The women break into song. They start off slow, with a dubiously tonal “Let There Be Peace on Earth,” but hit their stride with “Ain’t Gonna Study War No More.” After a few verses, it turns into a call-and-response with the crowd. “Sing with us!” calls Paula, a commanding brunette with a “No Drones” shirt. The colorfully striped banner the women hold reads “RAGING GRANNIES” in large black lettering.

My mother wanted to stay in America. She would say later that when she got off the plane, she felt like even the air in America was free. My father thought we should go back to China. After all, the Chinese government had given him the scholarship to come to America to get his PhD, and he was supposed to go back and use his knowledge to help the motherland. This was the

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