Local

By Madeline Stocker and Nicole Butler

Sparked by the outcome of last November’s presidential election, a fire is spreading across Columbus.

Even people who don’t usually pay attention to local politics are witnessing a shift in the political landscape of Ohio’s capital city. There has been a surge in anti-Trump marches, demonstrations outside the Statehouse and public outcry against the top-down legislation threatening to compromise the everyday lives of Columbus residents citywide.

In other words, ‘resistance’ has become a daily practice for hundreds of thousands of Ohio citizens. But each day since last November, more and more Columbus residents are channeling their efforts into resisting the status quo here at home.

“I want to stand against the harmful and flawed policies coming from Washington D.C.,” said Ernest Whitted Jr., who lives with his wife on the South Side. “But I’ve started to notice that many of the decisions that hurt me and my family are made right here in my hometown.”

When you arrive at the polls this November 7, will you go in empty-handed? Or will you bring a list of candidates you prefer? As usual, the Franklin County Democratic Party will distribute partisan sample ballots – postcard-size fliers listing all the endorsed Democratic candidates – for its members to consult when voting this fall. Many who use the cards know only the candidates' professed political affiliation and nothing else about them.

The cards are distributed recommending the Democratic candidates for Columbus City Council and other city offices, despite the Columbus City Charter providing for “nonpartisan” elections. In placing this provision in the charter, Columbus citizens evidently subscribed to the position that political affiliation is irrelevant to which persons can best provide city services. And they apparently believed that cooperation between persons of different parties is more likely if elections are nonpartisan. According to the National League of Cities, those considerations are the reasons for nonpartisan municipal elections.

If the whole state of Vermont, the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Seattle, Minneapolis, Albuquerque, Davenport, Iowa, and even Oberlin, Ohio can change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day – could Columbus, Ohio be far behind? Sadly, yes.

Following the Ameriflora controversy in 1992 – the international flower festival at Franklin Park celebrating 500 years since Christopher Columbus invaded North America – Native Americans descended on Columbus City Council playing drums and chanting. Council members refused to change the name of Columbus Day, but as an immediate concession to the victims of genocide initiated by Columbus and to make the Native Americans go away, agreed that a week starting on Columbus Day would be designated Indigenous People’s Week. But we never heard anything about that again.

There were some victories: our city hasn’t held a Columbus Day parade since the 90s, the Santa Maria is thankfully gone, and activists successfully prevented a Christopher Columbus statue made by a Russian sculptor, six feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, from being erected downtown.

I recently looked in the mirror and decided it was time to name my column, 'Yo, Grampa."

Yo, Grampa, what was the Alamo like?

By Andy Hudson, Grge Boas, Jane Ries, A.J. Vanderelli and Michael Kehlmeier

Imagine a time when there was no Short North Arts District, no Short North Gallery Hop, no WexnerCenter for the Arts, no cap over I-670, no not-for-profit art galleries on High Street, no lighted arches, no galleries or coffee shops, no health gyms, no preppy apartment buildings and no fancy restaurants. Rather there was just the Press Grill, Bob’s No-name Bar, PM Gallery, Michaels Goody Boy, the Short North Tavern and some antique stores and other long gone businesses. Thirty years ago that was the situation in 1987 when Geoffrey Taber created the ACME Art Co. (at first named the Geoffrey Taber Gallery).

October 5-7, 7pm
The Speak Your Truth Summit is a three day celebration of equality, community, and the breaking the chains of division,expressed by way of poetry, live music art and panel discussion led by David Banner .The Summit will encourage all races, genders and people of various economic, educational and social backgrounds to come together with the intent to connect, commune and begin the process of healing by speaking their truth.Local musicians, poets and performers will also be on the bill to perform.
Day 1-Speak On It Open Mic Poetry ft Poet Bri Wade and DJ SwampThing @ Art of Republic at 34 W Fifth Ave
Doors open at 8pm
$10
Day 2-The God Box Listening Party/Open Mic Poetry Night at Frank Hale Cultural Center @ OSU 
Hosted by Geoffrey Goldman aka Jugh Jeffner with DJ SwampThing
Doors open at 7pm
FREE ADMISSION
Day 3-The God Box Lecture Series w/ David Banner, Live Poetry and Performances @ The Northland Performing Arts Center
Doors open at 5pm
Show begins at 7pm
$40
DJ O Sharp (Columbus,Ohio)
Bri Wade-Poet ( Denver, Colorado)

A viral cell phone video of a nine-minute long police assault of an unarmed man inside a Livingston Avenue convenience store on September 1, horrified and sickened many people who viewed it.

The video, shot by a bystander inside the store, shows a black man being attacked and brutally beaten by men, who look like skinheads, who turned out to be plainclothes members of the Columbus Police gang unit. The store owner insists he did not call the police on Timothy Davis, who had not committed any crime in the store. Later, the officers can be heard on police bodycam video saying they followed Davis into the store because there was a warrant for his arrest.

Frank Martin stood in front of his Standing Rock middle school students on the morning of April 1, 2016 with an announcement that none of them expected. The predominantly Native American students were surprised to hear that 50 tribal leaders were undertaking a ceremonial 20-mile ride on horseback that very morning to draw attention to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The tribal leaders had not been consulted about the pipeline that was planned to go under the Missouri River just north of the tribal lands. The biggest concern was the risk of a leak polluting the river. The ride and subsequent camp would lead to a standoff between tribal leaders and their supporters against an alliance of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), their hired militia, the state of North Dakota, and military and police personnel from across the country. It was a confrontation that would have global repercussions and would be witnessed by tens of millions on social and mainstream media.

DirecTV and AT&T U-Verse may be dealing a death blow to local ownership of WBNS-TV.

The satellite and cable television conglomerate has blacked out Channel 10 in a dispute over carriage fees. This had cut access to CBS-TV programs and local news to approximately 20 percent of the 920,000 television households in the Columbus TV market for three weeks by late September with no end in sight as The Columbus Free Press went to press.

Yes, it is possible to view Channel 10 with a digital antenna and some of its programs through the internet, but most viewers will not bother and will watch other channels. This puts Channel 10's No. 1 news rating in jeopardy and may vault Channels 4 or 6 to the top.

Advertisers tend to pay a premium to be on the No. 1 news station in a market. TV ads are sold based on audience size. When audiences are reduced significantly, stations must give either rebates or provide makeup spots. Both remedies are costly to the station.

DirecTV and U-Verse were paying Channel 10 a fee for the privilege of carrying its signal. The blackout puts those payments in jeopardy.

Renee Dion’s newest album Haven is probably my favorite Columbus release. Musically, the R & B singer sits somewhere between Sade and Charlotte Gainsboug.

This kind of begs the question. Is R & B the most vibrant form of music right now?

John Legend has pretty much taken a place next to Bruce Springsteen as mainstream liberal America’s favorite entertainer. The Weekend, Rihanna and Beyonce are constantly releasing music that could almost be trip hop if the songs didn’t operate so smoothly.

Obviously, this can work within the same thesis that Drake and Diplo are the same guy. 

Never forget DJ Khaled’s is a man who was a Miami DJ who came from the NYC Golden-era of Hip Hop surrounded by the rise of Miami Bass, Latin Music, No Limit, Cash Money and various influences.

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse.

The blogosphere recently had fun with WFMU’s billboard depicting Justin Bieber, RIhanna and Charles Manson. WFMU is one of the most well regarding radio stations when it comes to playing underground garage, punk. Hip hop, funk soul and whatever else is tasteful in the past 70 years of music.