Local
Staement from the Columbus Freedom Coalition:
The Google Doodle today honors the Greensboro Four, African American students in North Carolina who took a stand against racial injustice by staging a sit-in at a Woolworth’s counter. As you are no doubt aware this was a controversial stand. People were made uncomfortable as their world view was being challenged by the actions of these 4 young men.
I imagine that the individuals in the room on Monday January 20, 2020 at the Columbus MLK Celebration were uncomfortable. Yet it seems they were also oblivious. As they displayed utter disregard for the teaching and example of the man they had assembled to honor.
Dr King’s example of nonviolent protest was on display as members of the Columbus Freedom Coalition staged a protest at the Greater Columbus Convention Center event. I applaud CFC’s efforts. Remember Dr. King said, “The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had.’
PLEASE, Ohioans, contact your legislators before Wednesday, February 5th, and let them know that this bill will be an infringement of the rights of every citizen in Ohio to protest and publicly assemble, most specifically against oil and gas infrastructure harms.
The “Building the Black Agenda” event January 23 used the term African Diaspora... “the disbursement of African peoples from their homelands through the Transatlantic Slave Trades between 1500s to the 1800s.” About 60 people attended the event at the Downtown Columbus Library – young and old, male and female, predominantly Black. The gathering was organized by the Columbus African Council, hosted by Kimberly Brazwell and Dr. Mathew Welmont.
The event was a series of monthly discussions that have been occurring monthly since summer 2019 addressing the African Diaspora. They are the brainchild of Dontavius Jarrells, founder of the Columbus African Council. Topics include Black Mental Health, Restorative Justice, Birthing While Black, Breathing while Black, Building the Black Agenda and more.
The question “Why don’t we have a Black Agenda?” garnered the most interest for discussion. After breaking into groups, participants discussed the focus question, and shared results with the collective.
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.
Sunday, Feb. 2, noon
High Street at 15th Avenue
Come out and protest with the Students for Justice Palestine at Ohio State in rejection to Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Deal Of the century.
Power players in the Franklin County Democratic Party think you’re stupid. At least the propaganda campaign they’re running around the FCDP Central Committee race makes it look that way.
In 2016 a number of progressive Democrats ran for ward seats on the Central Committee in an attempt to move the party to the left. Fifteen candidates affiliated with the grassroots group Yes We Can got major pushback from the party establishment.
Instead of allowing an open, democratic process — where ward candidates could win seats by listening to the concerns of their neighbors and committing to fight for them — the FCDP Executive Committee gave party chairman William Anthony the authority to hand-pick Central Committee candidates for the sample ballot. This mailing to all Franklin County voters contained only the names of party-endorsed candidates.
Philadelphia, Jan. 30 - Mumia Abu-Jamal has always insisted on his innocence in the death of police officer Daniel Faulkner, blaming police, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct for his politically-tainted conviction. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is expected to announce his response this week to the legal briefs for Post Conviction Relief Act hearings and the request to remand Abu-Jamal's case back to Common Pleas court, filed by his attorneys in early September 2019.
Abu-Jamal’s supporters will rally outside DA Krasner's office at 4:30 on Friday, January 31, whether or not he challenges Mumia's appeals. We call for Mumia’s release.
Recent exonerations of 10 Philadelphia residents unfairly convicted for crimes they did not commit reveal a simple truth - the Philadelphia police, courts and prosecutors convicted innocent Black men based on gross violations of their constitutional rights. The same patterns of constitutional violations plague the case of Abu-Jamal.
Friday, January 31, 10:30am-12pm
Join us for a community meeting to gain input on a possible Pregnancy/Parenting/Reproductive Health Care Non-Discrimination Ordinance for the City of Columbus. We want to hear from the community about how something like this could/would have been useful to you or someone you know as well as any concerns you may have. Childcare will be provided so feel free to bring the little ones. RSVP required so we know how many kids to expect! Location: Columbus Public Library, Franklinton Branch, 1041 W. Town St., Columbus. Facebook.
Wednesday, January 29th, 11:00 AM
Local faith leaders and Sanctuary supporters will gather in front of Senator Brown’s office, Federal Building, 200 N. High Street. Come support Columbus' Edith Epsinal and Miriam Vargas -- and all of the others in our country who are living in Sanctuary.