Protest Reports
A group of people begging to “Live Free or Die” may just get their wish as they gathered in Columbus to demand Ohio be “opened” – most of them failing to maintain social distance from each other or wear protective masks. Men in camouflage sporting large weapons added to the surreality of the scene.
April 15, 1970 was a nationwide anti-draft action day. Here in Dayton, there was a sit-in at the local draft board of about 35 people. At Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, there was an anti-draft peace rally. At the end of the rally a student speech pronounced that “it was not enough to protest the war, but people had to take action!” At that point, they marched over and occupied the Navy ROTC building. Later the black students who were organizing for a black studies program and an increase in black enrollment joined the occupation. Over 300 students were arrested, making national news and rocking Ohio.
With the announcement of the invasion of Cambodia, protests occurred across the country with major protests at Ohio State and Ohio University. The week before the Kent State killings, over 1,000 students were arrested at Ohio State University protesting the war and black students there were also demanding a black studies program.
On Monday, March 2, there was a speak-out protest in honor of She Decides Day at Ohio State University.
At this rally, over 20 #Fight4HER, Buckeyes For Harm Reduction, Ohio State University Democrats, PERIOD, and Take Back the Night. activists spoke about what their #NewNormal would look would look like in terms of climate change, reproductive justice, global health, institutionalized racism, criminal justice reform, gender equality.
Over 40 #Fight4HER activists protested January 23 outside Senator Rob Portman’s Columbus office against President Trump’s dangerous Global Gag Rule, a deadly policy that bans foreign health care providers that receive U.S. aid from discussing abortion. The activists held a die-in on the steps of Senator Portman’s office. A die-in is a protest where participants simulate being dead to represent the number of people killed due to Trump's deadly Rule. Attendees called on Portman to support the Global Health, Empowerment and Rights (HER) Act and end the Global Gag Rule, once and for all.
It’s been three years since Trump reinstated and expanded the Rule, that cuts off access to health care, including contraceptives and safe abortion, ultimately forcing patients who experience unwanted pregnancies to seek unsafe back-alley abortions.
A hundred people gathered for an emergency anti-war rally at E. North Broadway and High Street on Saturday, January 4 at noon.
Ohio State University graduate students have enough struggles to contend with: completing degree requirements, teaching, research, and making ends meet on poverty stipends. Now OSU officials plan to take away a resource that grad students with children have relied on for decades: affordable family-friendly housing. In October, the university announced plans to close Buckeye Village at the end of the school year. OSU wants to demolish the housing complex to make room for a new sports facility.
As it has done with energy, parking, and janitorial services, OSU wants to hand over the responsibility for graduate student housing to the private sector. The university is negotiating plans to move Buckeye Village residents to the University Village apartments on Olentangy River Road, subsidizing the higher rent for two years.
Approximately 1500 people lined High Street at Graceland Shopping Center in support of the Impeachment of Donald Trump on Tuesday Dec 17th. It was one of many actions held around the country. People lined both sides of the street, from Bob Evans on the north to the Goodyear location on the south. More than 200,000 people gathered at events in every state. There was a second local event in Westerville. Of course, the crowd was peaceful but annimated. Cars honked in support throughout the event.
Over 60 family, friends, and community members gathered December 7th at a corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Champion Avenue in a vigil to remember and grieve for Julius Tate, Jr., killed by Eric Richards of the Columbus Police Department. The street corner is near the spot where 16-year-old Julius Tate, suspected of robbery, was killed in a sting operation exactly one year before.
Members of his family spoke; Julius' sister read a poem she wrote for him, and Julius' brother gave a musical offering. His mother said that she wants justice for Julius, her firstborn son, that she wants the truth of what happened December 7th, 2018. Both his mother and his grandmother demanded justice for Julius, but as well for all black kids, and for all kids. A sister insisted that Julius did not own a gun, that the CPD claim is impossible that Julius pointed a gun at one of the plain clothes officers.
On Saturday, November 16, dozens of Ohio college students, activists and immigrant advocates will go to Morrow County Jail in Mt. Gilead, Ohio, to protest the county’s contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The demonstration will be held from 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. and will involve testimonials from those personally affected by ICE actions.
Corrections Facility Administrator Captain Sara Fulk emphasized at a Morrow County Commissioners meeting that expenses are increasing. “The cost of everything is up,” said Fulk. “The costs of meals, utilities, and wages have all increased.” ICE brings detainees from many central Ohio counties to the Morrow County Jail. A Kenyon College student involved in organizing the protest stressed that Morrow County residents should know that their municipal tax dollars are subsidizing ICE operations in Ohio.
Columbus remembered the plight and resilience of the Kashmiri people on Sunday. October 27. Sponsored by CAIR.