New to the DC experience

I arrived at the Code Pink house on Tuesday July 1st excited and ready to whip congress into shape. I hit the ground running and have been amazed at how up close and personal politics are here in D.C.! Wednesday we were sitting in the living room watching the news when CNN stated that Bush had a press conference at the White House on the G8 summit at 10:30. It was 10:15. Me and Liz said, "Let's go!" and grabbed a banner, a bullhorn and a cab and got to the White House. We blasted Bush on the bullhorn and interacted with the public. The press were jumping the bushes with their cameras to film US, not Bush! I gave an interview to The Wall Street Journal, Politico and New York Times. Thursday we delivered letters to congress members opposing the resolutions for sanctions against Iran. Friday a group went to Monitcello where Bush was speaking and successfully interrupted him 8 times!!! Here's the link to the photo from the New York Times of one of our members, Tigher:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/washington/05bush.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=bush+monticello&st=nyt&oref=slogin

(Even if I wasn't there my hat was!!!!) I went to the parade with a group dressed as pink statures of liberty and had a great time handing out candy with facts on Iran, Iraq and FISA. I got in the parade with the hari krishnas for a bit until a cop literally shoved me out =(. Today, Saturday, I went to the NEA (National Education Association) conference with James and Liz and met many fellow teachers and passed out flyers on the Iran resolutions. Had great talks with people from all over the country. Cindy Sheehan was speaking at the Peace and Justice Causus there so gave her a hand and interacted with LOTS of great people. All told we gave out 400 flyers and people were already calling their congress members. Cindy came over for dinner tonight to the Pink House and we all enjoyed a great discussion.

Overall my stay here so far has been amazing - I finally feel a part of politics and am thriving on discussions with fellow house members all day that are inspiring, educational and uplifting. I now realize just how much I don't know about politics! It's refreshing to be able to have in depth discussions on tough issues with people I trust and who can hear where I'm coming from! This house rocks!

CODEPINK "Speaking of Freedom" - MUSIC VIDEO

This is a music video featuring CODEPINK Women for Peace in footage shot at the 2007 4th of July parade in Washington DC.

VIDEO - Pink Patriots Parade on Constituion Av July 4th

Pink Peace Faerie Dust and Fireworks!

Kit Kimberly

With an eye to fun and beauty as well as peace protests, July 3rd found the Pink House Peace Room filled scurrying with activities to make Independence Day sparkle with pink and peace.

In-house artist and props-mistress Laurie established costume workshops for Radical Cheerleaders and Peace Faeries as well as banners to emphasize that DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC. Messages of liberation and revolution (and despite the alarmism of some “homeland security” types, what’s more patriotic on Independence Day than talking about a revolution?) spread throughout the room as Joel played peace and protest songs from the generations. Using strands of flowers and wired bouquets, I created pagan wreaths for Desiree and me to wear in our hair; tulle and bubble wrap tutus emerged from disheveled piles of pink on the floor, as did pompoms, twirling batons, and of course the Faerie Peace Wands.

The music, singing, company and diligence was soothing and empowering—we discussed how Bush’s pardon of Libby had come so soon, it could only cause more resentment, more shock at the administration’s arrogance and disdain for rule of law. Besides, I reckon, what does it matter if Libby spends two years in a country-club prison? He’s not the real culprit, he’s just a scapegoat. If it opens more peoples’ eyes to the complete disregard of the law, it’s a sacrifice well worth making.

And it seems that that may be, in fact, just the result—people who saw my Impeach t-shirt stopped me to say, “Yes! Especially now,” and I saw others shaking their heads over the NYT headline about Libby being pardoned.

So our fearless leaders left the Pink House in shifts beginning at 11 pm to camp out and hold our place for the parade the next day: Medea, Liz, Desiree, Rae, Sam (and her partner Jake)—the hardcore folks—stayed out there all night and got hardly any sleep. Wednesday dawned bright and cool (**AN ASIDE: what is going on with the DC weather? I’ve never seen this part of the world so moderate at the height of summer. Ordinarily I’d celebrate the anomaly, but with the climate change issues underway, I’m afraid it’s the herald of really bad things to come, a fear that was reinforced by the evacuation of the National Mall later the afternoon of the 4th. Although it occurs to me that a tornado wiping out all of the federal government and us having to start all over again from scratch would NOT necessarily be all bad …). We got to 11th and Constitution by 10:30 and found our space well-preserved and to the hilt with pink. Even the vendors around laughed and chatted with us: “We expect you pink folks to buy all your food here,” one hotdog vendor said.

The vanguard was already up at the main marquis with the gorgeous “Dissent is Patriotic” banner—Ena and Sam in the pink sequined dresses with their I Miss America sashes; Rae, Des and Liz in tulle tutus, waving wands and streamers; everyone twirling pink peace parasols in front of the TV cameras. The stands—and consequently the cameras—were so filled with pink, eventually the police made them get down. We danced down the street in a gang, singing peace songs like, “We defend the constitution/We’re the pink police” and “Impeachment’s on the table” while onlookers mostly cheered us and took photos. All the tourists wanted photos with the peace faeries and cheerleaders, so we kept having to stop to oblige.

Of course, there was dissent to our dissent. Allison, Liz and even I tried hard to engage those who sought us out to argue—one of my greatest lessons in the Pink House has been to engage, not enrage. But mostly, I think, our message is about fun and finding that doing the right thing—working for justice—is a joyous task, not an onerous one. I would like to think that even people who dismiss us: “Those CodePink folks, what a bunch of losers” are also just a little bit jealous because we’re always having such a good time.

We had such a good time, as we cheered on the parade participants and floats, that it was a truly rare group we couldn’t get at least ONE two-fingered peace sign from. From the marching bands, immigrant Americans and balloon carriers to the firefighters, Red Cross and veterans of 20th century wars, the response of peace for peace was ubiquitous. As Medea said to Bill O’Reilly last week, we’re no longer the “radical left”—CodePink’s position on the Iraq war (and, almost certainly, the potential military attack on Iran) represents that of the majority, not the minority, of this country. I think that was abundantly clear throughout the day.

Back at the Pink House in the evening, Des and helpers dished up veggie burgers and other goodies, and we “debriefed” with music, a few beers, and affectionate consultations. Never still for one second, Des and Liz were already planning out the next day’s Capitol Hill actions; unbelievably, Media and a couple of other die-hards actually went to bed before midnight. But as Joel and Jake played music, we sang and enjoyed the cool, damp evening, pleased to have had such a great day for—and OF—peace.

Peace Signs on Parade

Five valiant Code Pinkers -- Medea, Des, Liz, Sam, Midge -- and Sam's friend Jake camped out on Constitution Avenue all night to secure us a great spot for the 4th of July parade. Back at the Pink House the next morning, the DC crew assembled tasty home-cooked food (thank you Ena from Maine!), props galore and other equipment, while putting on pink tutus and other costumes made the night before.

About 9:30, the National Archives Building was the setting for one of our themes for Independence Day: "Support the Constitution." Joan, Marie, Des, Liz, Medea and Dave Barrows (aka "Devilish George Bush") marched in formation from our spot across from the IRS headquarters to the beautiful Archives Bldg, singing and chanting. Once there, these Code Pinkers joined in with participants, including redcoats playing fife and drum. Actors dressed as Founding Fathers read the Declaration of Independence and the names of the signers. The reactions of spectators ranged from "take my picture with you" positive to neutral; no negatives.

Back at our campsite on the parade route, Terra organized photo ops for over 30 passersby who wanted to have a Kodak moment with Code Pinkers, particularly Samantha (CA) and Ena, who shared "I Miss America" honors and the Radical Cheerleaders.

Shaking their plastic-bag pom-poms and swinging their hips, the women chanted:

Revolution!
Not if but when!
Revolution!
I'll say it again!
That's rev, rev, revolution!

As the parade came slowly down the wide boulevard, several Code Pinkers stood on cement flower pots holding up the "Dissent is Patriotic" banner above the heads of the crowd. One of the first floats presented the Military Order of the Purple Heart; a boy sitting on it gave us the peace sign with both hands and blew us a kiss, to our delight.

For the entire parade, we cheered, waved props, and called out: "Give us a peace sign!" In virtually every contingent where folks had a free hand (not bagpipers or marching bands or baton twirlers for obvious reasons), at least one marcher gave us the peace sign. I was amused to see the sly little smiles and glances of young men in the bands as they tried to play music and check out Code Pink at the same time. A Peruvian musician, dressed in magnificent costume, managed to play his pipes AND give us the peace sign twice!

Highlights for me included:

Our holding up the banner with this quote by Benjamin Franklin, "Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither," as a float with Abe Lincoln and Ben Franklin figures passed by. "Ben" nodded graciously, smiled and gave us the peace sign in response.

Liz running out into the street with a twirly ribbon stick and dancing as a band from Surprize, Arizona marched by. "Arizona, give us a peace sign!" she yelled.

And at the end of the parade, Medea, Sam, Ena, Rae and Marie running out to join the Hari Krishna contingent.

As the crowd began to disperse, Medea got on the "womanhorn" with the Code Pink message of defiance of the Bushites, and support for the Constitution. Final photo ops for our entire contingent for student and professional photographers wrapped things up, and we sang our signature song for the day:

"We defend the Constitution
We're the Pink Police!
We defend the Constitution
and we defend free speech!

Can you hear the people shouting
It's become a roar!
Can't you hear the people shouting,
Time to end the war!"