Friday night, October 21, a benefit concert by the environmental organization Clearwater was held Symphony Space on Broadway at  94th Street. Among the notable musicians were the legendary Pete Seeger, composer-musician David Amram, and folk singer Arlo Guthrie.

Following the concert shortly after 10:30, up to 1000 people, (according to the Associated Press) many concertgoers along with others who waited outside marched down Broadway in support of Occupy Wall Street. Thirty blocks later, they entered the plaza at the statue of Christopher Columbus on 59th Street singing “This Little Light of Mine”, but substituting “We’re Gonna Occupy.” The songfest is described in this AP article.

After the gathering, several marchers, including two musicians, boarded an almost empty uptown 104 bus. When told about the protest, the driver muttered “Please don’t come to Staten Island.” As the bus moved on, the musicians, The Universal Truth, began to play and sing, with passengers clapping and singing along until getting off at their stops.

At one stop the driver told a departing passenger that he was enjoying the music.

Come gather round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
Then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a changing

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens
And keep your eyes open, the chance won’t come again
And don’t speak too soon, the wheel’s still in spin
And there’s no telling who that it’s naming
Oh the loser will be later to win
For the times, they are a changing

Come senators, congressmen, please head the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be her that has stalled
The battle outside raging will soon shake your windows
And rattle your hall
For the times, they are a changing

Come mothers and fathers all over this land
And don’t criticize what you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old role is rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend a hand
For the times they are a changing

The line, it is drawn, the curse, it is cast
The slow one will later be fast
And the present now will soon be the past
The order is rapidly fading
The first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a changing

- Bob Dylan

- Ann Shirazi
for the Granny Peace Brigade

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This is a funny video, but the message is deadly serious– the Grannies participated to stress the need to fight the Obama administration, as President Obama has offered cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in the debt ceiling negotiations currently gripping Capitol Hill. While I personally didn’t vote for Obama, I think it is important to keep him as the focal point in yet another atrocity being leveled at the citizens of this country- in this case, the low or no-income, the elderly and sick. in addition, in Grand Central Station, the cops tried to stop us and said if we danced, we would be arrested!

- Ann Shirazi
for the Granny Peace Brigade

New York—While swinging their hips to a Motown groove, grannies tell Obama and congressional leaders to keep their hands off Medicare.
Angering many voters who supported him, President Obama has offered cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security in the debt ceiling negotiations currently gripping Capitol Hill. So on the eve of Medicare’s 46th birthday on July 30th, the grassroots advocacy group Healthcare-NOW! releases a video of grannies performing a choreographed dance based on the Supremes’ hit to deliver an urgent demand: Medicare needs to be expanded, not cut.

Though having a good time doing a group dance, members of the Granny Peace Brigade and the Raging Grannies say this is a life-and-death issue. Advocates for Medicare expansion cite numbers from Harvard Medical School reporting that 45,000 people a year die in the U.S. because they don’t have health insurance; the number jumps to 101,000 when including people who are under-insured: they have insurance, but their insurance companies deny them necessary care when they get sick.[1]

Bev Rice, a retired nurse who danced in the video, says “As a nurse I saw so many people suffer and die prematurely because insurance companies wouldn’t pay for the care they needed. I have Medicare and it works. It should be open to everyone.”

Advocates say that not only would a Medicare-for-All system cover everyone, it would also save the country $400 billion a year in health spending. While Medicare spends only 3% on administrative costs, private health insurance companies spend 17-28%, including profits, marketing, and extravagant CEO salaries.

Another one of the dancing grannies, Joan Pleune, says: “Rehearsing for this choreographed dance is harder than getting arrested during the Freedom Rides of 1961.” The veteran of the Civil Rights Movement adds, “But my health is threatened and I need Washington to pay attention—expand, not cut, Medicare!”
Laurie Wen, Healthcare-NOW! NYC,
Katie Robbins, Healthcare-NOW! www.healthcare-now.org

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We then entered the mall and weaved in and out of the Target toy aisles, serenading shoppers with “Don’t buy war toys, Don’t buy war toys, Girls and Boys” (a la Frere Jacques).

Our signs proclaimed “No War – No War Toys” and we were greeted with smiles and approving nods from the shoppers.

The serenade resounded through the top floor and lasted about ten minutes until…

…store security called for help and eventually escorted us down the escalator.  The Flash Mob had had its fun and then melted away.

- Nydia Leaf
for the Granny Peace Brigade
Photos: Eva-Lee Baird

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The kids loved our songs and busy commuters would stop and listen and laugh, before continuing on their way.

We were free entertainment!  We didn’t get one negative comment from the crowd, any frown turned into a smile when they heard the lyrics.  We really had a wonderful time with our great audience.

A group of four women: granny and daughters, joined us and were laughing with glee over our lyrics, it was a splendid evening.

Yer Raging Reporter,
- Mercy VanVlack
Photos: Eva-Lee Baird

(more photos)

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According to John Eligon of The New York Times, Thurs. July ,16th, Judge John Koeltl presided over the resentencing of Lynne Stewart after it was deemed that her first sentence of twenty-eight months was too light.  Lynne Stewart – the Terrorists’ Handmaid – will be tucked away for the next ten years.  Maybe she’ll make it in jail until she’s 90 though she’s got breast cancer.

You better watch out, America.  Didn’t she say,  “I’d do it again” ?  And that’s why they have to lock her up for a good, long time.  She’s “potentially lethal” said the prosecuting attorney, Mr Andrew Dember to the grey-haired, school-marm lawyer sitting in  front of him.

He should be feeling good now, Judge Koeltl, he’s done his duty.  Even though he received hundreds of letters attesting to Lynne’s honesty, virtue and loyalty; even though he heard her daughter burst into tears on hearing  the cruel verdict, he can rest easy.  He was so careful about all the necessary legal enhancements that will keep America safe, especailly since 9/11. They – the powers that prevail in this country today – are not stupid. They know a good opportunity when it happens.  9/11 was a gift from heaven – although devastating and horrible as it was – it gave them a chance to “enhance” our laws.   Enhance was once a pretty word – it usually meant to make nicer or better.  Not in this case!  Their aim is to destroy the liberties that the founders of our country fought so hard to create – now with new laws they can  sanction government interference between client and attorney,  wire-tapping and above all, intimidation of the legal profession into fear and ultimately, impotence.  Woe to a hapless victim who appears before the bench.  Between the lawyers’ fear and the enhanced laws, justice doesn’t stand a chance.

Why were we lulled into thinking she might given a mild, fitting sentence?  This isn’t medieval times when men were sentenced to life imprisonment or death for stealing a loaf of bread. We are reasonable people nowadays with reasonable laws – aren’t we?  Or is there now a deliberate choice to destroy all the civil liberties that followed those times? We listened so patiently as Koeltl struggled to justify the numbers of the various enhancements, wondering how he could have forgotten what was crucial to the sad woman sitting in front of him; enhancing prison numbers can do that to you. She was asked by Judge Koeltl why she doesn’t exhibit remorse – a strange question.  She is an innocent woman.  She has nothing to show remorse for.

No, Lynne, you didn’t  fail us.  We failed you.  We failed because we weren’t ready – too sanguine – perhaps stupid – but we should have known and been prepared for that verdict.  We should have proclaimed, exhorted, shouted – Lynne Stewart is innocent – she is guilty of nothing but being human.  She has never aided or abetted terrorists – she is just a good human being – the best among us.  It is the legal system that is now being perverted, destroyed and dishonoring America.  But it is more than that – it is the governing body – the Congress and the President that are guilty as well, playing their parts and letting it happen.

We must have courage.

- Lillian Pollak
reading the U. S. Constitution
July 4, 2010
for the Granny Peace Brigade

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The Square – slabs of concrete
Cobbled streets, medieval arches, forlorn dusty parks
Bleak citadels of justice

In these great halls
knowing righteous laws
fear destroys reason
Harsh sentence are pronounced
Innocent actions become
Punishable crimes

Here a bird sings

Legendary – like the Kuninglin-
Who hid in the plumage of an eagle
And soared above him to heaven.
A wren
Known for strong songs
That floods the skies

This a warm-blooded, two legged,
Feathered vertebrate
Plump – gray, sandy-haired
With a fearless grin
Is shut away
A bird who sings only in daylight
Her notes loud and clear
Round crystal globules of sweet sound
Pour through the black bars
Singing of innocence of wrong-doing
Pure of any intent
Only desire to do good
And kindness

We must hear her
She must not be ignored
Her song of sympathy
for all those oppressed,
misjudged, falsely accused
Wafts through the air
Telling us of the meaning of our existence
Empathy for all that lives
Gentleness…

We must hear her message
Above the crushing litany of law
That stifles her voice

If justice ignores her song
We cannot survive
If we forget humanity
we will not survive

…….Listen

- Lillian Pollak
for the Granny Peace Brigade

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It is possible to live a full, rich life even if you have never gone caroling with the Raging Grannies, however hanging out with the Ragings is one way to live intensely. If you missed this year, all is not lost. Pencil or tap  a note into your December 2010 calendar reminding you to ask the Granny Peace Brigade what the Ragings are planning for the end of the month. They might even have an extra Santa hat for you.

Here is what this year looked like:

Getting started.

We are in full voice now.

A passerby joins us.

Why does Lillian Pollak always seem to wind up with the cute guy?

And how does Barbara Harris make all those friends?

Yes, all those friends.

Eventually the police did throw us out of the station. One officer looked me right in the eye and said “I agree with you absolutely, but I still have to ask you to leave.” Another told us he was evicting us “because I really need this job.”

Songs for listening on the Granny Jukebox YouTube channel.

See you in the street,
Eva-Lee Baird
Photos by Fran Sears
for the Granny Peace Brigade

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This is the mind set we are up against.  As an older man witnessing our argument said after the boys got off, “You’ll never persuade them.  They haven’t the knowledge.”  Inasmuch as they are going to probably go off to fight in the deadly wars, they most likely are better off believing that the cause is just. It’s kind of a conundrum — we want them to see the futility of the wars, but don’t want them to feel their service is worthless. If they could be persuaded to rebel and refuse to go, that would be one thing.  But, of course, that wouldn’t happen.

Despite our sadness that the young men are so misinformed and are so convinced they are saving the country, undoubtedly to their eventual peril, we were impressed with their interest in hearing our views and their ability to disagree politely and respectfully.

As for the honors event, we had a most cheerful and happy evening.  The S.I. Peace people are a remarkably warm bunch, and the evening was planned to perfection.  They had a good musician-singer, a raffle and a silent auction, and food like you wouldn’t believe.  There were approximately four long, long tables filled, and I mean, FILLED, with delicious goodies.  Plus, the piece de resistance — tada:  the awards presentations.  Our Barbara looked lovely in an emerald green silk top, and made a strong speech urging counter-recruitment action in the schools. Nydia and I felt a big swarm of pride in her,

But as our subway encounter showed us, the road to our goal of bringing the troops home is a long and difficult one.  We have to keep on keeping on!

-Joan Wile
for the Granny Peace Brigade

I grew up during the Second World War and I remember the warm feeling I had when Israel was formed in 1948, and how at Hunter College I empathized with Jewish students celebrating the 5th Anniversary of the founding of Israel. I believe many have not had reason/opportunity to do so, but for some reason I did later come to know what the founding of the State of Israel caused the Arab Palestinians: The Holocaust was carried out in Europe; subsequently Arab Palestinians lost a significant part of their homeland, where they and Mizrahi and other Jews had lived — lived not without conflict but without widespread displacements.

Never have I heard of any acknowledgement to the Palestinians of their justifiable distress and anger for their having had to move to make possible the establishment of Israel; nor have I ever heard an apology — obviously not that these would resolve the issue but the missing acknowledgement and apology are indicative of lack of understanding or lack of awareness of cause and effect. A result is that Palestinians have been viewed by many as spoilers, not as people with a grievance that required redress In effect, they were required to make compensation for criminal acts (The Holocaust) in which they had no part.

What has happened and is happening to the Palestinians in occupied Gaza is so horrid — for me beyond words to express. And, as is known, we, the United States, provide the wherewithal for the carrying on of this campaign against Gaza.

There have been blockades – land, sea, and air – imposed by Israel. Isn’t this an act of war? Some of the results of the blockades have been life threatening. And so Gaza sends rockets; Israel responds with sophisticated ’state of the art’ power/technology. The residents of Gaza are told to remove themselves from areas of hostilities — where are they to go? They do not have bomb shelters. They are totally vulnerable. And we, the U.S., have rationalized our non-support for a cease-fire!

United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 virtually has been ignored. Settlements are developed and expanded in the occupied West Bank with U.S. approval — implicit and explicit (President Bush’s allowing, in a televised talk with the former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that some settlements were ‘facts on the ground’). The Palestinians were expected to accept, as part of a plan for a Palestinian state, a system of West Bank ‘Bantustans’ proposed by then Prime Minister Ehud Barak and rejected by the then President of the Palestine National Authority Yasser Arafat, toward the end of President Clinton’s second term. Many were incredulous that the plan was rejected.

President-elect Obama, many do not know the post-Second World War history of this part of the Middle East. You do. Please, your incoming Administration, your Office as honest broker, should acknowledge publicly that the Palestinians, as well as the Israelis, have justifiable claims, and should insist that inhumane action against the Palestinians by the occupying power end, that Israeli/Palestinian cease-fires become effective forthwith, and that concrete steps be taken for the creation and necessary support of a viable sovereign Palestinian state.

President-elect Obama, our taxes must not support unacceptable policies and action. This does not lessen the view of Israel as a U.S. ally. In addition, the Palestinians should receive acknowledgement of the loss of part of their pre-1948 homeland. These will not be unreasonable actions to undertake but to do so will require the will of your Administration to promote these actions as (and here I borrow, out of context, from a statement of Archbishop Tutu) possible, desirable, and necessary.

=============

These days this matter has, I know, been of great concern to all of us, and I know we have various views. I think it is generally believed that the lack of a fair resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict is not the only factor but is a significant one in U.S./Middle East antagonisms.

- Barbara Walker
Granny Peace Brigade

photo: helpful passerby

Here’s a taste of what was on those special song sheets:

Muntadhar al-Zaidi
(Tune: “It came Upon a Midnight Clear”)
Lyrics: 1st verse by Jean Norris, 2nd and 3rd verses by Vicki Ryder of the Rochester Raging Grannies 12/08

It came within a conference drear,
That glorious gesture bold…
From a hero bending near the floor
To silence lies being told.

Peace on the earth — a shoe for George
From a throw with a glorious zing.
The world in solemn stillness watched
To see the second fling!

The first was for George, that lying dog,
Who shou-ld be pu-t in jail.
The second for all of the orphaned ones
Whose deaths we now bewail.

We all give thanks to that brave young man,
Mutadhar al-Zaidi his name.
He did what all of us longed to do…
We just wish we had better aim!

Al-Zaidi spoke for all of us
With his gesture that some have called rude,
But George had it coming now don’t you think?
For all of the people he’s screwed.

So thanks, al-Zaidi, for throwing your shoes,
We’re just sorry that Georgie ducked.
We’re grateful you threw both your shoes at George
For all of the people he’s…
[spoken] tortured and murdered and starved and lied to and jailed and bombed and…

photos: Eva-Lee Baird

When listeners asked for song sheets we asked them in return to promise to sing the songs. “Oh I will,” was the universal response with a smile and with passion.

- Eva-Lee Baird

Technical Note:
The first time the stationmaster asked us to move, the Raging Grannies negotiated for a bit more time and then moved to another location. When the same guy asked us to move from the second spot, we moved across the station and down one level to be out of his bailiwick. In our third spot a police officer asked us to move before we got to sing a note. This officer was helpful in suggesting a fourth location where he thought we might not be bothered saying, “I’m with you all the way on this.” Finally, when another officer asked us to move from the fourth spot we packed up and went home. By then we had sung a lot of songs, given out a lot of song sheets, and had some good conversations.