Local
Thursday, April 15, 8pm EDT
Register here
Racial capitalism drives environmental degradation. White supremacy culture pervades movement spaces, preventing us from building collective power to our fullest potential. Why must we make the shift from white-centered environmentalism to intersectional organizing? Legitimate environmental work must be intertwined with movements for Black liberation and Indigenous sovereignty. Join us for an open discussion on why it’s important and how we get there.
Please contact us at earthday@celdf.org if you have any questions.
This session will be recorded, but we encourage live participation to create a more interactive session that sparks conversation.
Edith was able to return home on February 18, 2021 after more than 3 years and 4 months in sanctuary, and while this has been a very positive change for Edith and her family, this doesn’t solve all of their family’s needs. Edith is still unable to work! Although she has applied for a work permit, such applications take approximately 6 months for approval.
Until she receives that approval, Edith and her family won’t have a way to make enough money to pay for rent, bills, food/groceries, and other amenities they need in order to make ends meet.
Please consider donating directly to Edith’s family as they await Edith’s work permit here!
Tuesday, April 13, 2021, 2:00 - 2:45 PM
https://tockify.com/simplylivingsu/detail/558/1618336800000?tags=%23Simply-Living
Established in 1992, the founders of Simply Living believed that social change and environmental responsibility depend upon us and our lifestyles. They celebrate and connect people to learning opportunities that promote community sustainability, environmental awareness and our local economy through educational outreach and partnerships within our community. Come hear from Chuck Lynd about this GreenSpot member and their 2021 initiatives. RSVP: email GreenSpot@columbus.gov and list Simply Living in the subject line.
The April Free Press Second Saturday Cyber-Salon was about “Earth Politics” facilitated by long-time Free Press Board member and activist Mark Stansbery.
Mark reminded the group that Earth Day is in April and went over the history of the celebration and how indigenous people have been the target of environmental racism and how they’ve fought back, particularly recently over the DAPL pipeline. He quoted Chief Seattle: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” Lynn Stan shared a link for the city’s urban forest plan and Cathy Cowan Becker recommended the site Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women and the Stop the Money Pipeline website.
To stand on the top of Observatory Mound at the Newark Octagon – to see the massive Native American earthwork stretch out in the distance – can be a mind-bending experience. It transforms one into the Great Shaman of the Hopewell, experiencing what their spiritual leaders saw and lived roughly 2,000 years ago.
The problem is, getting to the Observatory Mound requires trespassing on private property. (pictured above).
What’s worse, once at the Observatory Mound, it’s hard to ignore the par 4 on the right – one of many golf holes that cut through what is arguably the most significant pre-historical site in Ohio, perhaps more compelling and mysterious than Serpent Mound.
A few days per year the golf course, the private Moundbuilders Country Club, does allow visitors to walk the entire Octagon.
The Ohio History Connection (OHC) owns the Octagon’s property, but why the OHC in 1997 renewed Moundbuilders Country Club’s lease until the year 2078 perplexes anyone who loves the state’s ancient Native American earthworks. Some say that at the time, the OHC needed money or didn’t have the wherewithal to save the Octagon from developers.
Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16, 24 hours each day, this event will be on-line
To stem the immigration tide, Mexico and the U.S. collaborate to crack down on migrants, forcing them into ever more dangerous territory.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants make their way along the trail running from southern Mexico to the U.S. border. Gustavo’s gunshot wounds from Mexican police, which have achieved abundant press attention, might just earn him a ticket out of Nicaragua. Meanwhile, anthropologist Jason painstakingly collects the trail’s remains, which have their own stories to tell. Fragmented stories from Hondurans crossing through southern Mexico assemble a vivid portrait of the thousands of immigrants who disappear along the trail.
“Border South” reveals the immigrants’ resilience, ingenuity, and humor as it exposes a global migration system that renders human beings invisible in life as well as death.
Documentary Team
• Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, Director, Producer, Cinematographer
• Jason De Leon, Producer, Advisor
Sunday, April 11; Sunday, April 25; and Sunday, May 9, 8-10pm; this on-line event requires advance registration
Join the Revolutionary Socialist Network for three discussions on From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s indispensable contribution to the movement for racial justice. This stirring and insightful analysis surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and the persistence of structural inequality. In this context, the author argues that the struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.
According to Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe, Taylor “reveals how structural racism and class oppression are joined at the hip. If today’s rebels ever expect to end inequality and racialized state violence, she warns, then capitalism must also end. And that requires forging new solidarities, envisioning a new social and economic order, and pushing a struggle to protect Black Lives to its logical conclusion: a revolution capable of transforming the entire nation.”
Several years ago, Columbus resident David Bynum had a chance to meet his birth mother, but he ultimately lost his nerve. It wasn’t until his late 50s that the retired correctional officer finally gave in to his curiosity and set out to learn who he really was.
The results can be seen in the homey documentary he wrote, narrated and directed, From a Place of Love—My Adoption Journey. Though Bynum had waited too long to meet either of his birth parents, his search did lead to the discovery of family members he’d never known he had. He also learned something about the societal forces that likely drove his mother to give him up for adoption.
Linda Evans was a White woman who’d fallen in love with Chuck Comer, a Black athlete who played college football (though not at Ohio State, as Bynum had long thought). When Linda became pregnant, the prevailing prejudice against interracial romance apparently led her to give up her young son.
Saturday, April 10, 7-8pm, this event will be occurring via Zoom
"The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth." ~ Chief Seattle
Since we aren’t getting together in person, we can gather for a couple of hours on the second Saturday of each month, 7-8pm Eastern Time, on Zoom.
Salon presentations:
• Brian Clash, music
• WGRN producers Annie Warmke and Herbert Ndeki II.
• Cathy Cowan Becker, Columbus Climate Action Plan and Simply Living
• Morgan Harper, on the Climate Strike organizing and AlphaFraternity members
• 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>.
Please use this Zoom link to join this event.
