“Raging Grannies” Pay A Musical Visit To Portland City Council
Portland, Oregon is taking divestment to a whole other level—with a decision by the city council to remove the city’s investment from all corporations.
Until now, campaigners have been lobbying Portland’s council to divest from particular companies that they see as doing damage, principally to human rights and the environment. The campaigners’ most recent targets were US bank Wells Fargo, because of its investments in the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Caterpillar, which they say make some of the bulldozers that have harmed Palestinians in the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Oregonian reports.
On April 5, the long-running campaign by local people culminated in sung testimony (fast forward to 48:36) by a group of older ladies called themselves the Raging Grannies, all of whom wore eye-catching hats.
Like all good protest songs, the piece they’d composed returned repeatedly to a chorus that had other people in the room joining in:
Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
The people or the profiteers, which side are you on?
Read more at Quartz.
