For the last installment of my musings into the fascinating underbelly of U.S. radical culture, I decided to do a dual overview of two groups which I found equally surprising and amusing. Meaning, when I found both of these spirited and exceedingly campy groups, I simultaneously gasped and giggled. Both groups are similar in their styles of protest performance and although they are composed of a mostly white demographic, were nonetheless remarkable in their ingenuity. It really has been truly delightful and intriguing to see what's going on in certain leftist cultures in the states and these two sects are no exception of this. So without further adieu, here's the scoop folks...
THE RAGING GRANNIES
According to their wikipedia page, the Raging Grannies are an international social justice activist organization comprised of women all old enough to, well, be grandmothers. The grannies identify as activists in some capacity and typically, dress up in clothes that mock stereotypes of older women while singing political songs at protests. California's raging grannies site www.raginggrannies.com lists some standard granny activity as:
"to court the press, to shock with unladylike tactics, to be independent of any other organization, and to use street theater, humor, satire and props to get our message across: world peace, feminist values, social justice, and equal rights for all."
Groups of grannies are called "gaggles" and as discovered on the site Raging Grannies International, there's active gaggles all over the world. Wikipedia says that the first granny gaggle was founded in Victoria, Canada in the winter of 1986/87 and was organized in protest of nuclear energy. Many gaggles' activism centers around environmental causes and peace. Their philosophy, which is described on Raging Grannies International , is explicitly nonviolent and they strive to keep their protests peaceful and filled with laughter. Also shared on this site is the grannies' inspiration for their activism, which stems from the ancient tradition of divine older women (found in many cultures around the world) who advised, mediated, and fought for what was right.
What I love about the grannies is the sheer humour and satire they employ in their activism and essentially, use to their advantage. Their work is powerful and yet they don’t take themselves too seriously, and seem fully embrace the spectacle of what they do. Furthermore, they’re GRANNIES for christ sake!! If their actions aren’t a blatant retaliation to the commonplace ageism or exclusionary nature of activism towards older folks, I don’t know what is. They’re inciting a visibility and respect for elders in the radical movement that is often tragically neglected.Old folks can be radical too! The grannies assert this with style. I mean, what’s not to love about a group of troublesome grannies clad in vibrantly colored flower pinned hats, patterned shawls, and parasols yelling “break these walls down”?! Nothing, really. To our great pleasure, the RMP collective will have the honor of interviewing at least 2 gaggles around the U.S. To see the grannies in action and probably one of the most adorable/endearing videos you'll ever set your eyes on click here!
and now time for...
THE RADICAL CHEERLEADERS
Christine Ro writes for bitchmedia.com, that Radical Cheerleading began as a movement in the mid 1990s by sisters Cara, Aimee, and Coleen Jennings who got the idea for it from the inspiring street theater and actions they witnessed at a Chicago anarchist convention in 1996. Cara Jennings recalled that she noticed men were dominating the bullhorn and imagined what it would like to have chants and rallying cries led by women and queer folks. Thus, radical cheerleading was conceived and became a form of ritualized street performance that, as stated by wikipedia, combined elements of non-violent direct action and street theater while ironically appropriating the aesthetics of cheerleading. Cheers would commonly support left wing and feminist causes and cheerleaders would often subvert gender norms though costumes. Many cheerleaders were self proclaimed anarchists and identified as trans or queer. Radical cheerleaders would most often make appearances at protests or rallies, but sometimes would perform at music venues to bring awareness of political issues to unsuspecting crowds.
One description of the cheerleaders on radcheers.tripod.com, perfectly describes the essence of what they do and reads: “Radical Cheerleading is Protest+Performance. It's activism with pom poms and middle fingers extended. It's screaming FUCK CAPITALISM while doing a split.” Tricky, the site’s author, goes on to explain the real punk influences of the movement whether it be through the use of plastic bags for pom poms or the dissemination of cheers through zines.
Ro notes the peak of radical cheerleading to be in the early 2000s, with squads all over the U.S and even in Europe. Despite this, Ro reports on the fizzling out of the movement to pretty much extinction now- mind a brief resurgence in 2010. She sites the lack of racial diversity of many squads as contributing to their demise. Sadly, I myself, was unable to find any active radical cheerleading squads in the U.S. It’s damn shame too. Radical cheerleaders represent a creativeness and playfulness in social justice activism that I think desperately needs to be kept alive. Not only were they super anarchist in their roots, but femme/trans centric and funny as hell. Rad cheerleaders sought to give a mouthpiece to those in political actions who were often silenced and overlooked. As a AFAB nonbinary, brown queer I can attest to the erasure I’ve felt in activist spaces dominated by aggressive masculinity and bro-ish men. Radical cheerleading was resisting just this and doing it with humor, sass, and pure aerobic/acrobatic ability. I wholeheartedly commend what they did and will eagerly await and hope for their return- which will hopefully be soon! If you want to take a gander at some rad ass cheerleaders click here.
