Action Alerts

BlackPride4 - Pack the Court, Drop the Charges!


February 5-9, Franklin County Municipial Court, 375 S. High St.
Despite widespread outrage at their trumped-up charges, Wriply, Ashley, and Kendall of the #BlackPride4 are still scheduled to go to trial from February 5th-9th, 2018.
On Monday February 5th, we call community members to rally for the #BlackPride4 when they most need us. This is the defining moment in not just their cases, but the rest of their lives. We will be holding an action before trial proceedings begin that afternoon around 1:00. Afterwards, we will pack the courthouse and we will CONTINUE to pack the courthouse everyday of trial week. We must show our city that we will not sit idly by as Black queer and trans activists are brutalized by the state. See us on Facebook.

Keep Wayne Wild Training

Close up of someone's fingers typing on a computer keyboard

Saturday, February 3, 10-2pm
Northern Lights Branch Library, 4093 Cleveland Ave.
If you've ever looked for information on the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' website you have likely run into some challenges! One of the biggest obstacles for the public is accessing and learning to use the Risk Based Data Management System (RBDMS), which makes it difficult for many people to learn about environmental threats that may impact their communities.This is a serious social justice issue.

In this training, Buckeye Environmental Network Executive Director Teresa Mills will ensure participants are able to access the necessary software and will show us how to navigate it, so that we can get the information we need to protect our communities and natural resources.

GET FREE: Join the Criminal Justice Ballot Fight

Young black woman with long brown hair and a long sleeved black shirt pointing to a sign up on a wall with lots of black writing on it

Wednesday, Jan 31, 7-9pm
Summit on 16th United Methodist Church, 82 E 16th Ave.
You don't set 10,000 people free without training a few volunteers. If you're ready to stop ~talking~ about making change and start taking ACTION, this is for you. 

The Ohio Student Association and partners are launching a ballot initiative that would change felony drug possession charges to misdemeanors and make it possible for thousands to apply for release from prison, get their records expunged, and return to their jobs and families. The savings from not locking up people who are addicted to drugs will be invested in drug rehab programs that are actually proven to work. 

We want a criminal justice system that is aligned with our values and ACTUALLY rehabilitates people into society, but we're not going to get that without a fight. 

We need 600,000 signatures across the state to get the Safe and Healthy Communities Initiative on the ballot in November 2018, and we can't do it without you. 

Worshiping Power - a book talk by Peter Gelderloos

Cover of a book, the background is like a sun with rays spreading out but is black and gray. Words in white say Worshipping Power, an anarachist view of early state formation

Tuesday, Jan 30, 6-9pm
Northwood-High building, 2231 N. High St. room 100
Worshiping Power surveys a wide range of research responding to the question of where states came from, looking at the causes of politogenesis and tracing different pathways of state development. How did the State co-evolve with different models of the family, religion, warfare, commerce, and economic production?

Multiple theories of state formation are reviewed and contested in order to offer a multilineal framework in which emergent states may follow a variety of models depending on interpolity relations within regional systems, institutional "handles" that permit greater development of hierarchy within local religious and kinship systems, and the presence of interregional networks of material and spiritual commerce. 

The book also explores successive generations of state formation, as emergent states seek leverage over changing popular values that experience an "anti-authoritarian shift" in the course of rebellions against prior, despotic states, leading to the development of democratic or egalitarian states.

About the Author:

Fundraiser for Edith Espinal

Blue and white photo with a family, two young boys, a young woman, a husband and a woman all with Latino look to them with word Sanctuary at top

Friday, January 26, 2018, 7-9pm
Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.
Edith Espinal is one of the many immigrants who has chosen Sanctuary as a form of resistance against deportation-- Join ISO Columbus and co-sponsors at a space of resistance: Columbus Mennonite Church, where Edith is in Sanctuary. This will be a unique event as Edith invites you to that space to share your music, share your art, share your stories-- while raising funds for Edith's legal fees. We'll be here to support Edith, her resistance and the broader movement for immigrants' justice. 
There will be an open-mic open to all to share their experiences and struggles that intersect with immigrants' justice. If you are interested in donating/selling artwork and/or food, please fill out these forms

Marxist Classics: Origins of Family, Private Property, & State

Orange book cover that says Private Property and The State by Frederick Engels and a black and white photo of something at the bottom

Thursday, January 25, 2018, 7-9pm
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church and University Center, 30 W Woodruff Ave, Columbus, Ohio 43210
Join us for the fourth and final installment of our Marxist Classics Study Series, as we read and discuss Friedrich Engels' "The Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State." Engels' work is foundational for Marxist theories of state as well as women's oppression.

The full work is available for free on the Marxist Internet Archive: 

Join us for the annual Sierra Club New Year Social!

Gray background with white letters is cursive writing New Year Social

Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 6:00 – 8:30 PM.
Social hour: Meet & greet fellow Sierra Club members, activists, staff, and volunteer leaders. Beverages (soft drinks & some wine) and light appetizers included. Green goody baskets will be available for raffle chances. Review Sierra Club Central Ohio Group's 2018 accomplishments and discuss the challenges, plans, and volunteer needs for 2018. Please bring your questions and suggestions. Location: OSU Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High St., Columbus. First Floor, Room 100.   Free parking available in the rear of the building off of Northwood Ave. Please park in spaces labeled "R" to avoid parking violations; or use metered spaces along High St. or take COTA bus #2 or #31.  RSVP if you can via FaceBook.  Northwood Building, 2231 N. High St., Columbus 43201. 

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