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The Granny
Peace Brigade Philadelphia is:
a
group of activists, including grandmothers and others, who are
dedicated to ending war. On June 28, 2006, 11 of us went to the
Military Recruitment Center in Philadelphia to "enlist" in the United
States military, so that our grandchildren would not kill or be
killed in Iraq. When we refused to leave without enlisting, we
were arrested and charged with "Defiant Trespass". On December 1, 2006,
Judge Deborah Griffin dismissed the charges against us, affirming
the legality of our non-violent protest. We continue to meet together
and resist war-making in Iraq and elsewhere.
The
Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia meets:
WHEN: Alternate
Thursdays
NEXT MEETING: August 14 10 AM - noon 1319 Locust St. ALL ARE WELCOME! Click here to Contact Us or Make a
Contribution.
Impeachment Step
Tell your Representatives to co-sponsor Rep. Kucinich's 35 Articles of Impeachment: http://democrats.com/35-articles-of-impeachment Call your Senator and Representative in Congress. Use the FREE phone number:
1-800-828-0498
At the moment, we want our reps to vote NO on HR 5507 (another funding bill for the war). UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday, August 5, 2008: Grannies leaflet outside Free Library at Logan Circle at 6:30 p.m. Some Grannies go inside to hear Nancy Pelosi speak and hope to be able to ask questions. Grannies planning to go inside should NOT wear Granny t-shirts or buttons. Thursday, August 7, 2008: Granny demo at Rittenhouse Square (18th and Walnut St. entrance), from Noon to 1:30 p.m. This IS a Granny Event. The focus will be on bringing the Pennsylvania's National Guard home. HR 2402 calling for this in the State Legislature is buried in the Veterans Committee. NOTE: There will also be a press conference (organized by Pittsburgh women) on this issue on the same day in Pittsburgh, PA. Contact: Helen Evelev at helenevelev@aol.com or call her at (215) 351-2225. Saturday, August 9, 2008: Nagasaki Day Peace Vigil in front of Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, 18th and Parkway, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This is NOT a Granny event, but Grannies mourn the fact that our country dropped a nuclear bomb in 1945 (63 years ago) on this date on the Japanese city with the largest Catholic population in Japan. Contact: the Brandywine Peace Community at brandywine@juno.com or call them at (610) 544-1818. Thursday, August 14, 2008: Granny Meeting, 1319 Locust St., 10:00 a.m. to Noon. Elisabeth Leonard is the facilitator. Please send your agenda items to her at elisabeth_leonard@verizon.net or call her at (215) 382-1531. Sunday, August 17, 2008: Vigil close to Senator Specter's home, Schoolhouse Lane. This is NOT a Granny event. Thursday, August 21, 2008: Grannies meet together with the Hospital Workers Union (1199) Retirement Group, at 1319 Locust St., beginning at Noon. Thursday, August 28, 2008: Day-long Granny Meeting to discuss the Middle East, 1319 Locust St., 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This IS a Granny event. Thursday, September 11, 2008: Bill Kay (the Grannies' troubadour) will be at Love Park doing a Peace Vigil from 5 to 7 p.m. He would like to have Grannies participate. We will discuss this more at our next meeting. Contact: Bill Kay at ifdogsrunfree@comcast.net Sunday, September 21, 2008: Granny Peace Brigade Vigil close to Senator Specter's home on Schoolhouse Lane. Saturday, March 29, 2008: New Jerusalem and Granny Peace Brigade Anti-War Rally and BBQ   AMERICAN GRANNIES
EXPRESS OUTRAGE AFTER 5 YEARS OF WAR;
With knitting needles, with dirty linen
clotheslines, many with songs, and some with acts of civil
disobedience, grandmother groups across the United States in at least
20 cities expressed their frustration, their deep rage at the continued
occupation of Iraq. This was the granny way of commemorating the
end of five years since the bombing of Iraq on March 19, 2003.Grandmothers in 20 Cities Protest Occupation; Some Get Arrested The coordinated granny actions, initiated by the Granny Peace Brigade in New York City, were the latest ones demonstrating once again that the grandmothers of America have been in the forefront of the peace movement since Day One of the U.S. catastrophic invasion of a sovereign nation. Perhaps the most noteworthy of the protests was that carried out in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 17, where 10 members of the Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace were arrested and jailed for 10 hours when they attempted to enlist in the military at a recruiting center. Said Doris Benit, 80, one of the arrestees: "We believe our young people were sent to Iraq on a web of lies and deceit. We believe they are being used as cannon fodder in an illegal and unjustified war against a nation which posed no threat to us." Very whimsical Knit-Ins for Peace were held in New York City, Washington DC, Pittsburgh PA, and other cities. They were outdoor events which involved grandmothers knitting stump socks for amputee veterans. The New York Granny Peace Brigade valiantly knit in the rain for about two hours outside the Times Square recruiting center where they had been arrested and carted off to jail in 2005 for attempting to enlist, while calling out the numbers of dead and wounded from each state. The oldest granny, and perhaps the most vociferously protesting one there, was 93-year-old Marie Runyon. Part of the New York group, along with some members of the Granny Peace Brigade Philadelphia and Maryland women, went to Washington, where they knit in rocking chairs outside the Veterans Administration, and when they had completed knitting a number of the stump covers, had a Veteran for Peace color guard hand them over to a VA official. Fifteen Pittsburgh grannies, the oldest of whom is 84, participated in their Knit-In at a recruiting station, as pictured below.  Another creative demonstration was that in Philadelphia, where the grannies hung a laundry line at City Hall and hung the dirty linen of the Bush administration on it -- each item of clothing inscribed with a plea to correct the many wrongs of the Government. The Philly grannies, like most of the other granny groups, sang anti-war songs during their protests.  Some of the dirty linen
hung at City Hall in Philadelphia PA March
19, 2008.
(photo by Cathy Clemens) In Orange County, NY, a group of grandmas met with State University students on campus in Middletown, and urged them to participate in the anti-war movement. In spite of pouring rain, there was a good turnout and the students were surprisingly receptive. The older women had a sense that young people are beginning to take more action in the struggle to end the war. 150 people stood on four corners in Sarasota, Florida. Eight stalwart grandmothers in Boston held a vigil on Boston Common in a drenching downpour. Other groups that participated were in Spokane; Minneapolis; Detroit; Albany NY; Monkato MN; San Francisco; Montpelier VT; San Jose CA; Bloomington IND; Portland, Maine; St. Augustine FL, and Denver.  (Raging Grannies in Tucson AZ
hold Knit-In for Peace on March 19, 2008)
Amazingly, a lot of the granny protests got wide media coverage in
their areas. This represents a kind of breakthrough, as it has
been difficult to get publicity for the many grandmother anti-war
activities conducted over the last five years since the war was
launched..At least two grandmothers got arrested when a group of protesters prevented entrance to the IRS in Washington DC -- Beverly Rice of the New York Granny Peace Brigade and Sue Gracey of the Boston Raging Grannies. When grandmothers are willing to risk arrest and jail, as so many of us old ladies do on a regular basis these days, you know this war is despised and must be ended. We grannies are not getting any younger and our energy is not what it was in our earlier days -- but we keep on keeping on knowing we will not be here forever and earnestly hoping that we are inspiring other and younger people to carry on our urgent quest when we no longer can. January 1 2008 Grannies Take Part in Philadelphia Mummers Parade  ________________________________________________________________________________
 Grannies Participate in October 27 National Mobilization to End the War in Iraq
 ____________________________________________________________________________ The New York Granny Chicks,
singing "Grannies, Let's Unite".
Click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXVAsHtitW0 LOVE, GRANDMA: ACTIVISTS WRITE Grandmothers Against the War
announce the publication of LOVE GRANDMA: ACTIVISTS WRITE, a collection
of letters and poetry for grandchildren of all ages by women and men
committed to a better, peaceful world.
By david swanson NY Granny, Joan Wile has published a book called "Grandmothers Against the War: Getting Off Our Fannies and Standing Up for Peace." It is very much an account of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. ... Democrats.com blogs - http://www.democrats.com/blog In Phila, call for info: Marlena Santoyo 515 Glen Echo Road Philadelphia, PA 19119 Tel. (215)-247-4385 marlsan@cavtel.net _________________________________________________________________________________ A Message from James Zogby, an Arab American The Lie That Keeps the Occupation of Iraq Going: www.afterdowningstreet.org/liegoing From
Congressman Dennis Kucinich: Congressional
Leaders Continue To Play The War Funding Game While Americans In Iraq
Continue To Die
Veterans Break Silence on US War
Crimes: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/29/7368/
Price Tag for Iraq, Afghan Wars: Three Trillion Dollars: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/28/7342/ Find out more about counter-recruitment actions, click here: http://codepink4peace.org/section.php?id=48 April 2, 1917- First elected woman takes seat in U.S. Congress * VEWG Web page*: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/peacevote2008
Check this page regularly for articles, commentaries, ideas for creative bird dogging, talking points for letters to the editor and sample op-eds for the upcoming primaries, caucuses and general elections. * Presidential Voter Guide: One way to generate an educated peace vote is by using the UFPJ voters guide. You can download the guide in Spanish and English from: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/index.php and add your local contact information. |