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Historians know well that the past is always a battleground. It never stands by itself. History as practiced, studied, and taught is inescapably part of the contest to control the present and promote alternative visions of the future. That needs no argument or documentation. (For a good recent statement, see Jake Silverman, “The 1619 Project and the Long Battle Over U.S. History.”)

Today is different. The uneven and unequal contest between fact and truth on one hand, and fiction, fabrication, and lies, on the other, is uniquely exacerbated and challenging to our historical moment.

Competing projects

Much of today’s nondebate is encapsulated in the false competition over the “origins” of the American experience—as if there were a single point of origin—supposedly between the Pulitzer Prize-winning, ground-breaking 1619 Project led by the New York Times’ (and now Howard University’s) Nicole Hannah-Jones and colleagues, and the alternative contentions of the 1620, 1776, and Texas’ own 1836 Patriotic Education projects.

Ohio legislators have a golden opportunity to finally repeal all of House Bill 6 by ending the consumer bailout of the two outdated, polluting OVEC coal plants -- one of which is in Indiana. This coal giveaway was added at the last minute to House Bill 6 and is costing Ohio consumers $287,671 every day. 

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime advocate of everyday people, stated that” I received a Columbus City Council Media Release email regarding a public meeting of the Charter Review Commission at 6:46pm yesterday evening. This release stated that the public meeting would take place today, February 15th at 10:00am. This was the first public notification of this meeting and it was going to take place in 15 hours. As the District 6 representative of the Clintonville Area Commission, I asked the city liaison at our meeting this past Wednesday if she knew when the next meeting of the Charter Review Commission would be held. She told me she did not but she would follow up with me.” 

Tuesday, February 15, 5pm, this on-line event requires advance registration

Join the ACLU of Ohio for an overview on bipartisan bail reform bills Senate Bill 182 and House Bill 315, practice role-play scenarios for conversations with legislators, and connect with pretrial justice advocates in your region

RSVP for this event by using this link.

Hosted by ACLU of Ohio.

Both the United States and Canada experience unusually widespread struggles over their pasts. Today, the North American neighbors reveal both similarities and differences in their national debates over the continuing relevance and conflicting meanings of their histories. Racial policies and relationships—past and present—are central to these discussions and sometimes acrimonious debates. Comparing Canadian and U.S. attitudes, responses, and proposed policies tells us much about the challenges of democracy as well as the active role of the past in the present. Historians have a special opportunity, indeed a responsibility to contribute.

John Cranley is the best candidate for governor. It is time for Democrats, Progressives, Independents and fed-up-with-Trump Republicans to get behind the former Cincinnati Mayor.

His running mate, State Sen. Teresa Fedor, is the best candidate for lieutenant governor, too.

The Cranley-Fedor ticket has the best chance of turning around moribund, but beautiful, Ohio that has been in the grip of the GOP corporate establishment and  socially unconscious right-wingers for the better part of three decades."The public be damned" is their motto (with apologies to railroad magnate William Henry Vanderbilt who uttered the phrase in the 19th century).

No wonder folks of all stripes did flips over the announcement of the proposed Intel plants in Licking County. We are used to factories leaving Ohio, not coming here.

When I suggest not stealing billions of dollars from Afghanistan, and thereby not causing mass starvation and death, otherwise intelligent and informed people tell me that human rights demands that theft. Starving people to death is a means of protecting their “human rights,” in fact. How else can you (or the U.S. government) stop Taliban executions?

When I respond that you (the U.S. government) could ban capital punishment, stop arming and funding the world’s top executioners from Saudi Arabia on down, join the world’s major human rights treaties, sign onto and support the International Criminal Court, and then — from a credible position — seek to impose the rule of law in Afghanistan, sometimes people think that over as if none of it had ever occurred to them, as if basic logical steps had been literally unthinkable, whereas starving millions of little kids to death for their human rights had somehow made sense.

Here’s a summary of the February 2022 Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon that happened Saturday, February 12 at 7pm by Zoom.

Watch the video here.

Free Press Board member Mark Stansbery facilitated the salon on Zoom and streamed Live on Facebook.

The first guest speaker was Rev. Susan Smith, from Crazy Faith Ministries and the Poor People’s Campaign. She spoke about how the phrase “Christian nationalists” is a misnomer since Christians are supposed to follow the teachings of Jesus and typically “nationalists” do not. She pointed out how the Jesus of the nationalists is one who caters to capitalists.

Ohio House Bill 434 would have massive ramifications, creating a new Ohio government nuclear authority that would not be subject to public oversight. The bill would preclude public involvement or oversight of its funding or the use, transport, accidents, spills and radioactive waste from nuclear research and development. It is written by and for one small company, eGeneration of Cleveland. It is being heard now in the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

TAKE ACTION! Call Rep. Jason Stephens, chair of the committee, at (614) 466-1366 and tell him NO to House Bill 434.  See the Ohio Nuclear Free Network’s 23 talking points against the bill here.

Saturday, February 12, 7-8:30pm, this event will be occurring via Zoom

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83906590837
Meeting ID: 839 06

Since we aren't getting together in person, we can gather for a couple of hours on the second Saturday night.

This event will feature the following:

Adrienne Hood, activist,

Rev. Susan Smith, Ohio Poor People’s Campaign and Crazy Faith Ministries,

Micharl Aaron, Driving Park neighborhood activist,

and more!

A question-and-answer period will be included.

If you have any announcements for the progressive community, contact us at 614-253-2571 or at <colsfreepress@gmail.com>.