Capitol Hills Most Unwanted
“My mother always told me the first sentence I ever said was, ‘I can do it myself.’” — Medea Benjamin
Born on September 10, 1952, in Long Island, New York, Medea Benjamin began her activism as a teenager protesting the Vietnam War. She later worked as an economist and nutritionist for the UN and WHO, before co-founding the international human rights group Global Exchange in 1988.
After 9/11, in response to the Bush administration’s “Code Red” alert, she co-founded CodePink, a women-led peace organization challenging U.S. militarism. Medea and CodePink have since traveled to conflict zones including Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Cuba, offering aid and standing against U.S. interventions.
She is also the author of 11 books, including Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, the first comprehensive analysis that dissects the machinery of empire and reveals the human cost of war.
In Washington, D.C., CodePink remains a daily presence in the halls of Congress — met with hostility, arrests, and intimidation. Yet despite it all, Medea continues her fearless fight to dismantle the U.S. war machine.
