Jodie Evans

Jodie Evans

Jodie Evans (born September 22, 1954) is a political activist, author, and documentary film producer. She characterizes her activism as working for peace and justice, environmental causes and women’s rights. She has traveled extensively promoting what she terms the conflict resolution by peaceful means—including leading "citizen diplomacy" delegations to Iran, the Gaza Strip, and Afghanistan.^[1][2][3][4] She served in California Governor Jerry Brown’s cabinet and managed his 1992 campaign for the presidency.^[5] She also became a co-founder of the women's activist organization, Code Pink. Evans currently serves as the chairperson of the board of the Women's Media Center, an organization that describes its goals as working to amplify the voices of women in the media through advocacy, media and leadership training, and creation of original content.

She was married to Max Palevsky until his death and currently lives in Venice, California.

Early life

Evans was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. She first became interested in what she terms social justice activism when she worked as a maid in a major Las Vegas hotel as a teenager—as her coworkers organized, she marched in favor of what she termed a living wage.^[6]

Controversies

Her Code Pink protest actions include disrupting Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention in 2008,^[7][8] and, in 2009, leading a protest in Santa Monica against Israeli cosmetics company Ahava.^[9] Upon returning from Afghanistan, she delivered signatures from women in that country and the US to President Obama asking him to send no new troops into the conflict there.^[10][11] In March, 2010, during a book signing by Karl Rove, she and other Code Pink members caused disruptions. At one point, Evans charged the stage towards Rove with a pair of handcuffs, declaring that she was making a citizen's arrest.^[12]

In the summer of 2010, controversy arose over Evans' alleged 2008 remark to Debbie Lee, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq that “Your son deserved to die in Iraq if he was stupid enough to go over there.” ^[13] Republican candidate Meg Whitman repeated this charge in her 2010 California gubernatorial campaign, demanding that Jerry Brown return money from a fundraiser that Evans hosted. Later during the controversy, Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle that she could not identify Evans and was not sure who made the insulting remark.^[14]

On January 30, 2011, Evans was arrested for disruptive behavior at a Rancho Mirage hotel where she was leading a protest against David H. Koch and Charles G. Koch over their financial support of part of the Tea Party Movement.^[15]

Films

• Stripped and Teased: Tales from Las Vegas Women (1999)^[16]
• The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends (2006)^[17]
• South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete Desert (2008)^[18]
• The People Speak (2009) ^[19]
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers (2009) ^[20]
• Rooted in Peace (2012) ^[21]
• We Are Many (2013) ^[22]
• The Yes Men Are Revolting (2014) ^[23]
• Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (Interview) (2013) ^[24]
• The Square (2013 film) ^[25]
• This Changes Everything (2015) ^[26]
• The Brainwashing of my Dad (2015) ^[27]

Organizations and boards

Evans is a member of a number of organizations and boards including:

• CODEPINK: Women for Peace (Co-founder) ^[28]
• Drug Policy Alliance ^[29]
• Rainforest Action Network ^[30]
• Institute for Policy Studies ^[31]
• World Festival of Sacred Music ^[32]
• 826LA ^[33]
• Office of the Americas ^[34]
• Sisterhood is Global Institute ^[35]
• Women's Media Center ^[36]
• Global Girl Media ^[37]

Interviews

Interview with The Progressive Magazine
Interview on Women's Spaces Radio Programme
Interview on KCRW's Scheer Intelligence

Awards

• Levantine Cultural Center 2010 East-West Vision of Peace Award ^[38]

See also

• United for Peace and Justice
• Medea Benjamin
• List of peace activists

References