Category Archives: Racism

White Country

Tune: White Christmas
By Hinda Kipnis
White Country

I’m dreaming of a white country
Where only billionaires rule.
They’re so clever and bri-ight
And always ri-ight.
We the people are just fooled.

I’m dreaming of a white country
Where the-e wealthy own the place.
Where folks of color just listen
And make the place glisten
For our superior white race.

I’m dreaming of a white country
Where the one percent need more and more.
For their power so hollow
They need people to follow,
Be cannon fodder for their wars.

The Poor People’s Campaign: A Moral Revival

By: Vicki Ryder
Tune: Acres of Clams

There’s something that’s troubling the Grannies,
So we toss and we turn late at night,
Wond’rin’ why there are so many hungry
In a land that’s so rich, that ain’t right!

Chorus:
It’s time for a moral revival so
We’ve joined the Poor People’s Campaign
To end poverty in our nation
We’ve joined the Poor People’s Campaign.

The government spends all our taxes
For fighting in lands far away,
Killing women and kids without reason;
It’s no wonder our hair’s turning gray.

They’re drilling and fracking and dumping
To fatten their wallets, you see,
They don’t really care if we live or die
It’s enough to make Mother Earth weep.

Equality for all the people
They say is the law of the land;
But our system is blatantly racist
So together for justice we’ll stand.

Chorus

Gaggle Black Lives Matter

By Jo-Hanna Read

Oh, we’re a gaggle of Grannies
Urging you off of your fannies.
We’re raising our voice–
We want a new choice–
BLACK LIVES MATTER!!

Police misconduct unending,
The constitution you’re bending.
When you shoot to kill
Does it give you a thrill?
BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Whether it’s a young man,
A mother or a child,
Don’t draw your guns and shoot them,
You must stop running wild!

So, join this gaggle of Grannies–
Get up off of your fannies.
We’re telling you now,
We’re angry and how!
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We really mean it:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We mean precisely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
We will say it very nicely:
BLACK LIVES MATTER!
Read our lips (mouth):
BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Do Not Despair

Tune: Old McDonald Had a Farm
By: Laurie Rostholder

The Brits and Obama wiretapped me
That’s what 45 says.
A Muslim English conspiracy
Against the future prez.
With a tweet tweet here,
And a tweet tweet there,
Twittering bullshit everywhere.
The Brits and Obama wiretapped me,
That’s what 45 says.

Pruitt says it’s not CO2,
Making our planet warm.
And the EPA must go,
As it does corporate profits harm.
Islands shrinking here,
Glaciers melting there,
Climate chaos everywhere.
Pruitt says it’s not CO2,
Making our planet warm.

Breitbart Bannon wants the system to blow.
He’s tired of everyone.
A war with China would be a great show.
That’s his idea of fun.
Neo Nazis here.
White supremacists there.
Racist hate mongers everywhere.
Breitbart Bannon wants the system to blow.
He’s tired of everyone.

The Ryan Death Plan shrinks Medicaid,
And makes old people pay more.
The rich will get the greatest care,
While millions are shown the door.
With more death here.
Bankruptcies there.
Crappy health care everywhere.
The Ryan Death Plan shrinks medicaid,
And makes old people pay more.

Rick Perry is the chosen head,
Of a department he once called Oops.
To think he’s in charge of nuclear waste,
Should give us all the poops.
With no more progress on energy that lasts.
Innovative research a thing of the past.
Rick Perry is the chosen head ,
Of a department he once called Oops.

And here’s one that we shouldn’t  forget,
Our friend named Vladimir.
This happy guy seems far away,
But he’s really very near.
Creating distraction without working hard.
Drinking vodka to our discord.
And here’s one that we shouldn’t forget.
Our friend named Vladimir.

There’s so much more to sing about.
And commitments we must make.
To prevent our country going to hell.
And keep each other safe.
Undocumented, Queer, Black, Trans, and Brown,
Muslims, Jews, Women, all our old and young.
We stand up for what’s so unfair.
And we will not despair.

Resist!   Resist!  Resist!  Resist!

Ode to Indictment

 

  • tunes: Peace, Peace and Old McDonald Had a Farm
    lyrics by Carol Farnham

REFRAIN:
Peace, Peace, Peace, Peace
Police brutality must cease,
We must learn to live together,
Peace, Peace, Peace

  • Tune: Old McDonald Had a Farm:

Officer Wilson pulled his gun
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Young Michael Brown, he did run
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
He turned around and got shot dead
With so many bullets in the head
He lay on the ground for hours and bled
No, No, No, No NO (he didn’t have to die!)

Woodcarver Williams crossed the street
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Walking to some inner beat
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,
Policeman shouted STOP, now isn’t that clear
But deaf in one ear, Williams did not hear
So the cop pulled his gun and shot him dead
No, No, No, No, NO (He didn’t have to die!)

Eric Garner, he was broke
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Sold cigarettes to poor street folk
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Cop came along, said move along
Garner was slow, and didn’t leave
Copy choked him ‘till he couldn’t breathe.
No, No, No No, NO (He didn’t have to die!)

When the Grand Jury won’t indict
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
Good people must speak out and fight,
Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
To end police brutality
For justice and equality
For the future of humanity
Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo, Yo

REFRAIN:
Peace, Peace, Peace, Peace
Police brutality must cease
We must learn to live together
Peace, Peace, Peace

White Privilege

  • by the Bellingham Grannies
  • tune: Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Chorus: Oh, What a beautiful morning!
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feeling
Everything’s going my way.

When I walk through a store I’m not followed.
When I walk through a store I’m not followed.
I’m never ignored when I’m waiting in line,
Or shown disrespect when I go out to dine.

If I stand on the street, I’m not loitering.
If I stand on the street, I’m not loitering.
Police don’t arrest me when I drive my car,
But whenever I need them, they’re always not far.

The textbooks are full of my history.
The textbooks are full of my history.
The dolls in the toy stores look so much like me,
And so do the people I see on TV.

My friends can use drugs if they want to.
My friends can use drugs if they want to.
They’re rarely arrested, they never do time,
Their records are clean and their futures look fine.

Oh, what a beautiful morning.
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I’ve got a beautiful feeling
White privilege has made my day!

Profiling Opera

  • by Monica Zucker
  • tune: Mack the Knife

Oh, police have perfect vision
To distinguish wrong from right.
Their decisions are made easy—
It’s like telling black from white.

Oh, the drug war gives incentive
For a thousand stops a day.
First they cuff you, then they search you.
You’re not guilty, but you pay.

Don’t go driving in the evening
In a white suburban block
With your shiny new red auto
Or they’ll put you in the dock.

Totem carver, deaf in one ear,
The Policeman called out “STOP!”
He didn’t hear him, just kept walking,
Do you think he heard the shots?

If they stop you on suspicion,
Don’t talk back or try to run.
You could end up on a morgue slab—
“We were sure he had a gun.”

Oh, police have perfect vision
To distinguish wrong from right.
Their decisions are made easy –
It’s like telling black from white.

Dreaming

  • by Monica Zucker
  • tune: White Christmas

I’m dreaming of a white country,
Just like the fairy tales we knew,
Where the whole world’s Christian,
And children listen,
And do what you tell them to.

I’m dreaming we can block entry
Of those whose skin’s a different hue.
Asians, Arabs, others—
They’re not our brothers—
They could be Muslim or Hindu!

I’m certain that our whole nation
Should always look and think the same.
If religions vary
From the ordinary
Then we should kick them off our plane.

I’m dreaming of those secret closets
Where all the homosexuals stay,
And if bashers pick fights
Gays don’t demand rights,
They just don’t tell us that they’re gay.

I’m dreaming that there’s no more homeless.
Why can’t we sweep them off the street?
They don’t get my pity
If they mess my city.
Freedom’s fine—but not on my concrete.

I’m dreaming of a white nation,
Where the majority is right.
May our suburbs be merry and bright!
And may all our neighborhoods be white!