Photo courtesy of CODEPINK Milwaukee
CODEPINK Milwaukee - No Kings Day Protest
CODEPINK Milwaukee protests at a "No Kings" rally
CODEPINK, a nonpartisan, feminist, grassroots organization, says no to business as usual. Founded by Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans in 2002, CODEPINK formed in opposition to the Iraq War and has engaged in activism supporting divestment from U.S. warfare and imperialism ever since. The group supports redirecting money and resources away from war and violence and into initiatives like universal healthcare, green energy, affordable housing, public education and other life-affirming programs. Comprising about two hundred chapters worldwide, CODEPINK has a Milwaukee chapter as of late 2024.
The organization’s website states, “Life-affirming programs are investments in social programs that uplift human dignity instead of tear it down. We believe universal health care must include the right to an abortion, access to education must not be determined by income bracket, and housing is a human right.”
CODEPINK is named as a play on the U.S. government’s color-coded alert system, identifying the color pink as a call for peace. In accordance with its founding principles, CODEPINK practices nonviolence with each and every one of its demonstrations, utilizing creative activism tactics like street theater and art builds. That said, if a politician or industry executive supports or profits from the U.S. war machine, CODEPINK will not hesitate to confront them in public about it. While the group is fundamentally women-led, CODEPINK welcomes folks of all genders to join.
Mobilizing Opposition
Over the past two decades, CODEPINK has mobilized in opposition to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, drone strikes, U.S. military aid to Israel and Saudi Arabia, and hostility towards countries that resist Western imperialism. The group has supported Palestinian liberation and lifting U.S. government sanctions, and they critically assess the war machine’s effect on climate change.
CODEPINK Madison has existed for some years now. Once national CODEPINK organizers arrived in Milwaukee last summer to protest the Republican National Convention (RNC), however, the organization made an open call for folks to start a CODEPINK chapter here.
“I thought they were really badass and I really aligned with their messaging,” CODEPINK MKE founding member Maggie French recalls. “I signed up to be a part of their contingent for the march on the RNC and got connected with them. Consistency and persistence I find to be core values of CODEPINK.”
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“There was a lot of momentum from the RNC actions,” fellow member Chris Jeske adds. “The folks from the Madison chapter came in for that, and we saw a lot of potential for Milwaukee to be involved.”
Likeminded Groups
Photo by Jeff Pearcy
CODEPINK Milwaukee - Mother's Day Vigil Protest
CODEPINK Milwaukee's Mother's Day Vigil for Gaza
After several general interest meetings and community potlucks, CODEPINK Milwaukee began joining up with existing like-minded groups in the streets for protests and actions targeting war profiteering. Such groups include Peace Action of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 4 Palestine, Milwaukee Anti-War Committee, Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) Milwaukee, and the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine.
“A lot of people who are involved in CODEPINK are in multiple organizations,” Jeske notes. “That’s naturally built a lot of alliances. We don’t want to replicate the things already happening, but having such a big national and global platform helps us amplify actions that people are doing.”
One of the very first demonstrations that CODEPINK MKE planned was a Mother’s Day vigil and procession for Palestinian mothers. French describes the event, “We had an art build before, then marched through the Third Ward where a lot of people were having brunch on Mother’s Day. We had Will from PSL playing the drum, which was really powerful with the silence and no chanting.”
She reflects, “As a mother myself, it didn’t feel like a day to celebrate, when I’m thinking about the lived experience of other mothers in Palestine and around the world who have been impacted by the U.S. war machine and colonialism and imperialism. When you’re thinking about the maternal experience of mothers in Gaza trying to breastfeed right now, who are being forcibly starved, what does that look like, when we have all the resources here at our fingertips here?”
Solidarity Flotilla
Other actions CODEPINK has partaken in include disruptions of local weapons manufacturers, kite-flying in protest of the Milwaukee Air & Water Show, an anti-ICE march, and a Milwaukee Solidarity Flotilla on the river to demand safe passage for the Handala Flotilla carrying aid to Gaza.
“We see a lot of international law and human rights violations with how the U.S. has been engaged in military conflicts abroad,” Jeske says. “We confronted Bill Berrien, the CEO of Pindel Global Precision, at the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council.”
On the Air & Water Show, French shares, “A lot of Wisconsinites are looking up at the sky, cheering and bringing their kids, and they’re cracking open a beer and celebrating, but we think about how many children around the world have looked up at the sky and seen a plane like that and thought “am I going to die today?” or “is my home going to be destroyed?” and how dystopian those thoughts are. That’s what inspires me to bring my daughter to this kind of stuff, because all children deserve to grow up in a world where they feel safe and not fearing for their lives and wellbeing.”
To learn more or get involved, visit the CODEPINK website. Follow the local chapter on Instagram @codepinkmke as they continue to help build a robust anti-war community in Milwaukee.
Jeske concludes, “On the other side of whatever we’re trying to struggle through, if we don’t have that community, then what are we struggling for in the first place?”
