Granny Activism

In 14 months, Doris "Granny D" Haddock, a 90-year-old great-grandmother of 12 from Dublin, New Hampshire, walked 3,200 miles across the U.S. to raise public support for campaign finance reform. Doris departed Los Angeles on January 1, 1999, attracting followers and lecturing all along the way. The dominant environmental feature, she said in a phone interview, was urban sprawl: "I don't know how anybody operates without a car, unless they're like me and don't mind walking 10 miles per day." Asked about the link between campaign finance reform and environmental protection, she replied, "It's very difficult to get things taken care of environmentally, because many polluters have paid lots of money to politicians to keep things the way they are." Approximately 2,000 supporters of all ages from around the nation, including a handful of pro-reform U.S. Congress members and this author, joined her on February 29th, 2000, for the last leg of her journey, from the Arlington Cemetery to the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

To celebrate Earth Day, Doris returned on April 21 to the Capitol, where she and supporters unfurled banners and spoke out against the erosion of environmental protections by corporate campaign contributions. "Our elected leaders are consumed by the need to raise election funds from special interests, and they no longer are able to represent the needs of the people or our ravaged Earth," Doris said. Because public protest is not permitted inside the building, all were arrested but released that night, and were awaiting trial at press time.

To read more about Doris's work, see www.grannyd.com. To contact your representatives about campaign finance reform and environmental protection, call the Capitol Switchboard, 202/224-3121.