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There are a lot of reasons for a progressive caring person not to be focused on the growing threat of fascism in the United States. After getting past all the pressing needs of one’s personal life (in a society of long hours, financial insecurity, poor healthcare, energetic kids drugged, a record number of adults imprisoned, the most finely tuned propaganda system ever devised, not to mention intimidation and fear), the main stumbling block is that everything is turned into a partisan question. If you’re focused on the growing violence and hatred and lawlessness of Republicans, then you’re cheerleading for the Democrats.
Protesters staging a protest outside the Lincoln Theatre on East Long Street in Columbus, Ohio before the City of Columbus's Martin Luther King Day Program, demanding change and action in the City, in regards to equality and preventing violence.
These protesters were carrying signs demanding justice for recent high-profile Black murders in the Columbus area, including Andre Hill (killed by a then-Columbus Police Officer in Northwest Columbus in December 2020), Donovan Lewis (a 20 year-old Black man who was killed by Columbus Police in the Hilltop), and 13 year-old Sinzae Reed. Reed, who was murdered in October 2022 outside the Wedgewood Apartments in West Columbus was murdered by a 36 year-old White man. On January 17, the Columbus Dispatch reported that the Franklin County Coroner's Office officially declared Reed's death a homicide.
The Community Festival (ComFest) is seeking applications for its 2023 Community Grants program. Each year, ComFest invites grant applications to support and sustain innovative programming demonstrating a commitment to ComFest’s principles and mission which are rooted in community, social justice and progressive activism.
ComFest established the grants program in the spirit of giving back to the community. Since 2006, nearly $350,000 has been awarded to local organizations.
To learn more about ComFest’s Grants program, application requirements, previous grant recipients, and submit an application, please visit: https://www.comfest.com/committees/grants.
The deadline for submitting applications is Monday, March 13, 2023. Applications received after the deadline cannot be considered.
Thursday, Jan 19 7pm-9pm
Join the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists!
This week, we will be meeting at the Ohio State University campus in the Enarson Classrooms Building Room 214 from 7-9pm, where we will be watching a screening of the revolutionary film “Soy Cuba.” This film explores stories of four Cubans suffering under the U.S.-supported Batista dictatorship before the 1959 Cuban revolution. Hope to see you there!
Join online: http://tinyurl.com/CORSmeeting
From Amnesty International, USA
The military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay is a glaring, longstanding stain on the human rights record of the United States. Today, it continues to hold 35 Muslim men, most without facing charges or a trial. Many, like Toffiq al-Bihani, were tortured by the U.S. government. And Toffiq, along with 19 other detainees, has been cleared for transfer to other countries, yet he remains behind bars without charge or trial.
President Biden has a critical window of opportunity to end these ongoing abuses by closing the detention center before the end of his term.
Help us close Guantánamo and ensure the transfer of all cleared detainees to countries where their human rights will be respected.
Act Now to tell President Biden to shut down the Guantánamo Bay detention facility!
I love music and, like I think anyone raised in America, loves a good celebration. It’s important, though, to keep in mind that many of the celebrations we hold come from having overcome extreme adversity. It’s also important to note the complexities of the people we celebrate.
The first official Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday was celebrated on Monday, January 20, 1986. I was five years old. The national push had hit its peak starting in late September of ‘80, when one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time, Mr. Stevie Wonder, ended his album Hotter Than July with a track that includes the lyric:
“Because it should never be
Just because some cannot see
The dream as clear as he
That they should make it become an illusion.”
The January 2023 Free Press Salon was held over Zoom on January 14th. This is what happened.
Mark Stansbery, Free Press Board member, started out the November salon by introducing Pat Marida of the Ohio Nuclear Free Nework. She updated us on Ohio's ongoing contamination from the nuclear industrial complex and new discoveries of civilian housing contamination. The slideshow can be seen here. The surrounding area of the nuclear plants in southern Ohio have caused the Pike County cancer mortality to go from 12 percent below the U.S. to 32.8 percent above. The overall Pike County death rate ages 0-74 is nearly double that of the U.S. Videos about the issue here.
Both cause and consequence of Columbus as the “plague city” is City government’s—Council and paid staff including Columbus Police Department—rudeness. In ways that once surprised me, the City’s disrespect, dismissal, and incivility mirror the literal crudeness of the failing physical city, from filth to lack of sanitation, and endless broken streets and sidewalks. (See my “The plague city: Daily life in Columbus, Ohio,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Dec. 17, 2022.)
It is stunning how little attention mayor, city council, Zoning and Neighborhoods, and the Department of Public (aka Private) Services pay to “their” city. Instead, they cannot restrain the overflow of grants without accountability, tax abatements, and other incentives to developers which directly undercut the actual city’s well-being contradicting its charter-mandated services to its publics. The contradictions are incalculable.
Police Officers for Equal Rights event
Monday, January 16
First AME Zion Church, 873 Bryden Rd.
Free Carryout Breakfast - 9am-11am
In-person and live stream program 12noon
Keynote speaker: Dr. Shondrika Moss-Boldin
Maska required.
MLK March in Linden
Monday, January 16, 12-2pm
Meet at Good Shepherd Baptist Church, 11am
1555 E. Hudson St.
March ends at Point of Pride Corner at Cleveland Ave. and 11th
Guest speaker Don Sellars
WeAreLinden614.org
614-402-6875
In this video recording of a webinar from January 14, 2023, David Swanson discussed his forthcoming book The Monroe Doctrine at 200 and What to Replace it With. See the 26:24 point in the video.
The Monroe Doctrine was and is a justification for actions, some good, some indifferent, but the overwhelming bulk reprehensible. The Monroe Doctrine remains in place, both explicitly and dressed up in novel language. Additional doctrines have been built on its foundations. This book looks at the creation, evolution, and use of the Monroe Doctrine over the years since 1823, and proposes a radically different approach for the U.S. government to take with Latin America and the world.
David is available to speak about this or other topics, as are other World BEYOND War speakers.
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