Local
After watching Mayor Ginther’s online interview with Channel 4’s Colleen Marshall on Wednesday, I have to ask, why has it taken our Mayor nearly 19 years to recognize and address the obvious inequalities that exist in the African-American communities of Columbus?
Never before has this question had more weight or relevance than during the pandemic.
Mayor Ginther said Wednesday he would focus on those who were most in need. Homeless, those in need of food, and affordable housing. Working with the Community Shelter Board, Urban league, YMCA.
Nearly 30 percent of Columbus is African American, and the issue of racial disparity is confronting us once again in terms of blacks being greater infected by the virus due to economic and social disparities.
Unfortunately, the virus further exposed the inequality where it matters the most – our overall health. Yet Ginther has been an elected official since 2001. Columbus School Board from 2001-2007, Columbus City Council from 2007-2015, Council President from 2011-2015, and Mayor of Columbus from 2016 to today.
Live online digital film festival - through April 19.
Now celebrating its 68th year, the festival introduces Central Ohio to the best independent filmmakers from around the world, this year you can attend from the comfort of your home. Unlike physical film festivals where you need to rush to get a good seat, CIF+AF Digital Film Festival is delivered entirely online. Your seat can't get much better than this. Select a few films, an entire film block, or an ALL ACCESS PASS!
It’s up to you! With over 100 filmmakers, the films you want to watch are just a click away: Our selected filmmakers will be screening their films over a 5-day period. If you have a genre that you would love to see, we've got you covered.
Follow your selected film blocks for exclusive screenings completely online: Choose the topics you'd like to follow and we'll keep you up to date with its content, viewing times and pricing.
Alek Nielsen has quietly been advocating for tenants’ rights around Central Ohio for two years – and he’s never witnessed such energy and enthusiasm for a local tenant union than now.
“Five different people from five different properties have reached out to us,” says the 28-year-old Nielsen, co-chair for the Columbus Tenants’ Union (CTU) – the only official tenant union in Central Ohio. “Two of these properties are run by big time slumlords we’ve wanted to organize against for some time.”
The Freep also heard from several groups of tenants, almost all 20-somethings, who live in half-doubles or smaller buildings. Whether some can pay rent or some cannot, they’ve banded together to tell their landlord they will need some sort of compromise.
Nielsen admits though, “it’s one thing to really want to form a tenant union, compared to forming one.”
In our last episode, mail had finally arrived at my building in downtown Manhattan after many days without, all because of the devastating impact of COVID-19 at my local post office.
With unemployment in Ohio on the rise, more people are turning to gig work such as on-demand lawn care.
According to the Department of Labor, 272,129 people in Ohio filed for unemployment in Week Ending March 28, up 39% from the week prior. Meanwhile, on-demand lawn care gig platform, Lawn Love has reported a huge increase in applications. With 200% more Columbus residents applying to work with them in March compared to February.
The folks at City Barbeque have always prioritized helping their communities—both financially and with food—and this current public health crisis is no different. Everyone on the team wants to support those serving so selflessly right now, and has identified a way to thank the doctors, nurses, medical personnel, and hospital staff at Ohio State University Hospital for the incredible sacrifices they’re making. The fast-casual has launched a partnership with its guests to provide meals at no cost to the heroes on the front lines of this crisis.
For every $5 raised, City Barbeque will provide a slow-smoked sandwich and two homemade sides (valued at $12) to a health care worker fighting to save lives at Ohio State University Hospital. Guests are invited to help support and thank the medical professionals in their communities, and 100% of funds raised will be used to feed medical personnel.
As I mentioned in a previous review of a Richard Nixon biography, Watergate was the beginning of my fascination with politics and American history. The hearings were high theater, and one of the most interesting political spectacles ever. In The Watergate Girl, Wine-Banks tears down the curtain of the legal drama and shows us, among other things, what it was like to be the only woman on the team of lawyers who were prosecuting the president and his henchman.
Wine-Banks was thirty when she was tapped to join the team of prosecutors charged with finding out the truth of Watergate and ensuring justice for the American people. She had been the only woman on the criminal prosecution team in the United States Department of Justice. Smart and always thoroughly prepared, she was assigned to appellate work, but it wasn’t long before she noticed her male colleagues were trying cases in addition to their appellate work. She was told that it was too dangerous for a woman to do so as many of those being prosecuted were members of organized crime groups. She pushed back and was soon prosecuting cases.
Thursday, April 16, 2020, 6:00 - 7:30 PM.
Join us for our monthly Immigrant Justice Committee meeting! This will be a zoom call, please email us for the link/phone number at centralohioworkercenter@gmail.com. The Immigration Justice Committee is responsible for advancing the immigrant rights mission of the organization by proposing projects, policy statements, and inter-organizational relationships to the board for approval, and for providing ongoing up-to-date information about opportunities for COWC. Brittnee Pankey Qualls will do a presentation on how COVID-19 is affecting the immigrant/refugee population in Central Ohio.
Progressive friends who are used to gathering on the second Saturday for the Free Press salons met together through Zoom on April 11 from 7-9pm for a "Cyber-Salon." About 37 people were able to tune in to hear speakers, announcements and music. The idea was proposed by Free Press Board President Pete Johnson and our video production/technical support guru Trane DePriest hosted and produced the Zoom event, available here at the Free Press YouTube Network.
After the welcoming remarks and a bit of Free Press history, the first speaker was Torin Jacobs, reporting on his new initiative to give grocery gift cards to people in need now that there is COVID-19 and many of our neighbors and friends are out of work. The local Mutual Aid group will distrbute most of the $50 gift cards and the Free Press will be accepting nominations of people who need them - send an email to: colsfreepress@gmail.com to nominate someone, and put "Gift Card" in the subject line.
When it comes to hitting the doors and dealing directly with the people on the other side, when you rap your knuckles on the wood, you need to remember that you are employing a very powerful weapon effectively and responsively. Meeting people directly is persuasive, so know what you are doing.
Doorknocking to build an organization is not simply canvassing.
Canvassing is a valuable, but abbreviated way to distribute a message with the specific result of either moving a vote or producing a donation. The response to the visit is highly structured to achieve maximum impact in these directions.
There is certainly a structure to a home visit on the doors, but at its core, listening is still the primary requirement. The outcome is uncertain and exciting. The visiting team or organizer needs to be able to hear the issues and interests of the person on the other side of the exchange in order to be able to respond effectively about whether the organization and collective action is possible. At the same time, the organizing team needs to communicate effectively what the organization is and, equally important, what it is not, who should belong, and who should not.