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Will she be heard? Will she be believed?

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From the beginning of time, according to the Bible, women were made from the body of a man, were created to help man, to give birth to men and to serve men. Women were a mere second thought in the plan, according to the Bible. Even though there are many Atheists, many people who don’t believe in the Bible, and even say they believe in women’s equal rights, these are some of the same people who subconsciously see women as inferior to men. The woman remains on the bottom pole of most countries, they are still fighting for their rights to be seen, heard and acknowledged as an important piece of society.   From the beginning of time, women have been treated as sexual objects, with the responsibility of providing sexual favors to men. They have been traded off as “prizes” during war times, they have been sold as sex slaves, they have been beheaded and stoned to death for committing adultery while their husbands have openly had mistresses. Women and young girls have been raped, tortured, and murdered by family members, friends of the family and people unknown. Rape laws from the ancient near east, in areas such as Babylonia and Assyria, punished the woman if she was raped.

Kojo Kamau-posthumous awardee of Bill Moss Award

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The Free Press is happy to announce that the family of Bill Moss is awarding the Bill Moss Award for an Outstanding African American activist posthumously to Columbus photographer Kojo Kamau. His work is on permanent display at the Columbus Museum of Art and exhibited across the U.S. and internationally. He traveled extensively and documented the varieties of cultures in North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean and Africa. He is also known for photos of celebrities. He created an organization to promote and encourage blacka artists in 1979 called Art for Community Expression (ACE). Kojo passed away in December 2016 but his legacy lives on in Columbus. 

The Free Press Awards ceremony is Monday, October 8. 6-10pm at Woodlands Tavern, 1200 West Third Avenue in Grandview. There will be food, drink, an awards ceremony and live music by Willie Phoenis, Coffee House Rebels, Something Else and Gilded Sun. All are welcome, $10 at the door or sliding scale. 

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Sandy Bolzenius: Free Press Libby Award honoree for Community Activism

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The Free Press will honor Sandy Bolzenius with our 2018 "Libby" award for community activism at the Free Press Awards ceremony on Monday, October 8 at Woodlands Tavern, 1200 W. Third Ave. She is involved in grassroots efforts dedicated to creating genuine democracies beginning at the local level. To this end, she is most active with Move to Amend and the Columbus Community Bill of Rights, movements that put the rights of people and nature before those of corporations. An army veteran and a former international teacher, she has lived in and traveled through Europe, Africa, and Asia. During occasional pauses in her foreign forays, Sandy returned to Columbus to earn a bachelor’s degree in Education and a doctorate in History at Ohio State University, where she specialized in Gender and African American studies. Sandy is also the author of Glory in Their Spirit: How Four Black Women Took on the Army during World War II (University of Illinois Press, 2018).

Tell #BackersofHate: Stop Profiting from Pain!

People wearing colorful clothes and raingear marching outside holding a banner reading Stop Financing Oppression

Wednesday, September 26, 4:30-6:30pm
JP Morgan Chase headquarters, 1111 Polaris Parkway, visitor parking lot
On Wednesday, Sept 26th we're sending a STRONG message to #BackersofHate who are financing private prisons and immigrant detention centers: Stop Bankrolling Oppression Now!

Private detention companies like CoreCivic and the Geo Group, continue to be financed by Corporate #BacksofHate like JPMorgan Chase who profits enormously from our communities' pain and the separation of families.

Join us at by the Chase Headquarters to urge them to stop financing CoreCivic and Geo group! Families belong together, and NOT in cages!

This action is a part of a national day of action against #BackersofHate

7 days in … Punxsutawney, PA

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I woke up every morning last week to the sounds of Sonny & Cher. I also woke up to news of a Supreme Court nominee’s history of sexual harassment and the ceaseless conservative support for him. Then there was the natural (more like man-made) disaster tearing the southern coast to shreds as well as a government official in hot water for misusing government funds and resources. And, naturally, the pathetic and vacuous legislative work of our “elected” representatives.

The news cycle is just the same garbage day in, day out, year in, year out. We are struggling to break away from the vicious cycle of our government always doing everything but serving the people.

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