• • • • Granny Peace Brigade • • • •

Dear friends,

August 26th is the 2nd day of the Democratic National Convention.
August 26th is the day the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. August 26th has become known as Women’s Equality Day but what does equality mean in a world of endless war? What does equality mean in a world without peace for without peace there can be no development of the economic, social, political structures necessary for any true equality. Equality for millions to be bombed to death in Iraq? Equality to starve in the US, equality to be homeless in the US because that is the equality women and their families in the US face today because ten billion dollars a month is squandered in an illegal war and occupation of Iraq.

We grandmothers have marched, trekked, sat in, sat down, protested, demonstrated, by foot and by bus we trekked to ten different cities and eventually wound up in DC where we personally met with 100 senators urging, pleading, cajoling, asking them to end the war in Iraq and still the killing goes on. It is a false patriotism that waves a flag and lures over 4000 of our finest and bravest young men and women to their deaths.

That is why we of the Granny Peace Brigade march today with our Platform for Peace with our Planks that differ from the planks in Denver.

Five years of war is too much.
Five years is enough.

NO TO WAR
YES TO PEACE
TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ NOW
CONTRACTORS OUT OF IRAQ
DON’T ATTACK IRAN
RECRUITERS OUT OF SCHOOLS
NO MORE FOREIGN BASES
NO NUKES

-Vinie Burrows

BEWARE THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX:  Granny Peace Brigade Planksters take to the streets and run into a corporate buzz-saw.

A special memo to Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, & Brian Williams.

While we Grannies are deeply troubled by the loss of journalistic integrity, we still have hopes that this once proud profession can be restored to former glory and we’re always more than happy to lend a helping hand to our friends in the Fourth Estate.  We think you all do try to resist the pulls and pressures of your corporate masters at NBC/MSNBC — specifically those folks from General Electric.  In fact, we had our own confrontation with some representatives from your parent company today and knowing how busy you all are out in Denver, we wanted to fill you in.

This morning at 10AM the Granny Peace Brigade, with assistance from our dear friend, legendary civil rights & civil liberties lawyer, Norman Siegel, and members of the Raging Grannies, Grandmothers Against the War and Veterans Against the War, rallied at the Military Recruitment Center at Times Square to hold a press conference and then walk our ‘peace planks’ to the NYC headquarters of the Democratic National Convention.

It is our intention to keep a program for peace and smart, effective diplomacy on the front political burner and today is one of many actions we will be staging in the weeks leading up to the election.

The Times Square Recruitment Center is the birthplace of the Granny Peace Brigade, so we have a certain proprietary interest in what happens here.  Imagine our delight when we arrived this morning to find a built-in crowd — the place was crawling with youngsters in red polo shirts, passing out promotional materials.  Brightly colored laundry was strung high above Times Square and looming in front of the recruitment center were two huge inflated red cubes that we were informed were meant to replicate a new generation of GE “Profile” appliances — in this case, a clothes washer and dryer.

As we started to assemble on the north portion of the area for our own action, we started to get some fishy looks from some of the ’suits’ in charge of the GE event.

We are not going to dignify the conduct of these corporate representatives with exact quotes.  Suffice to say they were unpleasant and in a couple of instances abusive.  In the eyes of these people, it appears that commerce trumps the right to peaceful assembly.  A little constitutional awareness and sensitivity training might be something GE might want to incorporate into their employee training.  While the NYPD officers at the scene found no reason to curtail our action, the GE reps were thoroughly outraged.  Someone needs to explain the concept of ‘public space’ to these people.  As we marched off with our banners, planks and signs, a few of the reps went out of their way to make our exit less than smooth, and a couple of them engaged in some rather unpleasant verbiage.  Strong opinions and criticism is something we grannies are used to, however it doesn’t often come wrapped in a corporate logo.

But speaking of logos — part of the corporate swag getting passed out today were big red tote bags with the familiar GE monogram and the legend: “fuhgeddaboudit”.  After we finished up at DNC headquarters, we took a look at the stuff in the bottom of the bag.  We found some free samples and a pamphlet describing the new appliances that GE is promoting so heavily.  It seems this handsome laundry room pair has been manufactured to Energy Star standards - certainly a good thing - however, the other distinguishing innovation is that the new GE ‘Profile’ washer can store up to six months worth of laundry detergent.  Now that’s something that should truly enhance the quality of life for generations to come.  And for this convenience, the price tag is a mere $3466!  We grannies would like to remind GE that the very best way to reduce our carbon footprint is to reduce what we buy.  $3466 for a washer/dryer duo?  Like it says on the tote bag, FUHGEDDABOUTIT!

Okay, Rachel, Chris, Keith & Brian — work hard, work true and stop by at one of our actions.

The Granny Peace Brigade is on the move and we’ll let you know when we are in your neighborhood.

- Frans Sears
- photos Eva-Lee Baird

On July 31 members of CodePink NYC, the Granny Peace Brigade and the American Friends Service Committee held a tripartite demonstration in Foley Square, NYC. The AFSC brought material on the cost of war. The Granny Peace Brigade brought the Phone-A-Thon kit with flyers about H. Con. Res. 362* - the resolution gearing up for war on Iran. (Does anyone know who wrote H. CON. RES. 362? Not who sponsored it, but who wrote it which might not be the same person.)

CodePink brought shoes. Children’s shoes. My grandchildren’s outgrown shoes are in this “Walk in Their Shoes” display. Although it was a grim donation to make, my daughter gave the shoes with an open heart.

I can’t find my grandson’s shoes in the display but my granddaughter’s stand out. They are pink and very beat up after many trips to the playground, but the sparkles woven into the cloth still shine. There is a paper tag tied to them. On the tag is the name of a three-year-old Iraqi girl who was killed in the war. There is a tag with the name and age of an Iraqi victim on every pair of shoes in the display.

Stepping away from the phone-a-thon table from time to time to look at the “Walk in Their Shoes” display I pointed out my granddaughter’s shoes to passersby. I wondered aloud if the grandmother survived the event that took the child. I don’t have to wonder very much about a surviving grandmother’s agony.

Foley Square is a hurried place, not the best for a phone-a-thon, but the shoes caused busy people to stop in their tracks.

People took the time talk about the issues and some also made calls to their Representatives right then and there.

Tapping into hidden reserves of compassion and inspiring people to act - “Walk in Their Shoes” does that.

- Eva-Lee Baird, text and photos

* On August 1, 2008 261 Representatives were co-sponsoring H. Con. Res. 362 “Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East…” Who wrote this dreadful piece of work? The four below have withdrawn.
Rep Davis, Danny K. [IL-7] - 6/3/2008(withdrawn - 7/30/2008)
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] - 6/10/2008(withdrawn - 7/22/2008)
Rep Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1] - 6/11/2008(withdrawn - 7/22/2008)
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 6/17/2008(withdrawn - 7/9/2008)

For 40 years civil liberties attorney and champion advocate for the public, Norman Siegel has observed the Fourth of July by reading the Declaration of Independence and selections from the US Constitution with an emphasis on the Bill of Rights.

Last year for the first time he was joined by members of the Granny Peace Brigade in Strawberry Fields, Central Park to read sections of these documents aloud. We were back again this year joined by Grandmothers Against the War, CodePink and Reverend Billy to honor the good principles in these founding documents: free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal protection under the law, and due process of the law.

Norman Siegel reading the Declaration of Independence
Photo - Richard Leigh

Joan Wile assisted by Jonathan Tasini reading a poem by Yoko Ono
Photo - Richard Leigh

Jenny Heinz reading the Bill of Rights
Photo - Richard Leigh

State Senator Bill Perkins reading the Bill of Rights
Photo - Richard Leigh

Molly Klopot reading the Bill of Rights
Photo - Richard Leigh

Listening to Molly
Photo - Richard Leigh

Laura Newman a member of Reverend Billy’s Church of Stop Shopping Choir belting out the 1st Amendment
Photo - Richard Leigh

Thank you, Norman Siegel
Photo - Richard Leigh

We’ve got a lot of work to do to move this country in a better direction. Hope to see you in the streets.

- Eva-Lee Baird

“Everyone loves a parade”…onlookers and people near-by were drawn like magnets by the music. Merchants, shoppers, and many folks along the way gave the peace sign, thumbs-up, and thanked us. At times we stopped and sang along with the Raging Grannies - our message on this day in the words of Julia Ward Howe: “Disarm, Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of Justice!”

Photo - Bud

Under sunny skies, about two hundred people met at the Merchants Gate at Columbus Circle for this year’s Mother’s Day Peace stroll. Led by Charlie Keil’s mobile horn section with the Raging Grannies bringing up the rear, we stepped off for a festive walk up the West Side of Manhattan, through the Craft Fair outside the Natural History Museum. Along the route, we handed out 1,000 pink flyers about Mother’s Day for Peace with information on the Collateral Repair Project. We stopped several times to read Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Peace Proclamation, and paused for two minutes of silence for the casualties of the Iraq War and Occupation, before heading across Central Park. We ended with a final reading of the proclamation on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum. We thank all the mothers, grandmothers, daughters, granddaughters, musicians, percussionists, partners, friends and spouses who joined us to make Mother’s Day a meaningful day for peace.

- Phyllis Cunningham & Nancy Kricorian

Spread the message, “War is never a solution.”

Most people think that Mother’s Day was a holiday invented by Hallmark to sell more cards. But, in fact, Mother’s Day for Peace was instituted in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe as a response to the carnage of the Civil War. She called on women to come together to commemorate their dead and find “the means whereby the great human family can live in peace…” This Mother’s Day, take a lively stroll with CODEPINK WOMEN FOR PEACE and the GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE, lead by a marching band. Bring your mothers, lovers, partners, friends, children, and grandparents. Share the original meaning of Mother’s Day by handing out leaflets bearing Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation to the mothers and others that we pass along the way. We will make several stops to read the proclamation. We will definitely join the Raging Grannies and Their Daughters as they break into song along the route.

Meet: at Columbus Circle (59th St. & Broadway) by the statue
When: Sunday, May 11, at 11 a.m. (we will step off 11:15) Stroll for as long as you wish.

Route: up Broadway to 66th Street, right to Columbus Avenue, up Columbus, through the flea/farmer’s market at 77th Street, to the Columbus Avenue Mother’s Day Art Fair around the American Museum of Natural History. We will read the proclamation on the steps of the museum, and then go through the park. We’ll finish at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Bring: banners, signs of peace, noisemakers (not whistles) if you wish.
Attire: pink and/or festive

We will supply leaflets and a small strolling band.

Mothers Day 2007 - Photo: Sarie Teichman

We hope you will join our MOTHER’S DAY PEACE parade. If it rains, the parade is cancelled, but we WILL proceed under cloudy skies.

- Joan Pleune, Jenny Heinz, Dana Balicki

Just back from the Cheney demo. It was OK - The Fossella group stayed behind the barriers and across the street from 740 Park Ave.

CodePink and Granny Peace Brigade would have none of that - went to the Park Ave. meridian to catch traffic going both ways. After a discussion of our rights, the police froze the zone - for all pedestrians - and we went to a corner of 71st St. Noticing pedestrians walking across, we went into plan B and decided to slowly walk across Park Ave, briefly remaining on the center median. Back and forth. This annoyed the police. When requested to go to the permitted area, we decided to go to 72nd St.

Stood on the meridian until the secret service informed us that we were loitering and had to keep moving. We realized that slowly walking back and forth across Park Ave was pretty effective. Caught many more pedestrians and lots of cross traffic. We were about 6 women and lots of pink.

- Barbara Harris
- photos, Eva-Lee Baird

What is the opposite of violence?
Weeks before taking action the Granny Peace Brigade met to discuss how to mark the first day of the 6th year of the occupation of Iraq. Someone mentioned the possibility of knitting stump socks for the returning amputee vets. We knew a women who did exactly that at the weekly Grandmothers Against the War vigil in Rockefeller Center. Do I remember correctly that as soon as the suggestion was spoken aloud it swept around our meeting room like a wave? What made this action capture our imaginations and then touch the hearts of so many strangers young and old?

Did the stereotype of sweet little old ladies amuse or was there more; perhaps the “feminist ethics of care” as James David wrote on the Groundswell Blog.

Grannies vs. generals; slow, manual creation vs. fast, technological destruction — this is not just non-violence, but perhaps an opposite of violence.

For some of us knitting stump socks created a visceral feeling of connection with the injured. What got me started was the horror of the injuries that might require stump socks and rage at my government for dragging so many people into misery and death. The idea of being constructive wasn’t foremost in my consciousness at the time but it was lurking down in the shadows and I thank James David for shining a light.

On a practical note, knitting being very, very, very repetitive illustrated our doggedness, our determination to continue to work for peace. We will not go away.

- Eva-Lee Baird

On March 19th 2008, about 75 people from various and no organizations came together at Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC to begin a March of the Dead, in commemoration of the million plus Iraqis, Afghanis and military killed in the United States War of Terror on civilian populations. After pausing to read names of the dead at the Vietnam Memorial, they moved slowly through the streets of the city, stopping at such war crime headquarters as State Department and Blackwater in expressions of mourning. The Dead created an ‘endless war’ meditation circle at the White House, to mark the site of preparation of these crimes, eventually walking through torrents of rain to the (In)Justice Department. Later in the day, hundreds gathered at the Reflecting Pool to continue the procession. Mourners in “plainclothes” followed behind the Dead, accompanied by the Capitol Police. Near the Capitol, the procession, now over 300 in number, moved in concentric circles in the street, bringing rush hour traffic to a standstill. In the center of the circle, a tableau formed, with the Dead freezing in positions of sorrow. Thirty four were arrested, including several Granny Peace Brigadiers.

YouTube video “March of the Dead”

- Ann Shirazi

The news we were dreading came. The death toll had reached 4,000. We were drawn to vigils on Monday and Tuesday evenings to call attention to this, the most horrible cost of war - the numbered deaths of U.S. troops and the countless deaths of Iraqis.

On Monday Grandmothers Against the War held a vigil at at the regular vigil site — west side of 5th Ave. between 49th and 50th. There are photos and video at Gamma Blog. On Tuesday, in Union square there was a vigil organized by United for Peace and Justice and the American Friends Service Committee. We will not be silent.