• • • • Granny Peace Brigade • • • •

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

House Congressional Resolution 362 - sponsored by Rep. Ackerman and co-sponsored by NYC Reps. Towns, Fossella, Weiner, Maloney, & Engel - evokes disappointment, fury, and phone calls from constituents.

Let the word go forth: the good people of New York City aren’t one bit happy with the language and intent of this nasty piece of business*. On Thursday, August 7th, several Grannies, CodePink women and members of Brooklyn for Peace set up shop at Brooklyn Borough Hall to sound the alarm and ask constituents to call their representatives and the response was so terrific, we went back for an encore on August 15th. Once again, Brooklyn welcomed us. Calls were made, conversations were started, voters were registered,

and here are a few of the moments we’ll certainly remember:

• On the 15th, our first call is made by that Politically Endangered Species, a man in a suit! As faithful followers of the phone-a-thoners may recollect, this is not our strongest constituent base and we hope this is the start of a trend.
• Two women from Yvette Clark’s district, giddy with excitement when they discovered ‘their girl’ missing from the Wall of Shame. “You just tell her we love her to bits and we’re proud of her,” they tell her office.
• A man shakes his head over Rep.Towns’ support of H. Con. Res.362. “The man came to my church,” he says. “He seemed like such a good man. What’s happening here?” We wonder the same thing.
• A young couple, just married in Borough Hall, pose for their wedding portraits right near our table. We offer them our congratulations, Granny buttons and we register the bride…to vote!

• A young mom from Anthony Weiner’s district drops by. Her small son has autism and it is a full-time job getting him the support he needs. She calls Weiner’s office, tells the staffer she wants to register her distress at the congressman’s support of H. Con. Res. 362, and wants to see him front-burner domestic issues for ‘real people’. The office hangs up on her. Note to Rep. Weiner: you’ve got one very angry constituent on your hands — and she is not about to keep quiet.
• We are told that Rep. Edolphus Towns and members of his staff were covertly checking out our table. If indeed this was the case, we sure are disappointed he didn’t want to engage us in some discussion.

Next Tuesday at 10AM we’ll be rallying at the Times Square Recruitment Center for a press conference and then marching to the Democratic National Committee headquarters here in NYC to present our peace planks for the national platform. Come and join us! And stay tuned — we’ll be coming to a neighborhood near you!

- Fran Sears
- photos, Eva-Lee Baird

*information on House Congressional Resolution #362

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)

Nine of us here today. It’s hot in the sun, but the terrible heat of earlier in the week has lifted. We set up a table in the shade of a tree. We’re ready to meet people as they come along, up from the subway or across the square during a lunch break. We have our quarter-sheets to hand out, giving people the facts and the numbers to call.

photo - Caroline Chinlund

Beautifully lettered on his sidewalk billboard Owen has chalked:
4096 U.S. Soldiers Dead.
Call Congress: 800-828-0498
A note of tragedy
A note of hope

This is the week of the vote on the supplemental military funding bill. Our messages: No more $ for war. Diplomacy, not war with Iran. Impeach Bush There’s also our campaign to get the NYC City Council to hold hearings on the use of tax $ to fund JROTC classes in high schools.

Calls to representatives are our focus. We have encounters! We win a few and lose a few.

Caroline’s favorite: Amy, resting in the shade after a job interview. She’s new in town. Lives in Brooklyn. We look up her Congressional Rep in The League of Women Voters of NYC (lwvnyc.org) Directory “They Represent You.” It’s Jerrold Nadler. She calls the Congressional switchboard, asks for Nadler’s office and uses the cue card Caroline wears around her neck to pace her conversation with Nadler’s staffer. Amy’s used to relating to her representatives. She’s moved from Cleveland and Dennis Kucinich was her Congressman! She lived near his office and used to drop in. We agree, he’s our hero. Check out his latest heroic act, of defending the U.S. Constitution, 35 Articles of Impeachment for President Bush,and Vice-President Cheney. (Did you know? He wasn’t covered by any major news media) Read the scoop in Gore Vidal’s article at truthdig.

Here’s Eva-Lee’s review of the day:
I got off to a good start with two phone calls right away and then didn’t get any more. Both callers said “Don’t fund the war” and “Impeach both Bush and Cheney.” They had taken the time to use the League of Women Voters NYC book to look up their representatives. A lot of people walked by with their noses in the air, but there were others who thanked us for being there, even though they didn’t stop and make the call. One man took flyers promising to call later. He walked about 20 yards away, turned and came back with tears in his eyes. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you are out here doing this,” he said. “My son is in the navy.” He turned and walked away slowly.

photo - Caroline Chinlund

Barbara W had several intense conversations, and some were painful. Here’s how she sums it up: I believe that it is important to let those we encounter who say our military are killing only “the bad guys” (this was said!) or who see only a stereotyped Iraqi, know that there is, for example, the old head of a family who is scared out of his wits by the soldiers busting into his home in the middle of the night, the school principal who goes into his school to open the door for our soldiers and appears at the door – Middle East hospitality style – with the tray of tea. I sometimes hear myself quoting (to a person who approves of our entry into Iraq) the veteran Mejia who said at the Winter Soldier session earlier this year “We went across the ocean to brutalize a country that had done nothing to us.”

Phyllis reports:
I spoke with a woman from France, and then another, and a woman from Russia, all of them supporting us. Then a young man who was hawking coupons for discount membership at an Equinox exercise place. I asked if we could exchange flyers and he exclaimed, “You ladies are giving out more important things than I am. It’s really good.” He did take our flyer. In talking, I found out that he was not registered to vote, although he had been in the city for more than 6 months. I encouraged him to get registered and vote in the coming elections, and gave him a registration form.

Barbara H:
Maybe people should know about the opposition messages, i.e. “I like the war, we are winning, we’re safer, not many deaths now”, to let people know why we must be out there to speak to those who only get the Rush Limbaugh message.

Well, we’re not quitting. Check the calendar on the Granny Peace Brigade home page for the date and location of our next Phone-a-thon. Join us if you can. No cellphone, no problem.

- Caroline Chinlund with Eva-Lee, Owen, Edith, Barbara H, Phyllis, Fran, Barbara W, Caroline, Kathy

Oh, how were we challenged Thursday, June 5 in Brooklyn! The park surrounding Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Court Building was saturated with folks attending Brooklyn Day, a pro-Atlantic Yards rally, sponsored by the Forest City Ratner Corporation, a NYC real estate developer with a taste for using eminent domain for their own gain. A reported 3500 were in attendance with many bussed-in (union members and senior citizens), although the crowd was far more interested in a free lunch than Frank Gehrey’s ‘vision’. (Note to Forest City Ratner Corp: the next time you stage one of these extravaganzas, try to order enough food. Hungry people are cranky people.)

When we finally found each other, we relegated ourselves to a place somewhat away from the crowd, and set up our “information table” at the foot of the statue of another dubious achiever, the ‘great discoverer of our country,” Christopher Columbus. The noise, constant cacophony of many decibels was unnerving and almost unbearable — the unanimous winner for truly ear-shattering rhetoric most certainly had to be awarded to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

In spite of all, we were determined to apprise folks about NYC taxes supporting military curriculum in our high schools. Some people found it “shocking” that, just as school budgets were being cut, tax money was supporting JROTC. One gentleman questioned whether the New York City Council had any power to effect change, was encouraged to ask his council person’s representative, did so, and reported that City Council can effect change. Connie, our colleague from Brooklyn for Peace, brought along material for distribution including “Some Objections to JROTC” from California’s Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities, which provided effective “talking points” and was well received.

People often engaged us in lengthy conversation, occasionally preventing us from reaching more people.* A group of teenagers found it to be unbelievable that they could call an elected representative’s office and, even with our encouragement and peer daring, didn’t engage in doing so. A young woman with three children, who works for the New York City Board of Education, took flyers and printed materials saying that she was going to bring them to a teacher’s meeting in her school. She requested additional information to be sent and left her contact information. When a caller to City Councilperson Robert Jackson (Chair, Education Committee) requested a public hearing, she was informed that the office had received 46 calls requesting a public hearing on NYC taxes for JROTC and 6, from students, against a hearing (time frame was not stipulated but we are assuming that it was recent).

Owen and Maxie chalked messages on the sidewalk concerning our Phone-a-thon focus and the number of U.S. troop deaths in Iraq, 4091 to date. A counter-chalker wrote that we were liers however, it did not deter us. The Phone-a-thon was considered by all, worthwhile and a success.

*The Granny Peace Brigade & CodePink NYC need more volunteers to talk with folks who are interested in learning about “what’s going on” concerning U.S. militarism at home and abroad. The tax levy funds for JROTC seems to be a really “hot issue” and we need to spread the word with other peace groups, encouraging a City Council Public Hearing for full disclosure and hopefully, a change in policy. So…

…JOIN US AT THE PHONE-A-THONS!

Phyllis Cunningham & Fran Sears with Caroline, Ann, Joan P., Carol, Maxie (Carol’s grandson), Owen, and Connie (Brooklyn for Peace)

Want to jump-start your next peace action? Invite your local Raging Grannies and draw a crowd! Here the NYC chapter joins the Granny Peace Brigade and Code Pink for a “STOP THE WAR, IMPEACH BUSH” Phone-A-Thon.

If you don’t see the video click here.

WE ARE A GAGGLE OF GRANNIESWords: Esther Farnsworth & the Vermont Raging Grannies, with Corinne Willinger of the NYC Metro Raging Grannies and the Granny Peace Brigade

Tune: “Side by Side”Oh, we are a gaggle of grannies
Urging you off of your fannies;
We’re telling you now
We’re ANGRY and how!
NO MORE WAR!

With all that government spending
To fight a war that’s unending
We’re going for broke,
This isn’t a joke
NO MORE WAR!

(refrain)
The Bush gang keeps on lying,
They want to ’stay the course,’
But boys and girls are dying,
And they show no remorse.

Sooo, we may be a gaggle of grannies,
But we’ve gotten off of our fannies,
We’ll only rejoice for
We sing in one voice for, NO MORE WAR!
We really mean it - NO MORE WAR!
And we mean busines
NO MORE WAR!

Who is this woman and why was this mug shot taken?

Joan spent her first two years of college at the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. It was 1957 and it happened to be the first year that the state of North Carolina integrated its public universities, in response to federal law, of course. A group of seven Black women was selected by the NAACP to fill the slots at WCUNC (the Women’s College.) One of these women became a close friend and Joan became aware of the courage that these women needed to study at the University and live on campus. In all fairness, the young white women at WCUNC were not overtly hostile to these young women and often seemed to just not know how to relate. After transferring to the to the University of California in Berkeley, Joan decided to return to the South as a Freedom Rider, riding an integrated train and demanding integrated facilities. Was she scared? “I think I was too determined (read dumb??) and too young to be really scared. And by the time we got to Mississippi, I was just stunned (see mugshot).”

Although the freedom riders spent weeks in jail before bailing out, it was necessary for them to return to Jackson, Mississippi for a trial date later that year. The Greyhound Bus Company had difficulty finding a driver for the bus to transport the riders out of Mississippi. No one wanted to drive them out of Jackson - the Greyhound drivers were afraid of mob violence and with good reason. Many buses had been attacked and the riders beaten. There were snipers on the roads. One mob had set fire to a bus in Alabama and tried to burn to death the Freedom Riders inside.

Finally, Joan’s group found a driver and they set off in the middle of the night. As stones started to hit the bus Joan and her compatriots asked the driver not to stop - to just keep going. He thought that a good plan.

- Joan Pleune,
Granny Peace Brigade

FROM THE GRANNY PEACE BRIGADE, CODEPINK, AND RAGING GRANNIES

Coats are off, the day is warm, people are sailing by in Union Square. Ten of us today, from Granny Peace Brigade, Code Pink, Raging Grannies and their Daughters and a new recruit, Carla from Chelsea United for Peace and Justice.

We’re all seizing the occasion of “Iraq Call-In Day” to get people to step up and make a call to Congress, right here and now. Agenda: Saying NO to Bush’s request for $102 billion more for Iraq. Co-sponsoring Lynn Woolsey’s HR 5507 and safely bring the troops home.

In their fine hats, Mercy, Lillian and Corinne are singing Raging Grannies songs. In between numbers, they call their representatives. We get a nice photo of them with Emma, whose outfit is also irresistible.

Film crews catch us, young men are asking for Granny Peace Brigade buttons. The voters are with us, it’s just the government that needs to know. Phyllis gets a call from Hillary Clinton thanking her for all the calls and letters and saying she’s finally realizing the war was a mistake…but it’s Barbara, joking. Oh, well, soon…

Charlotte greets people exiting the subway: “Tell your Congressman where you want your tax dollars to go!” She meets a guy who takes the flier and then tells her, “I’m a single parent..it just isn’t working right now.” He’s come from a labor meeting.

One of Caroline’s callers is Richard. He looks like he’s dressed for a job interview. He calls Rangel, identifies himself as a resident of a shelter in the district. His message about how he wants his tax dollars spent is loud and clear.

Phyllis talks with a woman who is a documented resident living in Queens. She says, “I pay taxes. Can’t I call?” Phyllis asks another woman, “Are you from New York?” She turns out to be from Sweden, visiting. Reaching for the leaflet, she replies : “NO, but I can read!”

A couple is picking up the flier at the table near Eva-Lee. The woman looks down at the flier. Eva-Lee thinks she’s reading, so she asks the husband, “Are you ready to call?” He says, “She’s making the call right now” and he is right. She is punching it in at lightning speed. He knows his wife.

Lots of thumbs up, many people taking Charlotte, Owen, Anne, and Phyllis’ literature with phone number of the Capitol switchboard. We hand out all the fliers we bring today! So we are assuming that those intentions are percolating all over town. Springtime! Seeds will sprout. Actual on the spot calls, 25 or so today.

Join us. Check the calendar at www.grannypeacebrigade.org for the date of our next Phonathon.

- Caroline Chinlund with Lillian, Mercy, Corinne, Carla, Phyllis, Eva-Lee, Charlotte, Anne and Owen

- Photos by Caroline Chinlund

Five stalwart members and friends of the Granny Peace Brigade and CodePink gathered at Washington Irving High School on Thursday April 3, 2009, the evening of Citywide High School Parents’ Open School night, to help parents who want to keep their children from being recruited into the military. Pat, Leigh, Joe, Eva-Lee and Edith told students and their parents that they need to register with the school to keep their son’s or daughter’s privacy intact. They can’t assume that privacy is a given, or that they would need to give the school permission to give out their child’s name and contact information.

Provisions of the NCLB Act (No Child Left Behind*) require the school to provide students’ names and contact information to military recruiters or the school will lose funding. To prevent the student’s name from being given to recruiters for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and the Marines, the student and/or the parent must notify the school in writing that they don’t want their child’s name given out.

The Grannies gave out information and forms. They encouraged the parents and students to complete the forms and give them in to the principal’s office.

Some parents and students said they had already given in the forms. Others were not yet aware of the need to do so and were very appreciative at being given the information and the forms. Several said that military recruiters have been calling their home repeatedly.

One man was of a different viewpoint – he feels joining the military is a good opportunity. Staff in the school also engaged us in conversation and said that, although they have to be circumspect about it, they try to provide this information also.

- Edith Cresmer

* The NCLB Act provides funding to the schools

It is not an easy business, standing on a street corner with a pink foam crown on your head, waving a cell phone and a passel of leaflets, trying to talk jaded New Yorkers into calling up their members of Congress. Maybe its the time of year, maybe its an Endless War combined with an Endless Election, or maybe its a shaky economy — but a whole lot of folks just aren’t interested. But then there are those other moments:

Three men from three different generations. Each one against the war, one a veteran. Each one articulates his position with passion. The veteran recently home from Iraq thanks us. The father of the soldier now serving in Iraq thanks us. He tells us his son wasn’t thinking about the war when he enlisted. “Eighteen-year-olds don’t think ahead.” The seventeen-year-old student, calls his representative, “Did you ask us if we wanted to go to war?” He tells us that although he is against this war he plans to enlist.

A young woman - right off the pages of W - stops at the table. She wants to buy a button and wants to know if she can take some of our fliers back to her office. We are, she tells us, an inspiration. She presses an Andy Jackson on us, “for your work.”

Random gaggles of high schoolers who stop to talk — in particular the group that swarmed Eva Lee for information - dropping their studied ennui to engage in spirited discussion.

Those hard-working New Yorkers - cab drivers, bike messengers, and delivery guys and gals - who work so hard to service all the ’swells.’ Most of the time, they are too busy to stop for a call, but they smile, give us the thumbs up and tell us to “keep on keeping on.” A lot of them take our fliers, they always leave us with a smile. When they tell us they are going to call later, we believe them.

To all of these folks, thank you so much! And for those fellow citizens who walk right past us, be warned, you’re on our agenda and we will be back! We’re not going to stop until we get everybody talking.

- Fran Sears

P.S. The Granny Peace Brigade joins the Raging Grannies (to sing) and Grandmothers Against the War (to vigil) and we welcome women and men of all ages to work with us for peace. Check the Granny Peace Brigade website for a calendar of events.