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QuickTake:
The eclectic group of senior social justice advocates gathered to mark the beginning of Banned Book Week and to play songs with parody lyrics that tackled everything from reading to DEI to climate change.
Wearing brightly colored sweaters and hats strung up with Christmas lights, and carrying a collection of handheld acoustic instruments, the Raging Grannies of Eugene performed in front of the Eugene Public Library to mark the first day of Banned Book Week.
Celebrating the right to literary freedom and protesting book bans in other states, the group of 14 played parody renditions of songs ranging from “Row Row Row Your Boat” to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Their spin on the lyrics emphasized the importance of reading and alluded to other hot button topics, such as climate change, censorship, and DEI — the abbreviation for diversity, equity and inclusion.
To the tune of “Oh! Susanna,” the women sang, “They tried to ban ‘The Giver,’ and picked on ‘Gender Queer.’ They tried to kill the mockingbird, but all those books are here,” alluding to some of the titles of books banned in other states such as Florida.
The Eugene chapter is one of a loosely organized international movement of Raging Grannies that began in Canada, when a group of women protested nuclear submarines outside of Vancouver.
Linda Ague, organizer for the Raging Grannies of Eugene, was once a middle school librarian in Eugene. Now retired, she spends her time volunteering with Friends of Eugene Public Library and organizing events such as this.
“It’s just so much fun for us. I mean, there’s so much opportunity for doom scrolling, there’s so many ways to get down about what’s going on in the country,” Ague said. “We’re certainly not at the level of Jimmy Kimmel. We’re much softer, just as angry, just as interested in bringing it to the people.”
