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With family and community support, Edith Espinal is striving to keep her spirits up as she lives in sanctuary at the Columbus Mennonite Church to evade a deportation order. But immigration enforcement is doing what it can to make sanctuary feel like incarceration.

Espinal was notified in mid-August that she was slated for deportation. Since then she has been forced to wear an ankle bracelet GPS monitor that tracks her location. The monitor is owned and managed by GEO Group, a private company that contracts its correctional and detention services to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

GEO Group gave generously to Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Despite numerous lawsuits for wrongful death, terrible living conditions, and violating anti-slavery laws in its detention centers, GEO Group was awarded another lucrative federal contract after Trump was elected.

Tuesday, Nov 21, 7:30pm
Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium
Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist and feminist organizer. She is a trailblazer for women’s rights and a leader of the second wave feminist movement. Ms. Steinem co-founded New York Magazine and Ms. Magazine, and remained an editor of the latter for 15 years. She is a best-selling author of many books with her most recent book titled "My Life on the Road." She has been published in New York Magazine, Esquire, The New York Times Magazine and women’s magazines and publications worldwide. She is a founding member of the Women’s Action Alliance, the National Women’s Political Caucus, Women’s Media Center, Voters for Choice, URGE and is the founding president of the Ms. Foundation for Women. An Evening with Gloria Steinem will take place on Tuesday, November 21, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. at the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary, and limited space is available on a first-come, first-served basis

In between dancing and singing along with protest songs and psychedelic music, Free Press readers helped honor four community activists at the November 13 Free Press Protest Fest and Awards ceremony. The event was held at Woodlands Tavern and featured Golden Ratio, Brian “Clash” Griffin, Victoria Parks, Connie Harris, Dan Dougan (as emcee and musician), the Chicken Hawk Bird Getters, and comedy by Travis Irvine. The awardees were:

2017 Free Press Musician Award - Brian “Clash” Griffin

In between dancing and singing along with protest songs and psychedelic music, Free Press readers helped honor four community activists at the November 13 Free Press Protest Fest and Awards ceremony. The event was held at Woodlands Tavern and featured Golden Ratio, Brian “Clash” Griffin, Victoria Parks, Connie Harris, Dan Dougan (as emcee and musician), the Chicken Hawk Bird Getters, and comedy by Travis Irvine. The awardees were:

2017 Free Press Musician Award - Brian “Clash” Griffin

Monday, Nov 20, 6-8pm
King Avenue United Methodist Church, 299 King Ave.
TransOhio will hold its annnual TDOR on Monday, Nov. 20th at KAUMC to honor and lift up the victims of violence against the transgender and gender non-binary/ non- conforming community in 2017 both across the U.S. and around the world. Reception to follow, child care available.

The Columbus community offered Bienvenido! to Marina Alvarenga from El Salvador on November 1, 2017. Alvarenga was on a tour through the country to speak with Central American activists about the current conditions in El Salvador and her campaign for Cabinet Department in 2018.

The event served as a reunion for former members of the Columbus, Ohio – Copapayo, El Salvador Sister City Project, an organization that was active throughout the late 80s to mid-90s that sent several delegations of local activists to bring humanitarian aid to the Salvadoran village during that country’s civil war – as well as other activist groups such as Pastors for Peace.

Saturday, November 18, 12-2pm
Trintity Episcopal Church, 125 E. Broad St.
Join us on November 18th to make history. We will dedicate a 50-year time capsule to record what Ohioans love and are fighting to protect from climate change. It will be an interactive, inspiring, and family-friendly event where we will celebrate the people and places we are fighting for. Governor Kasich will be given an opportunity to write a letter pledging his support to uphold the Paris Agreement and stop the proposed fracking of the Wayne National Forest and the construction of the Nexus, Rover, and Utopia pipelines. We also call on Regional Forestry Manager Kathleen Atkinson to withdraw her consent and stop the proposed fracking of the Wayne National Forest.
We need YOU to help fill this time capsule! Please bring--
-An object (small enough to fit in your palm) representing what you love and want to protect in the face of climate change
-A letter to the future generations

JVP Central Ohio stands with the public in demanding that City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. and Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien drop ALL charges against the four people who were arrested by Columbus Police officers at Columbus Pride 2017, especially Deandre Miles who faces an unjust felony charge for peacefully protesting.

Wednesday, Nov 15, 6pm
Room 209 Enarson Classroom Building- 2009 Millikin Rd. Columbus, OH 43210
The Ohio State Sierra Club Student Coalition is hosting a Voices on Sustainability event! We have invited professors, politicians, and scholars to discuss issues regarding the future of our energy sources, sustainability methods, and how we can come together as a community to solve these problems. There will be food and drinks provided! We hope to see you there!

As House Republicans prepare for a vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act this week, graduate students at universities across the country are organizing mass resistance under the hashtag #SaveGradEd. Many are engaging in political struggle for the first time.

On November 13, over 300 graduate students and supporters marched on the Oval at the Ohio State University to protest a provision in the GOP bill that would make tuition waivers taxable income for graduate students. Forbes contributor Ethan Seigel argues that the tax overhaul bill would destroy graduate education in the U.S.