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From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues

Code Pink

Founded November 17, 2002, by Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, and Gael Murphy, Code Pink describes itself as “a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement.” Organized in the months before the pre-emptive strikes against Iraq, the group sought to end that war, prevent new wars, and invest national resources in health, education, and related activities. In 2012, Code Pink defined itself as “a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities.”

The group’s name is a spoof of the George W. Bush administration’s identification of terrorism levels using a color-coded system.

The organization’s first public protest was a four-month vigil in front of the White House. During the vigil, Code Pink protestors hung a woman’s pink slip from a helium balloon and chanted “Pink Slip George Bush,” a reference to the pink slips associated with a person being fired from a job. Several of the women wore pink slips, the undergarment, over their street clothes.

Members go to high schools, concerts, colleges, and military recruiting centers, urging young people not to enlist in the military.

By 2006, Code Pink had groups in over 250 cities in the United States and connections with international peace organizations.

References: The New York Times, September 4, 2004; The Washington Post, March 8, 2004; Code Pink http://www.codepink4peace.org (accessed July 28, 2012).

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MLA 9th
"Code Pink." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, edited by Suzanne O’Dea, Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0205.
APA 7th
Code Pink. From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, In S. O’Dea (Ed.), Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0205.
CMOS 17th
"Code Pink." From Suffrage to the Senate America's Political Women: An Encyclopedia of Leaders, Causes & Issues, Edited by Suzanne O’Dea. Salem Press, 2019. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=Suffrage3e_0205.