Key Activists

   This list emphasizes US activists and people from other nations reporting on US power.

  

Benjamin, Medea

Activist organizer, known for high-profile demonstrations. She is a co-founder of Global Exchange and Code Pink.

Medea Benjamin began working through the establishment system to help people in need. She became disillusioned because she saw one of the basic problems to be poverty, and this was not something the establishment wanted to change.

She is best known for protests, but supports many important education projects as well. She is an excellent speaker. She emphasizes a positive, community approach with fellow activists. She speaks Spanish fluently.

Global Exchange Speaker: Medea Benjamin
Discover the Networks - Medea Benjamin
Medea Benjamin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Zinn, Howard

An anti-war author who emphasizes how the common person suffers throughout history and succeeds in fighting injustice. He is mainly known as a historian.

Zinn is one of the most important authors because of descriptions of US history and activism. He is rather the grandfather figure in the peace and social justice movement.

He is a WW II combat veteran and some of his cynicism of war comes from excessive and indiscriminate bombing at the end of the war.

HowardZinn.org
Howard Zinn's ZNet HomePage
Howard Zinn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Chomsky, Noam

An important critic of US international abuses and a prolific author. He is a professor of linguistics at MIT.

Noam Chomsky - SourceWatch
chomsky.info : The Noam Chomsky Website
Democracy Now! | Noam Chomsky: Why is Iraq Missing from 2008 Presidential Race?



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Sheehan, Cindy

Cindy Sheehan is an activist and critic of the US establishment. She was spurred on by the death of her son Casey Sheehan in Iraq. She testified to a Congressional panel about the war and later protested Bush at "Camp Casey" in Texas.

Cindy Sheehan has done a lot to get opposition to the Iraq occupation in the public eye, and she has been encouraging to many people. She is still learning about activism, however.

Her book Peace Mom is a good resource. She explains that she had to do a lot of self-study, and re-learn history, to find out how the world really works.

Cindy Sheehan For Congress : Index
YouTube - Cindy Sheehan and Friends push Pelosi to Impeach
Cindy Sheehan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Ritter, Scott

Scott Ritter is a former US marine and a leader of UN weapons inspections in Iraq while Saddam Hussein was in power. He spoke out against the US occupation of Iraq well before the US commenced its attack in 2003. His statements are some of the most important in documenting war crimes by Republicans as well as Democrats.

Scott writes and travels around the US. He is one of the most outspoken US conservatives against the war. He is often critical of the peace movement for not being organized. His view is that there should be a top down hierarchy, at least for some forms of activism. He describes these views in the book Waging Peace: The Art of War for the Antiwar Movement. It is derived from Sun Tzu's the Art of War. Though there is value in the book, it does not appeal to all activists.

Scott Ritter - SourceWatch
Scott Ritter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AlterNet: Blogs: Scott Ritter



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Cohn, Marjorie

Marjorie Cohn is an important US critic of the abuses of the Bush administration and the complicity of the legislative and executive branches. She is the president of the National Lawyers Guild and an excellent speaker.

Marjorie Cohn



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Solomon, Norman

Normal Solomon is an activist author focusing on propaganda used by W. Bush.

Norman Solomon
Norman Solomon - SourceWatch
Norman Solomon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Hayden, Tom

Tom Hayden was a reporter who became an activist politician in California. He has been influential on many people, though some activists disagree with his strategies.

Tom Hayden
Tom Hayden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Ellsberg, Daniel

Ellsberg is a former marine officer and employee of the executive branch who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" to show the lies of the Vietnam War. He is a strong critic of the Bush administration.

ellsberg.net
Daniel Ellsberg - SourceWatch
Daniel Ellsberg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Evans, Jodie

Jodie Evans was a key organizer of Camp Casey, the protest in honor of Cindy Sheehan's son. She is a core organizer for Code Pink.

CODEPINK : Jodie Evans
AlterNet: Author: Jodie Evans



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Penn, Sean

An actor who has starred in many serious films. He played a soldier who went over the edge in the semi-fictional Casualties of War film set in Vietnam. He is a serious activist off set. He has reported on the occupation of Iraq, joined the Hurricane Katrina rescue, and spoken at political events.

Sean Penn - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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Mancias, Nancy

Nancy Mancias is a key Code Pink activist. She works for Global Exchange in San Francisco. She travels with both Code Pink and Global Exchange.

Global Exchange Speaker: Nancy Mancias
CODEPINK Women for Peace: Report From Miami-Nancy Mancias



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Baez, Joan

A popular folk singer who opposed the Vietnam War and has supported events opposing the Iraq occupation such as Camp Casey.

Though generally thought of as a folk singer, she also collaborated with composer Peter Schickele. This included the anti-war album Baptism in which Joan Baez reads poems translated from Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese.

The Joan Baez Web Pages
Joan Baez - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



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(C) 2008 Kevin Pardo