Human Rights
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We don’t need members of the Ohio Guard — who are also members of our families — to be turned on our communities.
We do not want or need a military presence on the streets of Ohio. Our communities can solve our own problems by working together.
As much as conservatives have tried to make the rest of America believe they’ve shed their white supremacist bigoted spectacles, a group of Young Republican national leaders hoodwinked us once again.
On a local level, will Ohio State’s new “intellectual diversity center” – the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society – make its students and devoted alumni also one day look like absolute fools for supporting Thee?
Not in leaked texts mind you, but through veiled far right and pro-white tendencies. No doubt – and this is for all left and left-leaning OSU alumni – your beloved alma mater is making a hard pivot to the right. Trump investigations, Ohio Senate Bill 1, the closing of all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) offices, and Anduril (killer robots) have laid the groundwork. But when it comes to actual boots-on-the-Oval, the Chase Center could become the command center as its first academic year began this semester.
Human Rights First’s Innovation Lab announced the launch of ReadyNow!, a free and secure mobile app designed to help immigrants prepare for possible detention and act quickly in moments of crisis. The app empowers users to create an emergency plan to notify pre-selected contacts; arrange emergency plans for childcare, medical needs, legal support, and more.
A stark but unsurprising contrast in the philosophy of governance and civil rights enforcement is emerging between the proposals of Project 2025 and the grassroots efforts of the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity.
While Project 2025 seeks to curtail federal oversight and reshape the civil service, the Ohio initiative, much like the historic 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, aims to intensify and reinforce the accountability of government officials who’ve committed civil rights violations. The Protecting Ohioans’ Constitutional Rights citizen-led ballot amendment initiative was cleared for signature gathering earlier this year. The initiative seeks to restore a fundamental check on government power by allowing Ohioans to hold public officials and entities accountable in civil court.
Organizers from across the state held a press conference marking two years of war on the people of Gaza and renewing calls for No New Bonds - divestment of taxpayer money from the state of Israel and its genocidal project against the Palestinian people.
“It’s been two years of destruction of my family and my people. Two years of starvation and dirty water. Two years of gathering pieces of bodies in grocery bags. Two years of kill shots on children. And two years of watching my elected officials green light all of it, a genocide funded and supported by my government.”, read a representative from the Baladna, the Palestine Society of Columbus.
At least 60 people packed into the gallery of the state capital building in downtown Columbus as the rain fell steadily on the streets outside. Organizers had planned to demonstrate on the steps of the capital, but weather moved the event indoors.
James Jones is a 54-year-old disabled Army veteran. After four years of active duty and four in the reserves, Jones says he has a “multitude” of health care problems.
“There’s PTSD, a right arm injury, my right shoulder, chronic rhinitis from toxic exposure during the Gulf War, dental,” he says. That’s why he depends on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system, the nation’s largest.
Jones, a federal employee from Watauga County, North Carolina, is also one of the 25 percent of vets who live in rural areas. And care for these rural veterans is now at serious risk as Republicans push to cut rural health care and privatize the VA. Ohio, which has one of the largest veteran populations overall in the country, could be especially impacted.
The Ohio Immigrant Alliance is an organization of immigrants and allies working together to build a stronger state, because Ohio is home. We need leaders who understand that debate is the cornerstone of a healthy democracy, and real solutions come from the people, not politicians. The truth is, we know what we need to create healthy communities and a rational immigration policy. Politicians need to listen to us, not the other way around.
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ICE’s television ad enticing Central Ohio law enforcement with a $50,000 sign-on bonus claims officers in sanctuary cities have been “forced to stand down.” Columbus, as most everyone knows, is a sanctuary city even if no formal declaration was ever made. But Columbus, that has the most immigrants per capita in Ohio, is in a red state. And you don’t have to be Cesar Chavez to realize what side most of the Columbus police are on.
Back in 2017, Mayor Ginther ordered Columbus police to never ask a person’s immigration status or apprehend people if suspected of being an immigrant unless ordered by a court. But a question lingers in the minds of activists: Have some Columbus police and Franklin County deputies been surreptitiously helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by calling its snitch line and thus breaking city law?
I had just finished this cartoon and was waiting on one of my proofers to give it the all-clear from typos when the news about Jimmy Kimmel came down.
The fuckers canceled Kimmel. The news is new, and I’m going to draw on this tomorrow, but I’m going to write a little about it now. I’m pissed. Is our democracy over?
Nexstar, one of the biggest owners of local TV stations in the country, including 28 ABC affiliates, said it will pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the immediate future because of comments Jimmy Kimmel made during one of his monologues.
Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened to “take action” against ABC affiliates because of the comments. Now, ABC has “suspended” Kimmel’s show indefinitely.
Carr issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.”