Local
May 14, 2019, from 7 p.m.
CWA Local 4502, 620 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43215
From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on May 9th, about 50 activists and community members gathered outside of Franklin County Government Center to stand in solidarity with Masonique Saunders, the teenager whose boyfriend, Julius Tate Jr., was murdered by Columbus Police Department. In the meantime inside the courthouse, Saunders accepted a plea deal to avoid being charged with felony murder as an adult.
Justice Harley, a core organizer in Coalition to Free Masonique has been a member of the organization since January. They briefed the protestors after coming back from the court that Saunders pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter and a couple aggravated robbery charges. She pled guilty to a crime she did not commit. She could be incarcerated for 3 years. The sentencing will occur at a late date.
“She thought she had to admit to something she didn’t do. She was put in this position by a system that doesn’t value black lives. That is actively hostile towards them in fact,” said Harley. “She is 17. She will be in prison until she is 20. Think about the mental and emotional toll this will take on her.”
Saturday, May 11- 6:30-11pm
1021 E. Broad St., Columbus
Parking in side driveway, on street or rear parking lot
Come to network and socialize with progressive friends with refreshments, music by Happy Chichester with a tribute to Free Press cartoonist and artist James Beoddy.
Free, no RSVP required.
614-253-2571, colsfreepress@gmail.com
columbusfreepress.org
COLUMBUS, OH: Today, the Ohio House of Representatives adopted its 2020-2021 budget with provisions that prohibit anyone, including local governments, from enforcing recognized legal rights for ecosystems.
The political maneuver is a direct response to the historic Lake Erie Bill of Rights passed by Toledo voters in February. That law recognizes legally enforceable rights for Erie, the 11th largest lake on the planet. It made national and international news.
At a time when the United Nations is reporting “unprecedented” rates of species extinction, such political strong arming to repress efforts to address the global crisis is in keeping with the state’s actions since 2014.
Ohio is full of vibrant and progressive communities, and it is a proud state to be from. But we are in the middle of an opioid crisis that is hurting people who are struggling with addiction all across the state, and their friends and families as well. Right now, many people who use drugs are being incarcerated for drug-related charges, and when they are released they come back to their communities. But they don’t always get the the help that they need to stay away from drugs. This crisis is hurting the whole country, but the National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes that it’s hitting Appalachian states the hardest, and Ohio is in the top five states for opioid-related overdose deaths.
Some people think that if a person can’t stay in treatment after being released from prison, it’s because they made a choice not to. But we have to remember that it’s hard to reenter society after being in prison, and it’s hard to recover from drug addiction, so it’s very difficult to do both. In fact, many common ideas about reentry and drug recovery are not helping people as much as we think they are.
(Franklinton): OBLSK is collaborating with Sierra Club’s Ready for 100 Columbus campaign, 400 West Rich, and Chromedge Studios to project "Loops and Life," an animation by motion designer Sabrina Truong.
The motion art piece will be projected onto the brick wall exterior of 400 West Rich Street during the Franklinton Friday event on Friday, May 10, from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
In addition, beginning at 7 p.m., the Ready for 100 Columbus team will be leading creation of a community art mural in which participants can add their handprints onto a large canvas to show their support for asking the city of Columbus to commit to 100% clean energy.
WHAT: Projection art event and community art mural
WHEN: Friday, May 10, 2019
Community art mural begins at 7 p.m.
Projection art event begins at 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: 400 W. Rich St., Columbus, Ohio, 43215
WHY: To celebrate creative, interactive art while showing support for transitioning to 100% renewable energy in Columbus
Cincinnati, OH – On May 11, 2019, at 10:30am, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will host “Community Conversations: US Deportations and Modern-Day Slavery in Mauritania.” We encourage the widest attendance possible at this event, to spread awareness about a tragedy currently befalling Ohio families and the human rights abuses taking place in Mauritania today.
Mass organizations need people who will fill the role of organizers. Interns, students, and other volunteers are essential along with government paid or subsidized work available through some federal and state programs. In the next order of difficulty though there are invaluable resources for some organizations if you are able to access or repurpose staff through national service programs.
In the United States this largely means divisions currently placed under the Corporation for National and Community Service like the AmeriCorps VISTA program. I know what you’re thinking. These are aimless young people looking for some experience somewhere or trying to pass their time as a placeholder while sorting out their futures after some college experience. They aren’t “real police,” ready to the do the work of building an organization, but more likely people trying to do a little good without much sweat while they keep their eyes on their own future. True enough, but there is another way of looking at these people and their potential to build your organization.