Harlem grandmas hit the warpath over Iraq

[cal04]

Fed up with a war they call "unjust," grandmothers in the city are taking to the streets. Armed with canes and loudspeakers, a crowd of more than 40 grandmothers, great-grandmothers and even a few grandfathers gathered outside an Army recruiting station in Harlem yesterday to protest the war in Iraq.

The Harlem Grandmothers Against the War in Iraq chose tax day specifically to protest, citing that the war has already cost U.S. taxpayers more than $26 billion. That's money, they say, that could and should be used to fund community health care, housing and education programs. "It is unconscionable that most of our tax money goes to killing people in other countries while our community in Harlem lacks the bare essentials of housing and medical care," said Vinie Burrows, a great-grandmother. "The war in Iraq translates itself into a war against the poor."

Several grandmothers spoke at the peaceful rally, which began outside the Harlem IRS office and culminated across the street in front of the Army recruiting station. Former Harlem City Councilman Bill Perkins, one of the organizers of the event, had harsh words for the current presidential administration. "Current policy is undermining both the safety of our country and the promise of America," said Perkins, himself a 57-year-old grandfather. "We need this money to help our children get a better education, to provide accessible health care and better services for our seniors."

Police stood watch while the group held up signs and chanted their own versions of popular protest sayings. Passersby were greeted with a chorus of grandparents belting out, "The grandmas, united, will never be defeated!" and "Listen to your grandmas, bring the troops home!" The 150-member group is part of Grandmothers Against the War, a national organization that holds demonstrations around the country. The Harlem-based group has also held a vigil in support of the troops every Wednesday night outside Rockefeller Center since the war began in 2003.

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/409623p-346692c.html

[RufusEarl]

1. It's good to see someone take to the streets , over this war!

[ninkasi]

2. I admire them so much

These grandmas and great-grandmas are tired of seeing their children and grandchildren ignored by the Bush administration. They know that vast amounts of money are being spent in an illegal war, and that any social programs designed to help them and their families are slashed by Bush in order to give enormous tax breaks to the wealthy.

They see their grandchildren die and get maimed in war, then ignored when they need assistance from the VA, or any other department of government. These are the women who will, in many cases, be raising little ones whose parents died for Bush's wars. They are fighting for their children, fighting an administration which looks down on them, and slashes programs which could help lift them from poverty. How many of their children enlisted in order to have a college education, to improve their lives the only way available to them?

As a great-grandmother myself, I know how deeply they feel about seeing their families destroyed in an illegal war to enrich Bush and his "have mores" base. These women certainly understand what Cindy Sheehan feels, and knows why she is relentlessly trying to get the war in Iraq to end, and they also know that using nuclear weapons in Iran would only make the whole situation worse.

They see the irony of letting their loved ones used as cannon fodder, while the sons and daughters of the ones who supported this farce are safely at home. They see, and understand, the deep injustices created by the worst president in American history.

[Captain Hilts]

3. Grandmothers/mothers launched an effective anti-war

campaign in Russia under Yeltsin. Because of their protests the Russian Government pulled back troops from Chechnya for a couple of years.

It was grandmothers
Don't discount Granny.