After serving in the Georgia Legislature, in 1992, McKinney won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. She was the first African-American woman from Georgia in the U.S. Congress. She was the first Member of Congress to demand an investigation of the events of 9/11/2001. McKinney was criticized and as a result, she was defeated in 2002; however, she ran again and was re-elected in 2004.



In 2005, McKinney was a vocal critic of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Cynthia introduced legislation to release documents related to the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tupac Shakur. She was the first Member of Congress to file articles of impeachment against George W. Bush; and she voted against every war-funding bill put before her. In 2008, Cynthia McKinney won the Green Party nomination and ran for U.S. President.

In December 2008, Cynthia made international headlines when her boat was rammed by the Israeli military as she was attempting to deliver medical supplies to Gaza. In 2009, Cynthia attempted to reach Gaza again, this time armed with crayons, coloring books, and school supplies. Her boat was overtaken in international waters by the Israeli military and she was kidnapped to Israel. Cynthia spent 7 days in an Israeli prison. Finally, Cynthia entered Gaza by land in July 2009 with George Galloway's Viva Palestina.

Cynthia completed a cross-country bicycle ride with Bike4Peace 2010. In August 2011, Cynthia visited 21 cities to end the bombing of Libya. More recently, Cynthia participated in Malaysia’s Perdana Peace Organization and served as a Juror on the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

In 2015, Cynthia completed her dissertation on the transformational leadership of Hugo Chavez and was awarded a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change.

Cynthia’s Books:
a) Illegal War on Libya, Clarity Press, 2012
b) Ain't Nothing Like Freedom, Clarity Press, 2013

Cynthia’s Chapters and Articles
a) Chapter: "Libya, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine: Another War Based on Lies, Pretexts, and Profiteering?"
in Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony risks World War III, edited by Stephen Lendman. Clarity Press, 2014.
b) Article: "Je ne sais pas qui je suis: Making Sense of Tragedies Like the Charlie Hebdo Incident When the Government Narrative Doesn't Make Sense," Plymouth Institute for Peace Research, 21 March, 2015.
c) Chapter: "Hugo Chavez: Liderazgo para Venezuela; Liderazgo para el Caribe," El ALBA-TCP: Origen y fruto del nuevo regionalismo latinoamericano y caribeño, Maribel Aponte García. Gloria Amézquita. [Compiladoras]. 2015. 
d)  Chapter:  "Ubuntu:  Beyond Domestic and Global Disorder" in the forthcoming book, The Courage to Hope:  World Beyond Global Disorder.