August, 30 2008, 04:11pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nancy Mancias, CODEPINK RNC coordinator, 415-342-6409 Jodie Evans, co-founder, 310-621-5635 Jean Stevens, national media coordinator, 508-769-2138
CODEPINK To "Raise A Ruckus" at Republican Convention!
WHAT: CODEPINK to bring peace message and tough questions to RNC
WHEN: Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 WHERE: Republican National Convention, St. Paul.
CODEPINK headquarters: Black Dog Cafe, 308 Prince St. St. Paul
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL
WHAT: CODEPINK to bring peace message and tough questions to RNC
WHEN: Aug. 30 to Sept. 4 WHERE: Republican National Convention, St. Paul.
CODEPINK headquarters: Black Dog Cafe, 308 Prince St. St. Paul
ST. PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS - For the past week, the leading anti-war
group CODEPINK brought the peace message to delegates at the Democratic
National Convention and made headlines from The Denver Post, Salon.com to Comedy Central with their vivacious, creative peace spirit!
At this week's Republican National Convention in the Twin Cities,
nearly 100 members of the women-initiated group will make more
headlines with vibrant demonstrations, interruptions, creative
costumes, songs, banners and hard questions for delegates and
politicians gathered there. Some of our major events include:
On Sunday, Aug. 31:
*From 1 to 2 p.m., CODEPINK
members will march, ride pink peace bikes, sing and rally down Nicollet
Mall to Loring Park in Minneapolis, in the Liberty Parade 2008, a
nonpartisan musical celebration of shared values - liberty, freedom,
justice and free speech. (For more details, visit https://www.libertyparade2008.com/site/).
*From 5 to 7 p.m. they will host the "Reclaiming the
Constitution" event at the RNC's Civic Fest at the Convention Center at
1301 2nd Ave. S. They'll carry an enormous paper Constitution - carried
by several people at once -- and celebrate freedom of speech by saying
"Dissent is Patriotic!" "We Want A Peace Candidate!" "Close
Guantanamo!" "Restore Habeus Corpus!" and "I Miss America!"
*At 9 p.m. CODEPINK will host its "They Spy, They Lie, We Pay,
They Profit!" protest outside the AT&T Salute to Screen Actors
Guild at the Fine Line Music Cafe at 318 First Ave N. Minneapolis.
We'll protest Republicans passing of the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillence Act (FISA) that gave telecoms like AT & T
(unconstitutional wiretapping and access to our communications without
a warrant. (We'll host this again 8 p.m. Weds. outside an AT & T
event at Brit's Pub at 1110 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis).
On Monday, Sept. 1:
*At 10 a.m. CODEPINK will host the
a "Pro-Life, Pro-Democracy" pink parade within the anti-war march and
rally at the Assembly at Cass Gilbert Memorial Park (at Cedar St and
Sherburne Ave.) in St. Paul. Their parade will be non-confrontational,
with puppets, colorful props and banners meant to inspire curiosity and
hope for change.
On Tuesday, Sept. 2:
*At 4 p.m., CODEPINK will "drop"
huge banners with "Build Bridges, Not War!" messages off of the
overpasses over highways 94E and 35E, perfectly timed for when
Republican delegates are bussed through to St. Paul to the Xcel Center.
*At 8:30 p.m., they will stage a protest outside a Big Oil
fundraiser at Epic Entertainment, at 510 1st Ave. N Minneapolis, to
demonstrate against the Republican's devotion to the interest of Big
Oil companies instead of the American people. Wearing yellow "Support
Our Oil Companies" ribbons, waving "Freedom Flags" (flags with the
logos of the major oil companies) and showering our fellow delegates
with millions of "Oily Dollars, " CODEPINK will mock Republicans
support for more oil wars, surging gas prices and obscene profits for
Big Oil, drilling everywhere regardless of consequences, and "no" to
clean and renewable energy funding.
On Wednesday, Sept. 3:
*At 10 a.m., in full costume,
CODEPINK will host a "Women Say No To War Pageant" at 5th St. and
Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, right outside the Republican National
Committee's "welcome rally" for John McCain.
On Thursday, Sept. 4: *At 10 a.m., wearing in pink
police uniforms, peace "gardeners" gear, "pink slips," and formal "I
Miss America" wear, CODEPINK will raise a ruckus to "Bust McCain"
around Peavey Plaza, near the delegate hotels.
*At 4 p.m., CODEPINK members and friends will form a human peace
sign in Harriet Island Park (Plato Blvd.), to be photographed from the
sky as a beautiful, living art image. It'll be as powerful as our "Make
Out Not War" image created at the DNC (view it on The Huffington Post here).
For more CODEPINK RNC events, and to check for updates, please visit our online DNC and RNC calendar, updated frequently, here: www.codepinkalert.org/conventionscalendar. For questions, please call Jean Stevens at 508-769-2138.
******************************************
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Nancy Mancias, CODEPINK RNC coordinator, 415-342-6409 Jean Stevens, national media coordinator, 508-769-2138
Join
CODEPINK, Global Exchange, Oil Change, Rain Forest Action Network and
the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane as we "Support Our Oil
Companies!"
WHAT: Demonstration against party hosted by Gov. Haley Barbour's and American Petroleum Institute (API) WHEN: 8:30 p.m., Tues., Sept. 2 WHERE: 510 1st Ave N, Minneapolis, MN
MINNEAPOLIS
- Join CODEPINK and other coalition groups in our demonstration against
the Republican party hosted by Mississippi Gov. Haley "Offshore
Drilling" Barbour and the American Petroleum Institute (API), the
leading "Big Oil" lobbyist group in D.C., whose board is composed of
the chief executive officers of every major oil company.
Minneapolis-based agribusiness giant Cargill is teaming up with Big
Oil to rapidly consolidate control over the entire agrofuel sector.
Agrofuels are not low emissions, they are driving massive tropical
deforestation, are linked to human rights abuses, and they pit food
against fuel.
We'll mock Republican support for more oil wars, surging gas prices
and obscene profits for Big Oil, drilling everywhere regardless of
consequence and saying "no" to clean and renewable energy funding by
wearing yellow "Support Our Oil Companies" ribbons, waving "Freedom
Flags" (flags with the logos of the major oil companies) and showering
our fellow delegates with millions of "Oily Dollars" that Big Oil gives
back to Republican candidates (74 percent of their contributions) and
the $1.1 million Senator John McCain received from oil executives and
employees immediately after reversing his previous opposition to
offshore drilling.
CODEPINK, Global Exchange, Oil Change, Rain Forest Action Network
and the Ronald Reagan Home for the Criminally Insane had no part in
organizing this Republican Rally. For more CODEPINK RNC events, and to check for updates, please visit our online DNC and RNC calendar, updated frequently, here: www.codepinkalert.org/conventionscalendar. For questions, please call Jean Stevens at 508-769-2138.
####
CODEPINK, founded in 2002, is a women-initiated
grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in
Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into health care,
education and other life-affirming activities. We reject the Bush
administration's fear-based politics that justify violence, and instead
call for policies based on compassion, kindness and a commitment to
international law. With an emphasis on joy and humor, CODEPINK women
and men seek to activate, amplify and inspire a community of
peacemakers through creative campaigns and a commitment to
non-violence. www.codepinkalert.org.
CODEPINK is a women-led grassroots organization working to end U.S. wars and militarism, support peace and human rights initiatives, and redirect our tax dollars into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming programs.
(818) 275-7232LATEST NEWS
Children of Jailed Women's Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi Accept Her Nobel Peace Prize
"This bittersweet moment reminds us of the important, brave, and selfless work of human rights defenders who shape a brighter future for everyone and also of the pushbacks they still face," said the U.N. human rights chief.
Dec 10, 2023
An empty chair sat on the stage at the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway on Sunday, symbolizing the absence of the rights activist who was being honored: Narges Mohammadi, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence in Tehran for multiple charges related to her activism against Iran's theocratic government.
Accepting the award in Mohammadi's place were her 17-year-old twins, Kiana and Ali Rahmani, who read a speech their mother had prepared.
"I write this message from behind the tall and cold walls of a prison," Mohammadi wrote. "It seems that in the globalized world, either human rights will become respected internationally or human rights violations will continue to spread across state borders."
"The realization of democracy is contingent upon the realization of human rights," she continued. "Human rights have reached the level of historical awareness among the people of Iran and constitute the focal point of the activities of many movements, currents, and groups. It has the capacity and power to create widespread national solidarity and coalitions."
Mohammadi has been a rights campaigner for three decades, most recently serving as deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in her home country of Iran.
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In her speech, Mohammadi denounced "the mandatory hijab" as "a disgraceful government policy." Her family has said she's been denied medical care in prison for refusing to wear the head covering.
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With just two days left until the conclusion of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, climate justice advocates from the Global South on Sunday expressed alarm over the latest draft of the Global Goal on Adaptation, a document being negotiated at the summit as policymakers finalize an agreement on further progress that must be made to limit planetary heating.
African countries proposed a Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) a decade ago, and a number of advocates warned Sunday that the document so far appears "vague," with insufficient financial pledges from fossil fuel-producing nations to help the Global South to adapt various sectors—including agriculture, water, and transportation—to the climate emergency.
"Across the world millions of people, most of whom are least responsible for carbon emissions, are attempting to adapt their lives and livelihoods to a distorted climate," wrote Mohamed Adow, founder and director of Power Shift Africa, at Climate Change News. "Although it isn't just about money, funding is important and severely lacking. The goal for 2023 was to raise $300 million for the Adaptation Fund, but at COP28 we've only seen $169 million in pledges, a mere 56% of the intended amount."
On social media, Simon Evans, deputy editor of Carbon Brief, provided an analysis of Sunday's draft, which he said was "very heavily qualitative, not quantitative" and includes only a "vague link to finance."
"Qualitative targets" in the text include "significantly reducing climate induced water scarcity" and "strengthening resilience"—phrases that "could mean almost anything," said Evans.
The draft reiterates an earlier call for wealthy nations to double adaptation finance by 2025, but only "urges" and "invites" governments to provide resources for developing countries that are disproportionately affected by climate-linked sea level rise, drought, and flooding—despite the fact that the entire continent of Africa is behind just 4% of planet-heating global greenhouse gas emissions.
The call to "urge" powerful countries to contribute meaningfully to a climate adaptation fund "is code for 'only if you feel like it, but no worries if you don't'," said Teresa Anderson, global climate justice lead for ActionAid.
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Mary Robinson, chair of The Elders, called on governments including Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and the E.U to "abandon their subterfuge" and stop "obstructing a livable future."
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"She was coerced into resigning for defending her students’ right to political free speech," said one critic.
Dec 10, 2023
Professors at the University of Pennsylvania on Saturday were joined by rights advocates in condemning the attacks that forced university president Liz Magill to resign days after she testified before the U.S. Congress.
Magill had angered lawmakers from both parties by refusing to say students should be punished for hypothetically "calling for the genocide of Jews."
Magill announced her resignation Saturday after the university lost a $100 million donation from hedge fund manager Ross Stevens, a Penn alum, due to last Tuesday's hearing at the House Education and Workforce Committee.
At the hearing, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) demanded to know whether hypothetical calls for committing a genocide against Jewish people would violate the policies of Penn, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stefanik also conflated calls for "intifada"—an uprising against oppression which is not necessarily violent or aimed at eliminating any group of people—with demands for a genocide against Jewish people. Committee members did not point to examples of students actually calling for genocide.
Magill, along with the presidents of the other two elite institutions, told the committee that such speech, if "directed and severe, pervasive," would qualify as harassment and would be disciplined as such, but suggested that in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Penn does not generally discipline people for speech alone.
Magill's testimony represented Penn's official rules governing free speech, which state that "universities can invest their efforts and resources in educating their members and in creating spaces and contexts for productive dialogue, but they cannot legitimately punish members—students, staff, and faculty—who choose not to participate in those, or who profess bigoted and other hateful views."
But powerful donors including Stevens and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, another Penn graduate, demanded Magill's ouster and said they would end their financial support until the president resigned.
The Penn chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) said that "Penn faculty and students who have expressed concern for Palestinian civilians and criticized the war in Gaza," had been targeted by "distortions and attacks" that have done nothing to actually address "the scourge of antisemitism—a real and grave problem."
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The AAUP said the next university president must "defend the principles of shared governance and academic freedom, which protect the educational mission of the university."
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The attacks on Magill from Congress—including a letter signed last week by 74 members of both parties who demanded her resignation—followed calls in September from the school's Board of Trustees for Magill to distance Penn from a literature festival that celebrated Palestinian writers.
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Peter Beinart, editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, said the ongoing controversy over antisemitism on college campuses—now the subject of an official House investigation—is meant to distract from the massacre of civilians in Gaza.
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Note: This article has been corrected to better reflect the comments of the AAUP at University of Pennsylvania.
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