Feature

Historical photo of the time before the bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was removed by order of the Columbus City Council on July 8, 2020.  In the long shadow of the setting sun, the statue of the OG Colonizer Christopher Columbus looms over a protest of police killings of African Americans at the Columbus City Hall on June 11, 2020, by De-Escalate Ohio Now! Heartbeat Movement, Protect Our Stolen Treasures, and BLM, significantly the descendants of the survivors of the colonization of Africa and the Americas. 
Video of statue removal-10TV

The following story has three sources, a local attorney acting as a protest legal observer and two current Columbus police officers. All insisted on remaining anonymous.

After all that has happened, one would think our Columbus police would have thought twice before arresting more peaceful protesters who are simply exercising their rights.

But on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, June 23-24, 2020, video and eye-witness evidence show certain units of Columbus police once again utilized the “jump out” strategy to target protesters and perhaps deliberately target protester leadership.

For instance, on Tuesday night in front of City Hall several marked police cruisers suddenly raced on the scene to confront peaceful protesters. Unprovoked officers emerged from their cruisers to arrest without warning at least nine protesters in just a few minutes. The protesters were simply holding up signs, chanting and not blocking traffic.

Love is Letting Go of Fearis the title of a small book  with a big message. You can think of love and fear as sides of a coin: while the one side is dominant, the other side is negated.

In our current situation, there is a lot of fear going around concerning the COVID virus. But is it rational?

If it’s true that love and fear, light and dark, life and death are sides of a coin, we have the ability to decide which side of the coin we are going to turn up. It’s a choice. Yes, even life and death because we make choices every day that effect the quality and quantity of our life. And we can choose to NOT be afraid.

Remember the Law of Attraction: “that which is like unto itself is drawn.” What we focus our energy and attention on is what we manifest in our life.

In the wee hours last Saturday morning, Columbus Police discussed using deadly force against anti-police brutality demonstrators.

Columbus Police Lieutenant and SWAT Commander Paul Ohl wrote a summary to Deputy Chief D.C. Becker requesting expanded guidelines on the use of “deadly force” in Columbus on May 30, following four days of downtown area anti-police brutality demonstrations.

Ohl ended his report to Becker noting: “If a counter-sniper is required to stop that deadly threat, I would be glad to deploy those resources.” Ohl’s report revealed the presence of “six counter-snipers” who “occupy overwatch positions at HQ, Short North area, and Broad and Front areas.”

In Ohl’s assessment, the Columbus Police “Field forces” were too large and ineffective in controlling protesters. Ohl wrote: “There was a total lack of coordination with regard to operation.”

Ohl has worked for the Columbus Police since 1989. He suggested to Becker that, “Dispersal orders should be given three times after a plan for non-compliance is in place. If the orders are disregarded, as many arrests as possible should be made. There’s no substitute for decisive action.”

The following are statements about the death of another African American at the hands of those sworn to protect us and the local and nationwide protests still ongoing.

My message to protesters is simple, will their turn up be a turn out in November?

Adrienne Hood’stragic story is well known and far too common. The mother’s 23-year-old son Henry Green was murdered by Columbus Police in June of 2016.

“The last few days have been emotional roller coaster. I am angry at what I saw, I ask the Lord, “Just how much more are we supposed to take!”

Infant mortality, while being a tragedy on its own, is a bellwether statistic that indicates deep structural issues – structural issues that won’t go away with all the training and education in the world. 

On February 13 at West High School, the  Mayor Ginther in his ‘State of the City’ address rolled out what he dubbed his “Equity Agenda.” 

“Racism is real,” Ginther said, looking solemn. “Discrimination is real. And they impact the lives of many of our neighbors every day.” 

The leading edge of Ginther’s “Equity Agenda” is the push to lower infant mortality in Columbus, or the rate at which infants die before their first birthday. While tragic in its own rite, this issue is also often used as a measuring stick for societies – disparity in healthcare access, housing, nutrition, and many other aspects of life are reflected in infant mortality rates. 

Let’s spare a recital of COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic’s facts and figures. Simply put, they are sickening, staggering, scary, unprecedented, unfathomable, unimaginable, hellish, horrific, historic. The human suffering combined with the collapsing economy finds one of the greatest countries on earth quaking under enormous challenges, the most pressing of which may be hunger.

The virus has frayed the fragile fabric that holds America together. Loss of employment leads to lost income, leaving little left over for even basics like shelter and food. It reveals a tattered and torn safety net that subjects the vulnerable not only to the illness, but also to the scourges of homelessness and hunger.

Naomi Klein’s No Logo exposed the insidious invasion of our psyches by the billions of dollars in carefully scripted ad messages – propaganda - designed to program our brains to accept the branding of products and services churned out by the multinational corporations that run the global consumer economy.  More recently, in the era of social media, Shoshanna Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism demonstrated how the ad industries now steal our privacy by scraping the details of our lifestyles from the apps on our cell phones to feed Big Data’s targeted marketing campaigns in their endless pursuit of profit. 

Over at The Open Shelter, they have upped their sanitation with cleanings twice a day. They are also offering hand sanitizer as soon as people walk in. Not only do people not have access to places to wash their hands, making them more susceptible to the Coronavirus but Shell Mathias worries their immune systems won’t be able to stand up as well as others

“Their bodies are already tired, they are worn down and not getting the rest they should and perhaps not getting the nutrition they need,” said Mathias, who works at The Open Shelter.

The guests at The Open Shelter have reacted well to the new procedures as a result of COVID-19.  Its supporters, old and new, have also reacted well. The shelter has received support, financially and materially, from so many individuals and groups that it has been overwhelming. They are committed to providing meals, almost always hot, to anyone who shows up. This requires supplies they do not usually have or need, such as Styrofoam to-go containers, Styrofoam bowls with lids, pre-wrapped plastic ware and lots of bottled water.

With unemployment in Ohio on the rise, more people are turning to gig work such as on-demand lawn care.

According to the Department of Labor, 272,129 people in Ohio filed for unemployment in Week Ending March 28, up 39% from the week prior. Meanwhile, on-demand lawn care gig platform, Lawn Love has reported a huge increase in applications. With 200% more Columbus residents applying to work with them in March compared to February.