Protest Reports
The Indigenous People's March comes to Washington today, and the snow-clad streets of the citadel of the American Empire are about to turn Red!
It might be mistaken for any other day. The slushy sidewalks are half full of sleepy eyed company men and Trump Administration apparatchiks, sliding to and fro. Those, that is, who are still showing up for their jobs.
But – then, the sound of drums in the distance, the steady beat of moccasined feet approaching. And they are about to do a stomp dance that's gonna rock this rotten country coast to coast.
Friday, January 18th, 2019 is just a day like any other day. It is a day for the true Native Nations of this continent to Stand Up for the Earth. A day to stand together for the People.
So say Native leaders gathering for today's march: “Our People didn't cross your border. Your border crossed our People.”
I didn't ask their names.
Identifying Indigenous activists in print can lead to the kind of trouble few members of the white elite in America will ever experience.
Residents of the planet,
Recently the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the US Government both issued reports acknowledging what people all over the world already knew--urgent action is needed in order to prevent catastrophic climate change.
Despite these reports, agencies and legislative bodies that claim to serve the public interest continue to support destructive fossil fuel development and deforestation. Earlier this week in an online auction the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leased two parcels totaling 75.06 acres in Wayne National Forest, a second growth forest planted on land the US government obtained by means of treaties with Indigenous tribes that the US has violated. State legislators are now pushing anti-protest bill SB250, with the intent of preventing the people from standing in the way of fossil fuel development. Similar legislation in Louisiana was recently used to charge protesters with felonies for blocking construction of an un-permitted pipeline on private property where the protesters had the landowner's permission to be. SB250 passed the Senate last week and now goes on to the House.
The Young Americans for Freedom student group at Ohio State University hosted a speech by Ben Shapiro, "New York Times best-selling author, conservative commentator, and lawyer," on November 13. Their promotion stated: "With little regard for feelings, Ben will be hitting key points your professors don't tell you when he speaks about political correctness, American youth, and identity politics!"
News media reports described Shapiro as "conservative," a former Breitbart editor, producer of The Daily Wire, a "popular commentator," and a media personality. His visit was met with protestors, as captured in this photo by Elizabeth Adromeda.
More information about his visit can be found here.
Hundreds of protestors lined the streets of Downtown Columbus during the evening rush hour on November 8 to urge Ohio Senator Rob Portman to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Mueller’s investigation of President Donald Trump and possible interference by the Russians in the 2016 Presidential Election.
The protest, one of many nationwide, was held one day after President Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions, following the 2018 Midterm Elections.
In a New York Times opinion editorial, George Conway, the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, stated that it was “unconstitutional (for Trump) to fire Jeff Sessions.”
The protest began with a rally at Bicentennial Park, as speakers urged the protestors to contact their U.S. House Representatives and Senators, to protect Mueller’s investigation following Trump’s appointment of Sessions’ deputy, Matthew Whitaker as Attorney General.
In reaction to the resignation of US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Indivisible Columbus called an emergency "Protect Mueller" rally that drew about a thousand people at Bicentennial Park on Thursday, November 8, 2018. The crowd walked to Portmans office. A Capital law professor, Common Cause spokesperson, and Indivisible had a couple of speakers. The message was to protect the Mueller inestigation and that "No one above the law!"
A few dozen activists gathered at Columbus City Hall on Saturday November 3 at 1pm to Fight the Right! They called for an end to the violence and for everyone to get organized to build a better world. The reason for the rally: this past week has seen an outburst in fascist violence. From attacks on prominent politicians to the racially motivated shooting in Louisville to the largest incident of anti-Semitic violence in the country's history, the right has attempted to sow fear in the minds of the public in the hopes that we'll back down and let them continue their dangerous agenda. These are not isolated incidents. These attacks are part of a larger and growing global fascist movement, intended to isolate and intimidate.
As leftists, we're here to tell them we won't stop fighting for a better world where people of color, Muslims, Jews, women, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ folks, disabled folks, and the poor are free from oppression. We recognize any challenge to fascism must come from the bottom up in the form of mass movements that challenge their power and the economic system it stems from.
On October 6, as the Senate prepared to vote, about 100 demonstrators in downtown Columbus knew that Brett Kavanaugh would likely be confirmed as the next justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. But this did not dampen their determination to fight the right-wing agenda that Kavanaugh would bring to the nation’s highest court.
The protesters gathered outside the Ohio Supreme Court building were not satisfied with the FBI’s rushed, superficial investigation of sexual assault allegations made by Christine Blasey Ford and others against Kavanaugh. “We believe Dr. Ford!” they shouted. “We believe Anita Hill!”
The FBI interviewed only nine people in their investigation of Kavanaugh. They did not interview 15 people who could have spoken about the sexual misconduct allegations, or ten others who could have spoken to whether Kavanaugh lied under oath about his drinking.
“No justice, no seat!” the crowd chanted.
On Thursday October 5th from 5:00-7:00 PM, ISO Columbus held a rally and speak out in front of the OSU Thompson Statue to condemn the recent Kavanaughnomination & stand in solidarity with all survivors of rape and sexual assault. Organizers hope to build a mass movement against rape culture and the oppressive forces that allow it to thrive.