Support CODEPINK in 2018!

So many incredible and powerful things have happened in the last six months thanks to you, and there is so much more in store for the rest of the year. We want to thank you for being a part of our movement for peace, and would like to share the following highlights from 2018 with you:

Divest from War activists take on BlackRock

As part of our Divest from War campaign, we have dedicated the last few months to calling out BlackRock, the world’s largest investment company. We hosted a big action on May 23 at BlackRock’s annual shareholders meeting at the Lotte Palace Hotel in New York City. CODEPINK and allies were protesting the world’s largest shadow bank for its practice of investing in weapons manufacturers and companies that profit from war and violence. In support of the New York protest, CODEPINK organized demonstrations in Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palo Alto. 

And our Divest campaign has been growing locally! There are now six campaigns running locally, including a statewide campaign in Oregon and two college campuses. We have already celebrated some important local successes: the City of West Hollywood adopted a responsible banking policy that includes a screen for weapons, and the City of Santa Monica is excluding weapons from their investments. On the Cal Poly SLO campus, we joined with students who were being penalized for peacefully protesting Raytheon at a career fair as a part of their campus Divest campaign. We also have a growing list of congressional representatives who have committed to refusing campaign contributions from weapons manufacturers and the NRA.

Stay tuned for more local campaigns to emerge and for an exciting new tool that we’re releasing soon!  

Jodie Evans leads a delegation of 20 activists to Barcelona

To learn about the thriving local peace economy we traveled to Barcelona. We met with local activists, feminists, sex workers, and leaders in their communities, all working to promote peace and stop the violence.  We had incredible moments, sharing our stories and hopes, seeing the locals in action and learning what it takes to build a local peace economy.  Our fellow travelers went home with a wealth of knowledge to build bridges with peace activists in their own communities.

Local Peace Economy gatherings on the rise thanks to supporters like you

At home, Local Peace Economy gatherings have been building and growing. In Los Angeles, the youth leaders of Advancing Justice came to share their community organizing work with us, and we learned about visionary youth-led initiatives for restorative justice, community gardens, and support centers for undocumented students. From that meeting, three of our CODEPINK members are now engaged in their summer youth leadership program. We’re excited to grow these relationships to better work across differences and understand positionality and solidarity.

With all of our work divesting, we wanted to give people something to invest in. This year we turned to 21 Days of Mindfulness, a 3-week email series to cultivate practices of compassion and inner peace. We also came out with daily inspirations to divest our hearts and minds from the war economy and practice a peace economy culture of caring, sharing, joy, and relationality in our everyday lives, transforming ourselves to transform the world.

Effectively waging peace in the Korean Peninsula

For the fourth time since 2015, Medea Benjamin, Ann Wright, and fellow activists gathered to strategize how to most effectively advance peace on the Korean Peninsula and support diplomatic efforts to that end. We have been supporting the South Korean activists who have been so effective in demanding an end to the 70-year-old conflict in the Korean peninsula.

Successfully getting under Israel's skin

Our work for Palestinian rights began in high gear following the arrest of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi. We led rallies in solidarity with Ahed, visited her family in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh and pushed for her release. All this made possible thanks to the dedicated grassroots efforts of yourselves and people around the world. Israel's announcement that CODEPINK is banned from entry let us know that we are getting under their skin and inspired us to strengthen our work even more. From continuing to protest AIPAC to supporting the peaceful protesters in Gaza, we haven't let up in the first part of 2018 and we won't during the second half either. Our next plans include working to bring Ahed to the U.S. upon her release and holding Israel's largest publicly-traded weapons company accountable for its role in the repression of Palestinians.

Taking on the powerful Prince Mohammed Bin Salman

The relentless Saudi bombing campaign and restrictions on aid have turned Yemen into the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster. The U.S. participation in this war includes selling the Saudis billions of dollars in weapons and providing in-air refueling of their bomber planes. We took to the streets to call for peace when Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MbS) came to the U.S. and to let him know he is not welcome here. MbS’ trip included a visit with Trump that resulted in a press conference touting the President’s plan to sell more weapons to Saudi Arabia. As MbS continues to stockpile weapons, we have been working in Congress to stop the sales. In the last Senate vote, 44 senators voted with us; there will be another vote soon, and this time, we hope to win!

Calling on Congress to stop the next war with Iran

We reached out to the Iranian people with an apology for our president's unscrupulous behavior and a pledge to try to reverse this decision. We have been down this path before. Our government lied about Iraq and dragged us into a war that is still going on. Let's protect the world from another U.S. war. Medea's new book Inside Iran tackles the stormy relationship with the United States, and presents a realistic and hopeful case for the two nations' future.

New momentum for the Poor People's Campaign

CODEPINK joined the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival to launch the most significant wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in U.S. history, which continues through June 23. Each week is focused on a different pillar of evil: systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, and the war economy and militarism. 

On the launch of the 40 days, the campaign dominated headlines in major national news outlets. The coverage reflected the media’s deep understanding of the fact that the action wasn’t merely about arrests — it was about building a movement that can shift the moral narrative of the nation. From the west coast to the deep south, the Midwest and the northeast, local outlets were captivated by poor people and clergy taking to their statehouses demanding change.

Connecting the dots: Militarism in our schools and streets

The impacts of war and militarism are in our schools and on our streets. We will continue to be in the halls of Congress and on the streets as the warmongers raise the bar and spend our tax dollars on war.  We will continue to denounce the wrongs that tear at the fabric of humanity, but we will also help weave a new tapestry that allows us to live in peace with each other and this earth. As Arundhati Roy says, we have a profound belief that another world is possible. And on a quiet day, we can hear her breathing.

New ways to connect: Join our Virtual Book Club!

Summertime is the perfect time to crack open a good book… especially if it is one that challenges our culture of violence, grows our community, and educates for peace! As Malala Yousafzai aptly noted, "If you want to end the war then instead of sending guns, send books.” We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we are thrilled to announce CODEPINK’s Recommended Readings for Peace and our Virtual Book Club!

For our first session, we have selected Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. The book club will take place every other Monday from 5:00-6:30 PM PST / 8:00-9:30 PM EST starting on July 9th! Join our Book Club today!

Doing what we do best: Protesting in the halls of Congress

Bolton doesn’t hide his war agenda, and neither does Pompeo. From coast to coast, CODEPINK activists have been hitting the streets in New York, Los Angeles, Washington DC and Oakland, calling for peace, and opposing Pompeo’s confirmation and war agenda.

We need your help in building our movement to stop these dangerous men, to be a voice of resistance and peace in the coming months and beyond. Engage with us, we are here to support you in standing up to war and militarism. The divest from the war machine campaign is about your city, university and church. Join the divest team. We need to all be growing our local peace, and Kelly is here to support you. Join us in DC in action. Support the team—we have lots of ways you can volunteer your time with the national team. Be visible for peace. Peace takes all of us.

With love and deep gratitude,
Ann, Ariel, Brienne, Jodie, Kelly, Kirsten, Mark, Medea, Nancy, Natasha, Paki, Rita, Sarah, and Tighe