Raging grannies
Founded in 1987 in Victoria, British Columbia, The Raging Grannies is an activist organization of elderly women who use satirical songs and chants to advocate for various social and political causes, from climate action to anti-war efforts. There are now over 60 Raging Grannies chapters across the world. According to a protester who refers to herself as Granny Ruth, who is part of the Palo Alto chapter ,says the group originally focused on climate issues and anti-war advocacy after 9/11.
“We [the United States] went right into the Iraq War, and we [The Raging Grannies] started going to San Francisco for the big rallies in 2003 and that’s what really got us going,” Granny Ruth said. “… organizing anti war actions was a little bit beyond our ability…so we started joining actions [with other organizations for protests].”
One of the Raging Grannies’ most notable advocacy tactics is their use of chants to catchy tunes and theatrical performances.
“… Getting people to sing along is powerful, and we know that from people like Pete Seeger … who during the Vietnam era got people out singing,” Ruth said. “It really built solidarity and made people feel like they could be part of a movement.”
Let’s Talk Unite
Let’s Talk Unite is a local student-run non profit dedicated to combating political polarization by stimulating dialogue across the political spectrum. Charlotte Kofman, co-president of Let’s Talk Unite and junior at The Kehillah School in Palo Alto, said that the organization mainly focuses on hosting different events — such as workshops, digital resources, and their “Let’s Talk Polarization” podcast — for teens to learn about how they can actively fight polarization.
“Our goal is to give people civil discourse tools and allow them to check their own biases, and we do that through workshops at different high schools and middle schools, and with the City of Palo Alto,” Kofman said.
Such workshops teach the younger generation to interact with the political sphere on social media and also to widen their political perspective by interacting with people with different views.
“Those workshops give people skills that they can then employ on social media when they’re looking at extremist points of views and when they’re engaging with people who don’t agree with them, because that’s something we encourage people to do in our workshops, they can use those civil, disparate skills to talk to them, kind of widen their political perspective,” Kofman said.
Kofman also said that Let’s Talk Unite encourages teens to participate in political dialogue across the political spectrum and express their own opinions. One way they do this is through their annual editorial contest, which pushes teens to research, ponder, and express their opinions on pressing issues.
“A lot of what youth voice in politics is what’s on social media, but with our editorial contest, it gives high schoolers the ability to like share what their opinions are, and to read what other high schoolers are thinking that’s not influenced by algorithms or social media restrictions or what’s just like being fed to them,” Kofman said.