outraged woman willing to be outrageous for peace

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Actions in 2003/2004

(The following is taken from the old web site of OK CodePINK, under different organizers -- who moved out of state)


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The mission of CodePINK

(This content is from the previous organizers, but it's still relevant. See the next post for more info about the old incarnation of OK CodePINK.)

What is Code Pink?

  • Code Pink is the alert sounded in a hospital when a baby has been abducted.

  • Code Pink is an alert to the women of the world the time has come to direct the course of our future.

  • Code Pink is a celebration of the collective power of women focused on a just cause.

  • Code Pink is a visual invitation to think, live and teach peace.

  • Code Pink is women for peace (and men who are not afraid of strong women) teaching peace, living peace and loving peace.

  • Our goal is that by the time babies born today reach the age for military service there will be no need.

  • When a war ends we do not have peace.

  • Peace doesn't start with our political leaders - it starts with us - it starts with our children - in our homes - in our communities - in our churches - in our schools.

  • A child learns peace when he is taught peace.

  • There are great ideas in all of us. Like Jesus, Ghandi and Martin Luther King it is in OUR power to act for peace.

  • See Pink - Think Peace.


us and help plan Code Pink events in your community!
  • Come share your talents - we need singers, actors, artists (face painters), musicians, poets and speakers.

  • Come share your experience.

  • Come share your ideas for creating a more peaceful world... okcodepink(at)hotmail.com

Oklahoma CODEPINK blooms again

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Oklahoma CODEPINK is back!

I've decided to revive Oklahoma CodePINK. I wasn't part of the previous incarnation, but from what I've heard of it, there was some good energy and some great actions. I hope to rekindle that. Those who first got the group going here no longer live in Oklahoma, and so I'm reasonably sure I'm not stepping on anyone's toes. If you were involved before, please get in touch and work with us again.

Oklahoma CODEPINK is for women (and men) who want to work for peace through joyful direct action, establish bonds of friendship across differences -- especially with disenfranchised women, women in developing nations and most especially women in the Middle East, particularly Iraq, where the U.S. government through its military might is currently doing so much to prevent and discourage true peace.

The 411 for busy people: Join the newsletter mailing list at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/okcodepink/ to keep up with what's going on. It'll be low-volume, and not an open discussion list. When I have news, or an action opportunity presents itself, I'll send. When I don't, I won't.

You can contact me about CODEPINK, and publicize the group with the address: okcodepink@yahoo.com

What is CODEPINK?

For those who aren't familiar with the group, it's an international women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement that seeks positive social change through proactive, creative protest and non-violent direct action. It started in Nov. 2002 with this call from Starhawk:

"We call on women around the world to rise up and oppose the war in Iraq. We call on mothers, grandmothers, sisters, and daughters, on workers, students, teachers, healers, artists, writers, singers, poets and every ordinary outraged woman willing to be outrageous for peace. Women have been the guardians of life -- not because we are better or purer or more innately nurturing than men, but because the men have busied themselves making war. Because of our responsibility to the next generation, because of our own love for our families and communities and this country that we are a part of, we understand the love of a mother in Iraq for her children and the driving desire of that child for life."

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."

For more background and general resources, go to the main CodePINK Web page at http://www.codepinkalert.org/.

What's the plan for Oklahoma CODEPINK?

My only real plan right now is to try to get other women involved, so we can discuss what we might do as a group. But I do have several ideas for actions and campaigns that I would like to see Oklahoma CODEPINK engage in. For instance:

* We could have a presence (a table, or just walk around with flyers and cards) at the Healthy Living Expo next month, sharing the radical notion that "War is not healthy."

* We could have a Mother's Day demo, in solidarity with mother's in Iraq and in the US who are losing their children to war.

* We could have a table at at the Paseo Art show and/or at Juneteenth, both of which the group did last year before going on on hiatus.

If you have ideas to add to these, let me know. Check out the web site above for lots of great reports from CODEPINK activists from across the country. You'll see that this movement is colorful, humorous, unafraid and fun. Join me in keeping Oklahoma part of it.