RUTH HUNTER ON THE RAGING GRANNIES

This story was written by Ruth in 1994 for the Santa Cruz WILPF newsletter, The Undaunted Dove.

The Santa Cruz Raging Grannies constitute the local version of a phenomenon that has swept over the United States and Canada in the past two decades, and is now getting a good toehold in several other countries.
They call themselves “gaggles,” senior women, who put on bright, but fusty, “old-lady” clothes, satirizing and utilizing the image of older women as stay-at-home cookie-bakers and knitters. Then they march out into the streets, the recruiting offices, missile plants, or any other venue they want to draw public attention to, and they sing their funny, satirical, sometimes profound political ditties, written to well-known popular and traditional songs.
Along with three other peace activists, seven
Raging Grannies were arrested at the Capitola Recruiting Center in late June, while trying to be “recruited into the Army to take the place of our children and grandchildren, and to offer our compassion and help to the women of Iraq,” according to Ellie Foster. Their cases were eventually dismissed, but since they plan to take other actions of civil disobedience to protest the Iraq and Afghanistan wars in the near future, they recently gave a concert in downtown Santa Cruz to raise money in case they need bail the next time that happens.
One of their songs, written by Sherry Conable, to the tune of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” declares that, “The Grannies went marching one by one, Hurrah, Hurrah/ They marched to the recruiting place, Hurrah, Hurrah/ Their message simply was “No War,” Please send us there, we’ll stop the gore/ And we’ll all be safe when the Grannies run the World!”
These gutsy women who wear outlandishly decorated hats, belong to the local branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, (WILPF),which works for social justice locally, nationally, and internationally. They gather weekly, when possible, to practice the songs, many of which are written by Jan Harwood. The women keep a sharp eye on the Bush Administration’s foreign and domestic policy. For instance, when there’s a flurry in Congress over domestic spying on the part of the federal government, including citizen phone calls, Harwood wasted no time writing a song–one of my favorites– written to the tune of “You’ll Never Talk Alone: “When you talk on the phone, Keep your chin up high/ and look for the bug in your room/ At the end of the line is a government spy/ Which at least it is wise to assume.” Although the Grannies’ songs are greeted with laughter for their humorous content, the underlying purpose is to educate the audience on issues that impact us all.
The concept of Raging Grannies, singing songs with political messages, originated in 1986, in Victoria, British Columbia. A peace group protested nuclear ships in Victoria Harbor. Shelley Madiros of the Alberta Views, writes, “Several peace activists who had been doing street theater, began dressing up in outrageous hats and singing satirical songs to protest nuclear submarines, uranium mining, nuclear power, militarism, racism, clear-cut logging and corporate greed. They were sometimes arrested but never taken to court. Raging Grannies quickly sprang up across Canada, all the way to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Each group changes the names of familiar tunes to suit their particular circumstances. Now there are gaggles of grannies all across Canada, the USA and in several other countries, Japan, Greece, the United Kingdom, Australia.”
Locally, the gaggle has about fifteen members, some of whom are “occasional” Grannies. The indefatigable song creator, Harwood, continues to build the collection, now numbering around fifty. In addition, she is working on a book, Raging and Roaring with the Santa Cruz WILPF Raging Grannies. The book, soon to be published, was the brain child of Pat Arnold, a Raging Granny and chair of the local branch of the United Nations Association.
Like many seniors who came to Santa Cruz to retire, Harwood writes, “Once you put on a flowered hat, an apron and tennis shoes, and march out into the street with a rolling pin, umbrella or large wooden mixing spoon, and begin caterwauling your head off about what is driving everyone crazy, you have instantly turned from being an invisible old person of no interest to anyone, to being the darling of the media and a hugely interesting entertainer of the people—a wise and wonderful human being.”
The popularity of the local Raging Grannies continues to increase. They have sung at many peace rallies, WILPF meetings, the main post office on Tax Day, April 15th, the Women’s Democratic Club, Town Clock, La Posada, and they even presented a special concert at the Crepe Place.
Recently, the songs have concentrated on the Iraq War. One in particular has a somber message that makes some listeners tearful. The tune is “Country Roads”: “Bring ‘em home, bring ‘em home/Bring em back where they belong/ They’re our children, Stop the killin’/ Bring ‘em home, bring ‘em home. /They have marched off to learn how to kill, and be killed/ Will they know how to love us/And be kind, and be kind?”
Many elders have said that these are the most difficult political times they have ever experienced. It doesn’t have to be a time of weapons and killing across the globe. There are nonviolent ways to create social change. Martin Luther King and Ghandi, among many others, have shown us that. The Raging Grannies seek peace through song and humor; their message is love and compassion.

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