 16th Street NW. Then they joined in the delirious shouts of "Viva Cuba!"

"It's an amazing moment," said Phyllis Bennis, a fellow with the progressive think-tank, Institute for Policy Studies. "In the decades-long effort to normalise relations with Cuba, to stop the US attacks and hostility toward Cuba, we have not had so many victories. Suddenly we have a victory. The flag going up - that's huge."

Not that there wasn't plenty of unfiltered emotion. Standing near Bennis was Valerie Landau, daughter of the late documentary film-maker and activist Saul Landau. The elder Landau spent the better part of his life working towards this moment, before cancer cut his work short in the middle of another documentary on Cuba, in 2013. Travelling with Castro through Cuba in the late 1960s, he memorably filmed the revolutionary leader shedding his uniform and playing baseball, shirtless, with peasants.

"We're continuing his work in our own way," said Valerie Landau, who leads tours to Cuba and also works with the Cuban Health Ministry on education programmes. "I think this is a real crossroads, and there's going to be a lot of change in Cuba. Some of it at their own speed and choice, and some of it as a result of an avalanche of interest on the part of Americans who're hungry to know and see Cuba."

The limestone and marble mansion opened as the Cuban Embassy in 1919 and quickly established itself as a delightful society-party venue. Diplomatic relations were broken in 1961, two years after Castro took power. The mansion was shuttered. It reopened in 1977 as the Cuban Interests Section, parallel with a US Interests Section in Havana. The move to have fully fledged embassies again came after President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro resolved in December to normalise relations.

Code Pink provided entertainment|with chants and signs that said "Salsa se­! Embargo no!"

"I didn't know if I'd live to see this day," said Code Pink organiser Medea Benjamin, who lived in Cuba from 1979 to 1983. She said she was deported for being so outspoken - hence her "love-hate relationship" with Cuba. Lately it has been more love. She leads large tours of activists to the island and is planning an upcoming teach-in in the city of Guantanamo against continued US control of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

Inside the embassy, actor Danny Glover drifted from room to room. A regular visitor, his ties to Cuba run so deep that when the remaining Cuban Five prisoners were released by the US in December, one of the first phone calls made by their informal leader, Gerardo Hernandez, as a free man was to Glover.

Glover found his way over to celebrated Cuban folk singer Silvio Rodriguez, who was one of the bold-faced names from the island included in the Cuban delegation.

The reception was liberally sprinkled with Democratic senators and members of Congress, some of whom have been toiling at reaching out to Cuba for as long and as hard as the activists and the policy experts.

"I've spent 25 years in Congress trying to change this policy," said Democrat Jose Serrano, who hosted Castro in the Bronx in 1995, and was criticised for it by some. "We gave him a party at a place called Jimmy's Bronx Cafe. People who went to that event are texting me now saying 'Don't you feel vindicated?'"

"There was a war for 56 years, and|the war is over," said Philip Brenner, a professor in the School of International Service at American University.[28]

"Where Do We Go From Here?"

Institute for Policy Studies' Phyllis Bennis joined a line up of special guests for an inter-generational teach-In on the triple evils of militarism, economic exploitation, racism, January 18 2016, 5th and K Busboys & Poets. Washington DC.

At this tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the discussion will tease out the role of popular culture: 60s vs. now, the international implications of Dr. King’s Vision, and the links between economic exploitation and racism.

Participants included: Dr. Clarence Lusane, Joni Eisenberg, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Medea Benjamin, Phyllis Bennis, Dr. Vanessa Wills, Jeremiah Lowery, Dr. Maurice Jackson, Frank Smith, Dave Zirin, Jay Mills, Ayanna Gregory, In Process, and Live Audience Participation from Busboys!

Co-Moderators: Youth Activist Princess Black and Dr. Greg Carr, Howard University.[29]

US Cuba and Women's Collaboration

Members of the US Cuba and Women's Collaboration, as of December 27, 2017 included Medea Benjamin.[30]

North Korea May 2015

Christine Ahn posted April 26, 2018 ·

With Meri Joyce, JT Takagi, Chung Hyun Kyung, Coleen Baik, Jean Chung, Kozue Akibayashi, Gay Dillingham, Erika Guevara Rosas, Lisa Natividad, Grace Grace Grace, Hye-Jung Park, Deann Borshay Liem, Medea Benjamin, Ann Wright, Abby Disney, Gwyn Kirk, Jane Jin Kaisen, M. Brinton Lykes, Jodie Evans and Una Kim.

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Lisa Natividad One of my fondest memories of being in the DPRK!!!!!

Ann Wright What great memories from our May 2015 trip to North Korea!! I hope we can go again--although the Trump administration is denying our requests for the Special Validation Passports they now require!

South Korea

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The U.S. Solidarity Peace Delegation in South Korea July 2017, to build solidarity with the peace/anti-war movement there -- visited the village of Soseong-ri in Seongju County from July 24 to 27 to support the villagers in their fight to stop the deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile system there.

The delegation -- Jill Stein of the Green Party USA, Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK, Reece Chenault of US Labor against War, and Will Griffin of Veterans for Peace -- heard from the villagers of Soseong-ri about their year-long anti-THAAD struggle. “Our children no longer want to come here. If the THAAD comes, the water will go bad, the air will be bad,” said an elderly farmer.

“Will the THAAD protect us? No, it won’t. If the THAAD comes, we think it will be war,” said another grandmother, who worried that the THAAD will only make Soseong-ri and Seongju a target in the crossfire between the United States and its opponents in the region.

The delegation -- organized by the Task Force to Stop THAAD in Korea and Militarism in the Asia Pacific's (STIK) -- asked the residents to send a message to CEO Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin, the leading U.S. weapons manufacturer. “You are also a mother. Stop making weapons of destruction and contribute to making peace,” they said.

The delegation also participated in an anti-THAAD rally in Seongju, where the local residents displayed a model of the U.S. THAAD battery then proceeded to smash it as a demonstration of their disapproval of the war weapon.[31]

Metro DC DSA Public Facbook group

Members of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America, public Facebook group, as of October 14, 2017 included Medea Benjamin.[32]

Maestre screening

Catherine Murphy October 24, 2016:

Howard University Education Department will present Maestra this Thursday at 2pm - free & open to the public!

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Come on over friends in the DMV! — with James Early, Kymone Tecumseh Freeman, Medea Benjamin, John Lists, Deborah Menkart, Paul Ortiz, Makani Themba, Karen Hampton, Karen Mafundikwa, Doris Derby, Luisa Crespo, Talaya Grimes, Annette Martin, Rhone Fraser, Mimi Machado-Luces, Saad Hayes Sodaye, Matthew White, Lisa Brock, Netfa Freeman, Sira Orozco, Luisa Campos, Eve Goldberg, Luci Murphy, Alison Kibbe, Curtis Muhammad, Mwiza C K Munthali, Mia Henry, Michelle Darden Lee, Alli Jarrar, Banbose Shango, Shah Boo and U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration at Howard University.

Early cadre and friends

People's Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism February 18, 2014 ·

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— with Ernesto Ilyich Gramsci and Victor Manuel, Robert Noval, Elizabeth Marie Taveras, Stanley Laham, Sabrina Crystal, Medea Benjamin, Evelyne Laham, Cece Lia, Pamela Maldonado Velasco, Cassia Laham.

Urgent Discussion on Iran Nuclear Deal and the Future of US-Iran

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Public · Hosted by CODEPINK: Women For Peace

Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 6 PM – 8 PM EDT

Busboys and Poets Brookland

625 Monroe St NE, Washington, District of Columbia 20017

What will happen if the US pulls out of the Iran nuclear deal? Are we headed down a path towards war with Iran? What can we do to stop it? Join the conversation and hear the thoughts of our insightful speakers, including:

Sponsors include Busboys and Poets, CODEPINK, National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Institute for Policy Studies, Progressive Democrats of America, Peace Action, World Beyond War, Popular Resistance, Just Foreign Policy, ANSWER Coalition, DC Statehood Green Party, Pax Christi Metro DC and Baltimore, Veterans for Peace DC, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).[33]

Press Conference after New Zealand Massacre

CAIR blames President Trump for New Zealand mosque massacre, calls for more hate crime and "hate incident" laws.

A press conference posted on Facebook[34] shows "CAIR, Interfaith Allies" blaming President Trump for the massacre in Christchurch New Zealand on March 15, 2019.

Speakers:

References

Template:Endorsers of the Conference on Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s

  1. ↑ Golden oldies prepare for aid flotilla mission to Gaza (Accessed May 5, 2024)
  2. ↑ Open letter against intimidation at Harvard: Defend the freedom to speak in support of Palestine! (accessed October 19, 2023)
  3. ↑ Peace Action Announcements (Accessed Sept 19, 2023)
  4. ↑ Time for a Ceasefire in Ukraine? (Accessed Sept 19, 2023)
  5. ↑ Peace in Ukraine a War Industry Resisters Network webinar (accessed February 28, 2024)
  6. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200716031633/http://www.nocoldwar.org/ (accessed July 25 2020)
  7. ↑ CCDS Background
  8. ↑ http://www.dsausa.org/dl/sum2k/09.html
  9. ↑ [1]
  10. ↑ [The Corresponder Vol 10, number 1, June 2002 http://www.cc-ds.org/pub_arch/CorresponderX1-2.pdf]
  11. ↑ [WW http://www.workers.org/pdf/2003/ww013003.pdf Jan. 30, 2003]
  12. ↑ http://www.revcom.us/a/1247/rnc_protest_nion_call.htm
  13. ↑ 911 Truth statement
  14. ↑ Google cache of IslamOnline.net: Bereaved US Families Share Iraqis Agonies of War by Adam Wild Aba, Jan. 4, 2005. (accessed on Oct. 18, 2010), originally located here, and deleted in early October, 2010
  15. ↑ Big Peace: Rep. Waxman Spokeswoman: ‘We Do Not Know’ If We Aided Fallujah Terrorists with Code Pink Letter, Oct. 16, 2010 (accessed on Oct. 18, 2010)
  16. ↑ http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=1874
  17. ↑ Activists Call for an End to Foreign Military Bases by Camille Sauvé Sunday Mar 18th, 2007
  18. ↑ [Accessed July 2008: Advisory Council, Colombia Support Network, accessed July 24, 2008
  19. ↑ http://pdamerica.org/tools/pda/Adboard.pdf
  20. ↑ Advisory Board (accessed October 12, 2023)
  21. ↑ Healthcare-Now! Board
  22. ↑ [http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/6899-the-last-combat-politician.html Withdraw the Last Combat Politicians from Washington by David Swanson, pacific free Press, Aug 29, 2010]
  23. ↑ Bradley Manning Support Network, accessed January 4, 2012
  24. ↑ [http://www.pdacommunity.org/maryland/1281-donna-edwards-joins-pda-in-hyattsville, PDA website, Donna Edwards Joins PDA in Hyattsville Friday, 16 March 2012 14:46 Written by Mike Hersh]
  25. ↑ Rev. Jesse Jackson Announces His Support for anti-NATO Protest in Chicago
  26. ↑ [http://wibailoutpeople.org/2012/08/27/coalition-to-march-on-the-rnc-more-than-a-thousand-rally-in-face-of-storm/Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement Coalition to March on the RNC: More Than a Thousand Rally in Face of Storm Posted on August 27, 2012 For immediate release August 27, 2012]
  27. ↑ Peace Action Advisory Board
  28. ↑ - The Washington PostJuly 23, 2015 Thursday E1 Edition Now, at long last, they can disagree respectfully; To the sounds of salsa and minty mojito toasts, American advocates hailed the Cuban flag over the new embassy in Washington as a victory, writes David Montgomery]
  29. ↑ IPS Where Do We Go From Here
  30. ↑ ,US Cuba and Women's Collaboration, Leadership
  31. ↑ [2]
  32. ↑ [3]
  33. ↑ [ https://www.facebook.com/events/1040754679421278/]
  34. ↑ CAIR, Interfaith Allies Hold DC News Conference in Response to Terror Attack on New Zealand Mosques accessed March 17 2019
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