Action Alerts
Suicide Prevention in Columbus is located at North Central Mental Health, 1301 North High Street, where there is plenty of parking and 24-hour security. The training for becoming a volunteer is the best training program I have ever participated in. It is 36 hours. While you will be nervous when you take the first call, you will know what to do. If you sign up to be a volunteer, and discover it's not for you, you can let it go at any time. Volunteers are people from 18 to their 80's. I've been impressed with the number of young people of high school and college (mostly OSU students) who volunteer. It is wonderful to hear a young person take a call from someone their age and help them find a path forward. COVID-19 has caused a severe shortage in volunteers who are needed for 3- or 6-hour shifts, around the clock, 24/7. Many shifts have been "covered" in the last 2 years by the only 2 paid staff members, and other times there is only 1 volunteer, when 2 or 3 are needed.
Sunday, September 5, 2021, 1:00 PM
On the 20th commemoration of the September 11th attacks, the scholars hope to reflect back on the global implications and ever-changing markers since then. The event is also a soft-launch for the newly formed International Islamophobia Studies and Research Association. Register here.
Saturday, September 4, 2021, 2:15pm
This Saturday at 2:15pm EDT, Rehumanize International's annual conference features a keynote address from Sabrina Butler-Smith, Exonerated Death Row Survivor and member of Witness to Innocence. Sabrina was a loving teenage mother when she was wrongfully convicted in the death of her nine-month-old son in Mississippi. She was later exonerated of all wrongdoing, after spending six and a half years incarcerated, two of those years on death row. She was the first woman exonerated from death row in the US. She now works to change legislation, determined to make the system better so others, especially youth, do not have to experience what she did.
Death Penalty Action is a sponsor of this conference in partnership with our allies at Rehumanize International. Rehumanize International is a nonprofit human rights organization dedicated to creating a culture of peace and life, and in so doing, seeks to bring an end to all aggressive violence against humans through education, discourse, and action.
From Win Without War: Every year, there is a “cap” on the number of refugees the United States will resettle, and that means accepting more refugees from Afghanistan could bar others seeking safety and refuge from other global crises. There’s a simple solution: instead of squeezing people fleeing unprecedented catastrophes — many we helped create — through a defective and insufficient process, the United States could simply increase the number of refugees we welcome. In fact, the United States has a history of opening its doors to people fleeing crisis: the 1980 refugee cap was set at 231,700. Representatives Barbara Lee and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez organized 66 of their colleagues to pressure the Biden administration to meet this urgent moment by increasing next year’s refugee cap to no less than 200,000. We have just a few weeks to influence the president’s decision, and that means now is the time for us to do everything we can to amplify these champions’ call.
Thursday, September 2, 7pm, Tuttle Park, 240 W. Oakland Ave.
The recent withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan was quickly followed by the rise to power of the Taliban. This stark change in the situation marks a shift in U.S. imperialism and the situation that is facing Afghan workers and peasants.
In this meeting, we will discuss recent articles covering the current situation and Afghan history to try to get a grasp of what these developments mean for the struggle against imperialism and for international socialism.
Suggested readings will be posted on this event page but are not required to participate in this discussion.
Hosted by Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists.
Facebook Event
“Texas to Ohio: Bans Off Our Bodies,” hosted by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio
Wednesday, September 1, 5pm, this on-line event requires advance registration
On September 1, one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country could go into effect — unless we do something about it. Texas’s S.B. 8 will ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy and encourages private citizens to act as “abortion bounty hunters” — allowing anyone to sue any Texan who they believe provided an abortion, or even helped a patient get an abortion, after six weeks.
Join Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio on September 1 at 5pm to learn what you can do to fight back against this law. Together, let’s reach out to friends and family and encourage them to take action and spread the word about S.B. 8.
RSVP for this event by using this link.
Hosted by Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 7:00 PM
Join Massachusetts Peace Action to learn about whistleblower Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale served in the US Air Force, participating in the drone program from 2009-2013. In July 2021, Hale was sentenced to over 3.5 years in prison, for providing The Intercept with the source materials for “The Drone Papers.” We are joined by Danaka Katovich, campaign coordinator at CODEPINK. We will discuss the case of Daniel Hale, his whistleblowing and prosecution, and more. Register here.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 7:00 PM
Join Massachusetts Peace Action to learn about whistleblower Daniel Hale. Daniel Hale served in the US Air Force, participating in the drone program from 2009-2013. In July 2021, Hale was sentenced to over 3.5 years in prison, for providing The Intercept with the source materials for “The Drone Papers.” We are joined by Danaka Katovich, campaign coordinator at CODEPINK. We will discuss the case of Daniel Hale, his whistleblowing and prosecution, and more. Register here.
After $1 trillion wasted on the Afghanistan war and 42 years of American interference in that country, we must learn the lessons. We must change course, rebuild our wounded society, and re-engage with the world on the basis of respect and equality rather than arrogance. Send your letter here.