Read a Peace Report- Granny D speaks at D.C. Counter-Inaugural

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Granny D speaks at D.C. Counter-Inaugural
an article by Tony Dominski

With a Lincoln-esque eloquence, Doris "Granny D" Haddock [http://www.grannyd.com/] [http://democracyweek.org] spoke of the necessity and inevitably of renewing democracy in America on the occasion of the January 2005 Counter-Inaugural protesting the Bush presidency. Speaking in Malcolm X Park, in Washington D.C. she said: "The limousines of monstrous presumption whisk by us today, but we need not feel powerless, for the real power of history is always in the people's hearts and hands."

Granny D prophesized that today’s activists would be honored in history with this epitaph: "They saved the forests and mountains, the oceans, streams, the air, the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, they saved our ancient hope for a just world, for a peaceful world, where the highest potential of every human might be understood as the greatest resource of every society and nation."

Granny D, at the age of 89, began a walk across the country to demonstrate her concern for campaign finance reform, walking ten miles each day for fourteen months and making speeches along the way. When the New Hampshire Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate dropped out of the race in June 2004, she surprised everyone by deciding to challenge the incumbent at the age of 95!

As part of her Counter-Inaugural speech Granny outlined Gandhi’s five principles of non-violent resistance: 1) know the truth; 2) petition authority for a redress of grievances; 3) involve the conscience of the wider community; 4) if the powers that be will not remedy the problem, show the extent of your moral concern through personal sacrifice; and 5) finally, to graciously allow the powerful to save face in the final settlement because you must love them and meet them again.

In a statement reminiscent of Martin Luther King, Granny D said: "I have been in their jails and it's not so bad." Her personal example of sacrifice and non-violence is a powerful impetus towards a Culture of Peace.

DISCUSSION

Question(s) related to this article:

Does research show that nonviolence works?,

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Latest reader comment:

Did the writings on nonviolence by Gene Sharp help inspire the movements of the Arab Spring in Egypt and elsewhere?

This is debatable. The New York Times said "yes" and some Egyptians, for example, the blogger Karim Alrawi say "no".

However, it should be recognized that the ideas of nonviolent resistance have a way of transcending borders and centuries. Nelson Mandela was influenced by Martin Luther King who was influenced in turn by Mahatma Gandhi who was influenced in turn by Henry David Thoreau.

[Note added later: The blog of Karim Alrawi is no longer available on the Internet, but see instead the blog of Hossam El-Hamalawy who says that the Palestinians "have been the major source of inspiration, not Gene Sharp, whose name I first heard in my life only in February after we toppled Mubarak already and whom the clueless NYT moronically gives credit for our uprising."

This report was posted on January 29, 2005.