“It helps if you can sing.” Robyn Smith is talking about what it takes to be a Raging Granny.
All Grannies are female, though not necessarily grandmothers. They can’t be shy about wearing outlandish granny gear and, yes, it helps if a Granny can sing. For the Grannies, however, shared values based on social justice, non-violent activism and peace count more than the ability to carry a tune.
Robyn can sing, though she confesses to being more of a contralto than a soprano now that she’s nearing her 90th year. Robyn won a prize for singing back home in Ocean Falls where she grew up and sang with MUSSOC, the University of British Columbia’s musical society, while she studied for her degree in social work. When the Raging Grannies became part of her life, Robyn raised her voice to sing out for a better world.
Like many a Granny, Robyn has written her share of the songs in their repertoire, songs that address the issues of the day, climate change or political corruption or both. Her latest goes like this: “Hang down your heads, you Liberals; Hang down your heads in shame; You promised us transparency; Instead we got Deletagate.” The lines may not scan but they do make the point.
As one of the founders of the Vancouver Raging Grannies, and their current ringleader, as she calls herself, Robyn is valued for more than her songwriting skills. Perhaps her most valuable contribution to the Grannies is the ability to guide and direct this rambunctious collective of older women, who bring their own experience, attitudes and opinions to the task of making the world a better place.
Her story as an activist parallels the rise of the peace movement. In 1960, as the Cold War escalated, government was under pressure to allow nuclear warheads into Canada. In response to the threat of nuclear war, the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace was established. “It was a motherhood issue,” Robyn says. “As mothers, we had to be for peace and disarmament.”
Among the 6,000 Canadians who joined the Voice of Women, Robyn found Doris McNab. The two mothers raising their families in West Vancouver embarked on a lifelong friendship.
The spectre of nuclear annihilation did not go away, despite the efforts of Robyn and Doris and the Voice of Women. In the 1980s, the Greenham Women’s Peace Camp was set up to protest the presence of nuclear missiles on British soil. On the other side of the world, nuclear-powered naval vessels in Victoria Harbour were met by a flotilla of old ladies wearing their granny get-ups, complete with goofy hats. They called themselves the Raging Grannies.
Doris was inspired – non-violent protest powered by humour was right up her alley – and gathered her cohorts in the Voice of Women, Robyn among them, together. In 1987, around a kitchen table in West Vancouver, the Vancouver Raging Grannies were born.
The Vancouver Grannies were designated “a low level threat to national security” at the infamous APEC summit held in Vancouver in 1997 where non-violent protesters were pepper-sprayed. “We were very thrilled about that,” Robyn remembers, “and to receive the Vancouver Citizen Peace Award in 2004.”
On the North Shore, the Grannies joined the protest against a proposal to build condos in Lynn Canyon Park, singing, “There are trees, trees, mighty living trees; In our park, in our park; There are trees, trees; See them when you please; In our Lynn Canyon Park.” These days they join with the Suzuki Elders, collaborating on environmental issues across the generations. “We believe we can make our point through music and humour,” says Robyn. “If you make people laugh, they’re more willing to hear the message. It works for politics and for dispelling stereotypes, aging, for instance. You’re never too old to be an activist.”
Robyn, the sole remaining founding member of the Vancouver Raging Grannies, will introduce the documentary, Granny Power, at West Vancouver Memorial Library on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. She will extend the invitation that inspired women all over the world to become Raging Grannies: “Come join us in changing the world. Peace and justice will be our reward.”
Laura Anderson works with and for seniors on the North Shore. 778-279-2275 [email protected]
