Local

Tuesday, March 3, 2020, 4:00 – 7:00 PM
Meet with a wage theft intake volunteer who can help you get paid. We work with attorneys and advocates to recover stolen wages for workers. Enforce your rights.  Spanish speaking translators will be available.  Location:  St. Stephens Community House, 1500 E. 17th Ave., Columbus 43219.  Facebook. 

Calling on Sherrod Brown

There was an organized commotion outside Senator Sherrod Brown’s office on High Street on January 29 to call attention to National Sanctuary Action Day. A few dozen people from the support group of Miriam Vargas, who is currently in Sanctuary in a Columbus church, joined together to amplify the voices of people living in Sanctuary around the country and to urge the Senator to meet with them.

The protestors held a banner that said “Keep All Families Together,” and gave speeches calling for the local legislators to take action in support of undocumented people. Miriam has questions she wants answered by Senator Brown: What is the senator doing in Congress to push for immigration reform? How can they build a path forward toward legal residence for all people currently in Sanctuary?

There’s a monumental shift happening in U.S. politics today, whether people like it or not. While the majority of Americans have been waiting for it for years – even decades – there are many others who remain vehemently opposed to the change. These types of people have opposed each other throughout our country’s history, especially whenever a major social shift like this takes place. These battles have been fought with words, weapons and feet in the street, whether it was during the Revolutionary or Civil War, the Gilded Age or the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement or the counterculture revolution that followed. It’s a dichotomy that can only be described as “uniquely American.”

Why does universal health care scare so many otherwise rational people?

Why aren’t people more scared that the worker slapping the bun on their burger makes minimum wage, doesn’t have health insurance, and can’t afford to stay home from work when they have a cold or the flu?

Why don’t U.S. citizens feel they deserve healthcare, mandated maternity leave, universal childcare, free college tuition and a clean environment? These programs are routinely expected in most other developed countries. The U.S. is the outlier, with a small group of elites convincing the population that the necessities of life must be purchased in a market economy rather than part of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

People in the United States are comfortably sandwiched in between a friendly Canada, a (semi) friendly Mexico – despite President Donald Trump’s xenophobic attacks – and two massive non-hostile oceans on each side. The vast majority of residents speak just one language and have had only the limited option of choosing between the same two major political parties since 1864.

Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:00 PM
This award-winning documentary, executive produced by the Anthony Bourdain, aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the eyes of chef-heroes like Bourdain, Dan Barber, Mario Batali, Massimo Bottura, and Danny Bowien, audiences will see how the world’s most influential chefs make the most of every kind of food, transforming what most people consider scraps into incredible dishes that create a more secure food system. Location:  Drexel Theater, 2254 East Main St., Columbus 43209.  Sponsored by Green Bexley. 

Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign coincided with explosive growth in the American Left. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) surged from 6,500 members in 2012 to 24,000 members in 2017. The trend is continuing in the run up to the 2020 election. DSA had 56,794 members in November 2019, Democratic Left reported.

The Columbus DSA chapter is showing the same trend. “We’ve been doing weekly canvasses to door knock for Bernie,” said organizer Kristin Porter. “We’ve been setting records in turnout for canvasses, regularly getting between 30 and 50 people. Previously we would have struggled to get 15 people to turn out.”

Porter said that attendance at Columbus chapter meetings has also increased from people who are interested in DSA’s other work in organizing tenants and transit riders, defending reproductive rights, etc.

On Friday, February 28th, representatives from the Columbus Freedom Coalition, including Julius Tate Jr.’s parents and sibling, met with mayor Andrew Ginther at the MLK Branch Library to discuss the mayor’s complicity and role in Columbus Police Department’s (CPD) continued terrorism of Black communities. Ultimately the disingenuous nature displayed by city officials made the meeting a waste of time for the family, putting the coalition in a position where it was impossible to hold a conversation about what justice looks like. 

Friday, February 28, 4-6pm
Community Grounds, 1134 Parsons
Join BQIC for our monthly community outreach program, Free Resource Fridays!
Free Resource Friday is a monthly, donation-based initiative to provide free resources like food, clothes, and hygiene items to folks living in predominantly Black, low income neighborhoods. On the last Friday of the month, volunteers distribute items, share information, and provide support for local communities in need.
All are welcome, but QTPOC take priority within the space.

If you'd like to support Free Resource Fridays by donating materials, or if you'd like to get involved by offering a skill-share, mini-workshop or educational class, contact us! We are always looking to foster and strengthen our partnerships in the Central Ohio community.

Location and times for goods drop-off TBD

If you would like to volunteer your time by passing out event flyers in the community, send us a message and we will get you added to the volunteer list! Stay posted here for more updates about group flyering days prior to the event.

There is another bill aimed squarely at making things harder for transgender youth in Ohio.

Ohio Representatives Jena Powell and Reggie Stolzfus announced today that they will try to pass a law that would exclude transgender students from participating in sports that match their gender identity.

There is no bill number yet, and we won’t know who will sign on to co-sponsor for awhile.

Tuesday, February 25, 6:30-8:30pm
6:30 pm gather for light refreshments
7:00 pm program
Friends Theater, UA Public Library, 2800 Tremont Rd.
Upper Arlington Public Library
In 2015 and 2018, more than 70% of Ohioans amended Ohio’s Constitution to reform the rules used to create state and Congressional districts. Next year, after the Census, we will finally implement these rules to draw the districts which will be used for the next 10 years! Join UAPA for a presentation on how the new rules will work and what we need to do to ensure that districts are fairly drawn.
Presenters:
Professor Richard Gunther, who was involved in the negotiations that led to the Ohio reforms
Katy Shanahan, who is the Ohio Director of All on the Line, the redistricting activist group headed by former Attorney General, Eric Holder.