Local

Tuesday, November 12, 2019, 8:00 – 10:00 PM
Join us for BQIC's monthly fundraiser, BQIC Speak up! Spoken Word and Open Mic. Come out and share your poems, songs, monologues, inner musings, and good encounters, bad days, good dates etc on the mic! LGBTQIA+ people of color take priority within the space! Entry is $5 suggested donation! We will have snacks and drinks for suggested donation as well.  All proceeds will go to our newly developed emergency fund for Black LGBTQIA + people. This fund will be devoted to Black LGBTQIA+ people who are in need of emergency funds to help with prevention of eviction, housing assistance, bail, medical expenses, transportation and other emergencies.  Location:  Art Outside the Lines, 485 E. Livingston Ave.  Facebook. 

Monday, November 11, 2019, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
Discussion:  Have you been trolled for something you posted on Facebook or Twitter?  Or for a letter to the editor?  One of our members recently received a threatening letter in response to a letter published by The Columbus Dispatch.  Hear how this member responded and participate in a discussion to identify ways a person or we as a group could respond to trolling.  Location:  Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave., Columbus 43214. 

Maybe City Council’s Elizabeth Brown forgot the Columbus Partnership was paying close attention.

Or maybe, just maybe, she was being genuine and didn’t care what the Columbus Partnership thought. Mrs. Brown on Tuesday night said this to WOSU Public Radio about Yes We Can candidates Joe Motil, Tiffany White and Liliana Rivera Baiman:

“Our opponents in this election are not our opponents in the fight to move this city forward. We have work to do in the city of Columbus. It will take all of us, pushing forward together, to get it done. Together, we can deliver.”

As we can tell, Mrs. Brown not only extended an olive branch but perhaps an invitation to a Yes We Can candidate that they have earned a future appointed seat to City Council. Yes We Can (YWC) did win 1 of 3 votes on Tuesday.

What Mrs. Brown is truly thinking is hard to tell. The Freep has asked to speak with Sherrod Brown’s daughter but we have not heard back.

What we do know is City Council is besieged by special interests such as the Columbus Partnership, the corporate influence that insists on shaping Columbus “Their Way.”

Saturday, November 9, 6:30-11pm
1021 E. Broad St., Columbus
Parking in side driveway, on street or rear parking lot
Free, no RSVP required
Network and socialize with progressive friends with refreshments, live music and special guests Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN and US Congressional candidate Morgan Harper
also:
GIVE YOUR TESTIMONY IN PERSON if you were harassed when petitioning against HB6 or were harassed by a pro-HB6 petitioner
Democracy can’t survive corporate bribery / physical assaults on peaceful signature gatherers.
We invite public testimony from those who experienced bribery and or intimidation during the signature gathering period aimed at putting the referendum repealing HB6 on the Ohio 2020 ballot. We will take sworn testimony that can be used in court.
BACKGROUND: https://en.calameo.com/read/0005704712372d0b0c4e9?page=21614-253-2571
colsfreepress@gmail.com

One year ago, I was the Libertarian candidate for governor of Ohio in a four-way race. The perfect outcome would have been for myself and the Green Party candidate, Constance Gadell-Newton, to both receive 3 percent of the vote so we could meet the arbitrary benchmark set by Ohio Republicans to maintain ballot access for our political parties the next four years. Another aspect of this perfect outcome would have been for our total amount of votes to cause Republican Mike DeWine to lose to Democrat Richard Cordray. The Ohio Republican Party has had a stranglehold on our state government for far too long, as evidenced by the aforementioned 3 percent benchmark being set for minor parties and signed into law at all. Unlike Republicans, Democrats have never made ballot access so difficult in Ohio, so a Cordray administration would have been a welcome change of pace, even for Libertarians.

Sat, Nov 9, 7-9:30pm
Just North United Church of Christ, 2040 W. Henderson Rd.
A concert to benefit a Honduran family of four living at Just North while they pursue asylum. The parents (“Juan” and “Maria”), with one small child at the time, walked for 15 months from Honduras to the US-Mexican border, where they were briefly “caged” with their toddler. Tickets: $20 general admission, $40 per family, online. Under 12 free. squareup.com/store/just-north-ucc.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019, 1:30 - 3:30 PM
Join us Wednesday, November 6 in the Senate Chamber for the floor vote on two anti-abortion bills - SB 155 and SB 208. The session is set to begin at 1:30 pm. This will be our last chance to show the Ohio Senate we need them to stop these bills in their tracks before they head over to the Ohio House to begin hearings there.  Location:  Ohio Statehouse, Senate Chambers, 1 Capitol Square, Columbus 43215.  More information on Facebook. 

The devil is in the details. This is especially true in organizing!

One question that I’m asked over and over when discussing how to construct an organizing drive and building the organizing committee is surprising, but important. Where should the committee meet?  The answer is always: at one of the committee member’s house.

In March, 2020, Democratic voters will have a choice in the 3rd Congressional district which encompasses most of Columbus. The incumbent, Joyce Beatty, is seeking her 4th term. She has held the seat since 2013. Beatty is well funded by corporate sponsors and supported by the local party apparatus, which also depends on corporate funding. Beatty has a net worth of over 4 million dollars (get source)

The New York Times sent a reporter to Ohio to cover the contest, resulting in October 13th article “The Democratic Debate Is Coming to Ohio, Where a Party Battle Is Already Underway”. The article pointed out that Ms. Harper has raised $323,000 in just 3 months as a first time candidate. Harper has raised money from nearly every ZIP code in her district. (Ms. Beatty, who hasn’t reported third-quarter fund-raising, had $1.3 million cash on hand as of July.) Harper has received donations from 2670 donors compared to just 169 for Beatty.

Tuesday, November 5 - Election Day
6;30am-7:30pm
Find your voting places - https://www.sos.state.oh.us/elections/voters/toolkit/