The great thing about dressing up in pink is that its an action form appropriate for anything: dancing around in front of arms fairs where torture equipment is being made, commemorating the anniversary of a massive slaughter of the Iraqi people... Its all about having fun, fun, fun. And not to mention being creative (creativity being, of course, appearing at no point pissed off by the disgusting state of the world and encouraging every body to have a big happy smiling party) - it's bound to show the world how nice we are compared to those evil men in grey suits. One last thing, remember not to accidentally put across any political opinions. All banners should just have things like 'Samba' written on them or have some sort of joke about either pants or 'bush' (tee-hee).

Seriously now...

I think that the whole pink and silver thing worked really well in Prague and I've seen it work really well at street parties etc... BUT all tactics are NOT transferable to all situations. Sometimes dressing up silly and having a laugh just isn't appropriate (for example, on a demo to commemorate the start of a war, or outside a sick arms fair). Just as the 'black bloc' tactic, or sit down protests or whatever can be brilliant tactics they all have their limitations and are not to be something simply rolled out on every occassion. Sometimes frivolity can just be tasteless.

Remember the original slogan of the pink and silver crew was 'Tactical Frivolity' not Tactless Frivolity!

Having been involved in Pink/Pink Silver blocs since Prague, and recently in Lausanne I have come to the same conclusion. The tactic is great in some situations like mass mobilisations when there are loads of blocs, and during RTS style demos. But they are also stifling when used in certain situations. They become an excuse not to do anything more radical than jump around and look 'fun' and 'unthreatening'. And people often think Pink Silver means pacifist - this makes the tactic *totally* pointless; we should strive to be tactical with our use/non-use of violence as tool to get what we want.

The Germans I met in Lausanne informed me that they regularly have Pink & Black blocs, Silver and Black blocs, Green and Pink, etc. and everything else in between. This might well be the way forward. Another way forward is the black bloc - something that is often hurt by being stifled by Pink Silver, and a tactic that should develop further in Britain. Incidentally, Pink Silver worked really well side by side with a Black bloc in Lausanne, but that might be because it was composed mostly of anarchists/libertarians in both blocs.

Lets not be boring and keep ONLY to Pink Silver. As said in the above post, we should be tactical in our choice of tactics. I also agree that demonstrating about the invasion of Iraq in Pink Silver makes us look a bit silly. Why not save it for a different occaision?

Regardless, I hope it goes well - Respect.

CODEPINK is an international peace and social justice movement. It was started in the USA in November 2002 when women gathered to protest about their goverments proposed invasion of Iraq.

Today CODEPINK's areas of involvement include peacemaking and anti-militarism (peace delegations have been sent to Palestine/Israel, North and South Korea, Burma and Iraq), civil liberties, environmental sustainability, the encouragement of realistic and responsible media reporting, and 'life affirming' economic priorities ("books not bombs").

The name plays on the Bush administration's colour-coded security alerts. While Bush's alerts are based on fear the CODEPINK alert is based on compassion, and is a feisty call for men and women around the world to 'wage peace'.

On March 20th CODEPINK groups all around the world will be taking to the streets. In London we aim to raise awareness of the ongoing effects of the cluster munitions and depleted uranium that were used during the Iraq invasion. Many members of the British public consider that since the 'war is over' we're not killing people anymore. We'll be letting people know that Iraqi men, women and children will continue to be mutilated and killed, or suffer cancers and birth deformities for many years to come, because of the action taken by our government.

On the following day (Mothers Day in the UK) we will be holding a peace vigil in solidarity with the women and children of Iraq. (We encourage others to do the same in their own areas.) We will be focussing on some of the effects of the war on women and children. We will be highlighting the increased rates of child abduction (for ransom or for sale to brothels), the increased rates of the rape and murder ('honour killings') of women, and the likely effects of the IGC's proposed 'Resolution 137'.

Please support these actions if you can.

For more information about CODEPINK please see the website.

CODEPINK ain't the same as the uk samba bands or tactical frivolity :-)