The crowd at the Humboldt County Courthouse was thin at the noon start of the International Women’s Day Women’s March protest on March 8. The line of a dozen people grew to 35 by 12:30 p.m., and topped out around 90 by 1:30 p.m. Some speculated scant publicity or the lag of Daylight Saving led to lower turnout.
Felicity Barstow held a sign that read, “Woman Rise, Nations Shine.” She shrugged. “A little typo, but we’re standing with it,” she said with a chuckle. She came out to support International Women’s Day, “To bring light to people whose rights are not brought to the forefront,” she said, with regard to bodily autonomy and equal pay, among other issues.
Barstow’s husband, Mariqus Ludd, sat beside her with a “Defend Our Democracy” sign, a message he landed on after a conversation with her. “Whenever she comes out here, I try to,” he says. “I support her wholeheartedly.”
Al Mayes carried a sign depicting Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old boy taken by ICE in Minnesota. “I am very concerned about the children down at that detention center in Texas,” he said. “Just because Kristi Noem has been fired, the guy they’re replacing her with is just as bad. … We gotta keep the pressure on because it does matter. You might not think it does with just a few people,” he said, gesturing to the people waving signs along the sidewalk, “but with things happening all over the country, it does.”
The sky was overcast and, with only middling wind, the flag over the courthouse clung to the pole. At the foot of the plinth, a handful of women known as The Raging Grannies chatted and reviewed their lyrics. In flower-festooned straw hats and colorful aprons, they have been a familiar sight at protests in Humboldt for decades, consistently showing up in solidarity and comical getups that belie the serious issues addressed on the signs that surround them and in their own lyrics.
Wearing an N-95 mask, a straw hat painted with a seascape and doves, and a peacock apron, 75-year-old original member Sue Hilton recalled the formation of the local chapter of Raging Grannies International. Her fellow members of the Humboldt Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom came across a “gaggle” of Raging Grannies at a conference and declared, “We have to do this.” That was sometime in the early 2000s, though murmured recollections between the women assembled and shaking hat brims did not result in a consensus on the exact year.
Raging Grannies International grew out of a 1987 protest against U.S. nuclear submarines visiting Victoria, British Columbia. Its website describes the loose organization’s philosophy: “We are totally non-violent, believe in only peaceful protest (with lots of laughter), work for the ‘many not the few’ (motto of the old Mechanics’ Institute) and see our work as the spreading green branches of a great tree, rising up to provide shelter and nourishment for those who will come after us.”
As for the floral hats and aprons, Hilton explained, “We’re older women who use the stereotype of older women to make pointed political commentary.” It’s a stereotype that leads to dismissal of older women’s political power, “That they don’t know what’s going on, that they’re powerless, that they’re weak and sort of sweet and gentle,” she said. “That you stay home and bake cookies — that’s what your grandmother is supposed to do. … Not being taken seriously, that’s the big thing.”
Hilton noted the irony of President Trump having spent so much time mocking President Biden’s age and now approaching 80 himself. “He has to bomb people to prove he’s powerful.”
“I’m old, I’m retired, I’m politically active and I’m musically active,” said fellow Raging Granny Ellen Ryan from the seat of her walker. Drive by midday on a Saturday and you may see her with the folks from the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship carrying Black Lives Matter, climate action and Unitarians for Peace banners. Though she likely won’t be wearing her wide straw hat festooned with fake peonies. Asked how she came to the group, she answered without hesitation: “Laurel [Busse]. Our 90-year-old activist in Arcata — she grabbed me a couple years ago and said, ‘You have to be part of this.’” It was, she confirmed, a strong grip. It was also, as Busse predicted, a good fit for Ryan. “It’s something I can do, I’m able to expand my political leanings and join with other people to do it,” said Ryan.
Ryan is no stranger to politics, having retired from a long career as a field representative for a state Assemblymember in Hayward, California, assisting with both legislative work and constituent case work. She’s been in the Grannies for a couple years now but knew little about them before joining. “I’d never heard of them before. I just thought they were crazy old women who wandered around the Plaza and elsewhere and made good trouble,” she said.
The songs the group performs speak to her progressive ideals regarding constitutional and human rights, like the one criticizing ICE, “encouraging Congress to do what it’s legally responsible for doing,” and “getting oligarchs to butt out.” The war in Iran is naturally a main concern now, she said. “It doesn’t take too much math ability to see that we’re spending enough there to feed and house and give medical care to everybody.”
Ryan has especially enjoyed performing in Ferndale for Pride, singing satirical tunes like “Dangerous, Devious Drag Queens,” a song that “kind of pokes fun at the attitude some people have about drag queens being scary, which they’re not.” She gave a sly giggle before continuing, “Teaching kids to be open and caring and doing community work in libraries … is something we should be celebrating.”
There are monthly planning sessions at the Jefferson Community Center, the use of which they cover by taking up a collection, though there are no dues. Coming to meetings is optional, said Hilton, “You can just be a Granny fellow traveler and get on the mailing list and just show up.” As for where they show up, she says they mostly go where they’re invited, allowing for individual logistics and politics. A few, a crowd or none might answer the call if they are willing or are able. But there are no official rules about which groups they will or won’t support. “Three Grannies is a gaggle,” she says, the minimum required for a performance. “It’s a little anarchistic.”
Sometimes, members hear about an event, said Hilton, “And we say, ‘You want Grannies?’”
Fellow Granny Beth Niemeyer writes the lyrics to a good number of their songs, adapting familiar tunes to current events and issues. The Raging Grannies International site also shares songs from Grannies around the world. Then they choose and practice their numbers with a couple of members who play instruments, frequently a ukulele and sometimes a guitar.
In the early days, said Hilton, “We were doing demos against the Iraq War.” She tossed a hand up in exasperation at the repetition of history. In 1968, Hilton was attending protests as a student at the University of Michigan. “I was certainly already against the [Vietnam War] and there were lots of protests, so I went to them.”
Hilton recites a couple lines from a Raging Grannies song in a solemn tone: “We Grannies know for sure the price that’s paid for war/ we’ve sadly lived through many and we don’t want anymore.” It is, she said, a cycle of destruction, rebuilding and waste of life and energy.
A retired U.S. Forest Service research hydrologist, protecting the environment has always been connected to her anti-war beliefs. “We know we’re destroying the planet,” she said. “Nothing quite like watching Tehran drown in black oil.”
Still, she said, “A lot of people believe that we could be taking care of each other.”
The 25 Grannies on the roll, Hilton said, are mostly in their 60s and 70s, though their oldest is 90 and the youngest is 30. Of the youngest she said, “We’re not too fussy. She wanted to join, and we liked her energy, and we said sure.” Sadly, they’ve lost a few members over the years, Kit Crosby-Williams and Jean Doran among them. “That’s what happens when you’re Raging Grannies,” she said. Doran was a longtime Granny and songwriter, and “was always just a great presence.”
Most years the Grannies perform around four to six times. “This year we’re doing a lot,” Hilton noted. “I think it adds a good energy. It entertains protesters and it entertains us and we get to say interesting things.” Besides, she said, “Singing is fun and it feels a lot more active than standing there with a sign,” she says. “And you don’t have to be a great singer or else I wouldn’t qualify.”
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the managing editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400 ext. 106, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Bluesky @jfumikocahill.bsky.social.
Credit: Photo by Mark Larson
This article appears in Granny Rage on Women’s Day.