Code Pink: Women speak out for peace

It was a night of fine dining and feisty discussion. With the possibility of an attack on Iraq looming heavily in the minds of many, women from across the Philadelphia region -- including many Penn students and faculty -- gathered together within the dimly lit confines of the White Dog Cafe for White Dog's Table Talk entitled, "Code Pink: Women for Peace." Sporting a bright pink cardigan on top of an equally bright pink shirt, keynote speaker Medea Benjamin, the co-founding director of Code Pink -- an organization that aims to bring women from all over the world together in an anti-war effort -- spoke to a full crowd last night about her recent trip to Iraq and on the role of women in the peace movement. But it wasn't just women who came out for the talk. Women of all ages along with a handful of men sat in intimate groups around candlelit tables to listen to Benjamin recount her experience in Iraq with a group of American women whose purpose was to express their camaraderie and sympathetic spirit with the Iraqi people. "It was amazing how absolutely open and loving the Iraqi people were," Benjamin stated. "I was blown away by that kind of reception." Benjamin urged compassion and humanity, sprinkling her message with anecdotes of the Iraqi people's innocent reactions to the women in pink. Benjamin recalled one night during the trip when the Code Pink women entered a music club only to find an all-male crowd and decided, "Let's push it a little more and get up and dance!" When the gasps and laughter from the White Dog audience subsided, Benjamin continued, "They loved it.... They were clapping and cheering." But these tales of humor soon gave way to deeper discussions of the frailty that lay beneath the surface of the Iraqi citizens. "The Iraqi people are really feeling abandoned," Benjamin claimed. "They know that the economic pressure is so great." Benjamin's urge to stop the war along with her inspiring tales struck a chord of admiration and invigoration in the audience. President and founder of the White Dog Cafe Judy Wicks opened the event with a call to action herself. "It's like being witness to a murder," Wicks declared. "We have a responsibility to drop everything we're doing and to stop it." The Table Talk sessions, which occur twice a month at the White Dog Cafe on 34th and Sansom streets, attract members from all corners of the community with a drive to discuss public issues. "I like what Judy Wicks does here," Philadelphia local Loretta Dunne said. "I've always supported it." But most of the other members of the discussion were in attendance for other reasons. "I'm concerned with the environment and the civilization continuing," Penn alum Kitsie Converse said. "When you can negotiate and when you can get people to communicate... the pen is mightier than the sword." In response to a question regarding the use of the color pink, Benjamin responded, "It stands out.... We are gutsy kinds of women doing gutsy kinds of things."