Local

Protect Prisoner's Free Speech

Guy in orange jumpsuit and chain around his belly attached to his wrists

ACTION ALERT: Phone Zap

BACKGROUND: Prisoners in struggle at Toledo Correctional Institution (TCI) have requested your assistance. Their cage is being converted into a maximum security concentration camp. People sent to maximum security prisons are subject to prolonged solitary confinement for a minimum of two years. According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, "some studies said confinement after seven days created a long-term psychological impact.." We view the practice of solitary confinement as a form of psychological torture and torture is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Therefore, we need to ban the practice of solitary confinement.

TCI officials are also engaged in the practice of free speech retaliation and this practice is a violation of the U.S. Constitution. TCI officials are retaliating against TCI prisoners who speak out against the use of solitary confinement. TCI guards have also violated first amendment rights of prisoners by censoring their mail on the basis of political perspective. This censorship practice is illegal.

ACME Art Company Resurrected Art Auction

word Auction in front of a building with number 717 and guy dressed up in goblinhood costume

Saturday, October 21, 6-10pm
Vanderelli Room, 218 McDowell Street, Columbus, OH 43215
ACME Art Company’s infamous Art Auction is resurrected once again! New and emerging artists will present their artwork for silent or live auction. Proceeds benefit the artists and The Vanderelli Room.ACME ART COMPANY COMES ALIVE AGAIN IN OCTOBER 2017!
Since its inception in 1987, ACME Art Company was the first central Ohio gallery with a mission to provide a space devoted to local, avant-garde artists through art installations, music, and theater. ACME presented Columbus’ early underground events such as Cafe Ashtray – a venue for experimental performance art.

Originally located in Columbus’ Short North, ACME Art Company played an integral role the development of the area’s art scene. Many of ACME’s artists and supporters went on to continue their work as artists and musicians, open their own art spaces and theaters, and support arts organizations around the Short North and beyond.

Art against Police Brutality

Friday, October 20, 7:30-10:30pm
Art  Outside the Lines, 185 E. Livingston Ave.
Facebook event
Please join Black Queer and Intersectional Columbus in our movement to resist police brutality, violence, and other forms of oppression -- this time through art! 
Join us for our art benefit show on Friday, October 20! We will have a silent auction of local artists' work and all proceeds will go towards the#BlackPride4 and BQIC's organizing efforts to support Black queer and trans folks and fight police brutality. Also look forward to...
~ Local artist market!
~ Local bands performing live: DANK, Apollo Akembe, & TTUM!
~ Food trucks!
~ 21+ bar with cheap drinks!
Come hear amazing live local music, drink, eat great food, and buy some art for a good cause! 
---------The details-----------
ENTRY:
$5 suggested donation

Harvest Without Violence exhibit comes to Wendy’s home town

Women members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are in Columbus this week. Until 5 p.m. today the their new Harvest Without Violence mobile exhibit will be stationed in the South Oval on the Ohio State University campus. 

The OSU campus location is fitting. The university's administration has chosen to renew its contract with Wendy's to keep one of its stores on campus, despite the fast food chain's refusal to join the CIW's Fair Food Program. 

The mobile exhibit highlights gender-based violence, which the Fair Food Program has made great strides to eliminate in Florida's fields. Instead of joining the program, Wendy's decided to stop sourcing its tomatoes from Florida farms. Instead, they are buying tomatoes from growers in Mexico, where sexual harassment, rape, child labor, and slave labor are still rampant in the agricultural industry.

While 25% of women experience sexual harassment and sexual violence in the workplace overall, in the agricultural industry more 80% of women are subjected to these abuses.

Why the Minneapolis City Council race matters to Columbus

The City Council race in Columbus is shaping up to be an interesting one. Yes We Can candidates Jasmine Ayres and Will Petrik are running on progressive platforms that include affordable housing, policing reform, renewable energy, and a living wage. Beyond a few token initiatives, the current City Council only pays lip service to these concerns. As Berniecrats, Petrik and Ayres intend to push hard for real reforms.

It remains to be seen whether Left Democrats will be able to win seats on City Council without the corporate campaign backing enjoyed by the three candidates endorsed by the Franklin County Democratic Party. If Ayres and Petrik do manage to get elected in November, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to reform the local political machine from the inside. The FCDP establishment holds the levers of power in the party, and they have made it clear that they like things as they are. They will resist to the death any changes that displease their corporate sponsors.

Subscribe to Local