Medea Benjamin
Encyclopedia
Medea Benjamin is an American political activist
, best known for co-founding Code Pink
and, along with her husband, activist and author Kevin Danaher
, fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange
. Benjamin also was a Green Party candidate in 2000 for the United States Senate
.
The Los Angeles Times
has described her as "one of the high profile leaders" of the peace movement and in 1999, San Francisco Magazine included her on its "power list" of the "60 Players Who Rule the Bay Area
."
, New York, a self-described "nice Jewish girl." During her freshman year at Tufts University
, she renamed herself after the Greek mythological
character Medea
. She received master's degrees in public health from Columbia University
and in economics from The New School
.
Benjamin worked for 10 years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America
and Africa
for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
, the World Health Organization
, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy. She spent four years in Cuba
, and has authored three books on the country.
, her husband, and Kirsten Moller, Benjamin co-founded the San Francisco-based Global Exchange
, which advocates fair trade
alternatives to corporate globalization. She is a co-founder of the left-wing feminist
anti-war
group Code Pink: Women for Peace, which advocates an end to the Iraq War, the prevention of future wars, and social justice
. Benjamin has also been involved with the anti-war organization United for Peace and Justice
.
on the Green Party ticket from California
, basing her campaign on such issues as a living wage
, education
, and universal healthcare; she garnered 3 percent of the vote. Since then she has remained active in the Green Party and has also supported efforts by the Progressive Democrats of America
.
She is a member of the Liberty Tree
Board of Advisers.
In an October 8, 2009, radio interview, Benjamin argued that the United States needs to help establish what amounts to a new civil society in Iraq, i.e., one in which social equity prevails, before leaving.
From 2002 to 2009, Benjamin engaged in numerous protest actions in which she shouted slogans, displayed banners, or both during events involving U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
; U.S. President George W. Bush
; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
; and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
, among others. Benjamin engaged in similar protest actions at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
and the 2004 Republican National Convention
. On December 4, 2007, she was arrested by plainclothes police in Lahore
, Pakistan
, detained by the ISI
for eight hours, and deported after protesting the house arrest
of lawyers (including Aitzaz Ahsan
). In 2009, Benjamin joined the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March
.
criticism for her support of Hugo Chavez
and her attacks on the U.S. embargo of Fidel Castro
's Cuba
. David Horowitz's FrontPageMag attacked her as "a long-time Castro acolyte," and wrote:
due to remarks during 1999's anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle which seemed to suggest that "anarchists
" who engaged in property destruction should have been arrested by the police. Benjamin herself says that this is not the correct interpretation:
Todd Chretien
, a leading member of the International Socialist Organization
, responded:
activist Marla Ruzicka
, later killed in Iraq in a widely-publicized suicide bombing, over Ruzicka's decision to work with the U.S. military to secure compensation for the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan
. Benjamin said:
s." Regarding the killing of bin Laden, she says "Let us not sink into a false sense of triumphalism in the wake of Bin Laden's passing."
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, best known for co-founding Code Pink
Code Pink
Code Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
and, along with her husband, activist and author Kevin Danaher
Kevin Danaher (activist)
Kevin Danaher is an author and anti-globalization activist. With his wife Medea Benjamin and activist Kirsten Irgens-Moller, he co-founded Global Exchange, a social justice and anti-globalization non-governmental organization based in San Francisco, California. He is the founder and executive...
, fair trade advocacy group Global Exchange
Global Exchange
Global Exchange is an advocacy group and non-governmental organization , based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice around the world.-History:...
. Benjamin also was a Green Party candidate in 2000 for the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
has described her as "one of the high profile leaders" of the peace movement and in 1999, San Francisco Magazine included her on its "power list" of the "60 Players Who Rule the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
."
Early life
Benjamin grew up in Long IslandLong Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York, a self-described "nice Jewish girl." During her freshman year at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
, she renamed herself after the Greek mythological
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
character Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
. She received master's degrees in public health from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and in economics from The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
.
Benjamin worked for 10 years as an economist and nutritionist in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
, the World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
, the Swedish International Development Agency, and the Institute for Food and Development Policy. She spent four years in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and has authored three books on the country.
Organizations
In 1988 with Kevin DanaherKevin Danaher (activist)
Kevin Danaher is an author and anti-globalization activist. With his wife Medea Benjamin and activist Kirsten Irgens-Moller, he co-founded Global Exchange, a social justice and anti-globalization non-governmental organization based in San Francisco, California. He is the founder and executive...
, her husband, and Kirsten Moller, Benjamin co-founded the San Francisco-based Global Exchange
Global Exchange
Global Exchange is an advocacy group and non-governmental organization , based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice around the world.-History:...
, which advocates fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
alternatives to corporate globalization. She is a co-founder of the left-wing feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
group Code Pink: Women for Peace, which advocates an end to the Iraq War, the prevention of future wars, and social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
. Benjamin has also been involved with the anti-war organization United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice
United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1,300 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building."...
.
Politics
In 2000, Benjamin ran for the United States SenateUnited States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on the Green Party ticket from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, basing her campaign on such issues as a living wage
Living wage
In public policy, a living wage is the minimum hourly income necessary for a worker to meet basic needs . These needs include shelter and other incidentals such as clothing and nutrition...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, and universal healthcare; she garnered 3 percent of the vote. Since then she has remained active in the Green Party and has also supported efforts by the Progressive Democrats of America
Progressive Democrats of America
The Progressive Democrats of America is a progressive political organization and grassroots political action committee operating inside the United States Democratic Party.-History:...
.
She is a member of the Liberty Tree
Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution
Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution is an American non-governmental organization "rooted in the belief that the American Revolution is a living tradition whose greatest promise is democracy." Their purpose is to foster a broad-based democracy movement in the United States...
Board of Advisers.
In an October 8, 2009, radio interview, Benjamin argued that the United States needs to help establish what amounts to a new civil society in Iraq, i.e., one in which social equity prevails, before leaving.
Protest actions
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
; U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
; U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
; and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...
, among others. Benjamin engaged in similar protest actions at the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...
and the 2004 Republican National Convention
2004 Republican National Convention
The 2004 Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Republican Party of the United States, took place from August 30 to September 2, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York...
. On December 4, 2007, she was arrested by plainclothes police in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, detained by the ISI
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
for eight hours, and deported after protesting the house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
of lawyers (including Aitzaz Ahsan
Aitzaz Ahsan
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan is a Pakistani lawmaker, barrister, and politician from Pakistan's People's Party who served as President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.-Early life and education:...
). In 2009, Benjamin joined the steering committee for the Gaza Freedom March
Gaza Freedom March
Gaza Freedom March was a non-violent political march to end the blockade of the Gaza Strip., planned to depart on 31 December from Izbet Abed Rabbo, an area devastated during Operation Cast Lead, and head towards Erez, the crossing point to Israel at the northern end of the Gaza Strip.More than...
.
Support for Cuba
For example, Benjamin has drawn conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
criticism for her support of Hugo Chavez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
and her attacks on the U.S. embargo of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. David Horowitz's FrontPageMag attacked her as "a long-time Castro acolyte," and wrote:
WTO protest violence
Benjamin is unpopular among some in the anti-globalization movementAnti-globalization movement
The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalisation movement, is critical of the globalization of corporate capitalism. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist movement, anti-corporate globalization movement, or...
due to remarks during 1999's anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle which seemed to suggest that "anarchists
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
" who engaged in property destruction should have been arrested by the police. Benjamin herself says that this is not the correct interpretation:
Anybody But Bush
Benjamin has been criticized by some Greens for her support for "Anybody But Bush" in 2004. Explaining why she supported this movement, she said:Todd Chretien
Todd Chretien
Todd Chretien , an American activist. Chretien is a leading member of the International Socialist Organization. He was the Green Party candidate for United States Senate in California in 2006.-Background:...
, a leading member of the International Socialist Organization
International Socialist Organization
The International Socialist Organization is a revolutionary socialist organization in the United States that identifies with the politics of International Socialism, a current of Trotskyism, and the Marxist political tradition that American socialist writer and activist Hal Draper called...
, responded:
Marla Ruzicka
Benjamin had a falling out with her former close friend, San Francisco Bay AreaSan Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
activist Marla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka
Marla Ruzicka was an activist-turned-aid worker. She believed that combatant governments had a legal and moral responsibility to compensate the families of civilians killed or injured in military conflicts....
, later killed in Iraq in a widely-publicized suicide bombing, over Ruzicka's decision to work with the U.S. military to secure compensation for the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Benjamin said:
Views on US involvement in Middle East
Benjamin writes in the Huffington Post that the United States never had any "justification for invading Iraq", that there is no "justification for continuing the war in Afghanistan", and that in Pakistan, the US "drone attacks are only fueling the violence and creating more Osama Bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
s." Regarding the killing of bin Laden, she says "Let us not sink into a false sense of triumphalism in the wake of Bin Laden's passing."
Books
- Benedita Da Silva: An Afro-Brazilian Woman's Story of Politics and Love (1997). With Benedita da SilvaBenedita da SilvaBenedita Souza da Silva Sampaio, is a Brazilian politician. During her life she faced a lot of prejudice for her humble origin, but she overcame the adversities and was Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro and, later, Minister of State in the Government of Luiz Inacio Lula da...
and Maisa Mendonca. Institute for Food and Development Policy. ISBN 0935028706 - Bridging the Global Gap: A Handbook to Linking Citizens of the First and Third Worlds (1989). With Andrea Freedman. Global Exchange Seven Locks Press. ISBN 0932020739
- Cuba: Talking About Revolution: Conversations with Juan Antonio Blanco (1996). With Juan Antonio Blanco. Inner Ocean Publishing. ISBN 1875284974
- Don't Be Afraid, Gringo: A Honduran Woman Speaks From The Heart: The Story of Elvia AlvaradoElvia AlvaradoElvia Alvarado is a Honduran human rights activist who has been involved in several peasant organizations.She became a social activist through the Catholic Church, and organized women in the city to become nurses to distribute food to malnourished children...
(1989). Harper PerennialHarper PerennialHarper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers. Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint founded by Harper & Row in 1964...
. ISBN 006097205X - Greening of the Revolution: Cuba's Experiment with Organic Agriculture (1995). With Peter Rossett. Ocean Press. ISBN 187528480X
- How to Stop the Next War Now: Effective Responses to Violence and Terrorism (2005). As editor, with Jodie Evans. Inner Ocean Publishing. ISBN 1930722494
- I, senator: How, together, we transformed the state of California and the United States (2000). Green Press.
- No Free Lunch: Food and Revolution in Cuba Today (1989). With Joseph Collins and Michael Scott. Princeton University PressPrinceton University Press-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...
. ISBN 0935028528 - The Peace Corps and More: 175 Ways to Work, Study and Travel at Home & Abroad (1997). With Miya Rodolfo-Sioson. Global Exchange Seven Locks Press. ISBN 0929765044
See also
- Global ExchangeGlobal ExchangeGlobal Exchange is an advocacy group and non-governmental organization , based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group's mission is to promote human rights and social, economic, and environmental justice around the world.-History:...
- Code PinkCode PinkCode Pink: Women for Peace is an anti-war group that is mainly composed of women. It has regional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, and Washington, D.C., and many more chapters in the U.S. as well as several in other countries...
- United for Peace and JusticeUnited for Peace and JusticeUnited for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1,300 international and U.S.-based organizations opposed to "our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building."...
- Progressive Democrats of AmericaProgressive Democrats of AmericaThe Progressive Democrats of America is a progressive political organization and grassroots political action committee operating inside the United States Democratic Party.-History:...