Local
Ohio plans to execute Alva Campbell on November 15, 2017, in revenge for his 1997 murder of Charles Dials, a crime to which Campbell confessed and pled guilty. However, the person Alva Campbell is today is not the same person he was when he committed his crimes.
Campbell’s case was infamous in central Ohio. He feigned illness and attacked the lone deputy sheriff who had left Campbell unrestrained while escorting him to the hospital. He then carjacked Charles Dials and ended up killing the 18-year-old before being re-captured. None of this is in dispute.
Also not disputable: Alva Campbell is a very sick man[AB1] who may well die “naturally,” possibly within months. The optics are ugly. The photograph of Campbell was taken in late September. A clemency application by Campbell’s attorneys thoroughly lists all of Campbell’s medical conditions at length. A short excerpt from the application states:
DAMNING QUOTE: Columbus City Council member and former Safety Director Mitchell Brown proclaimed at a candidate’s night that Columbus doesn’t need a civilian review board to monitor the police since the grand jury is a civilian review board. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s office admitted that they can’t remember any Columbus police officer ever being indicted by the grand jury. The grand jury is overwhelmingly white and under control of the Prosecutor’s office – not the citizens of Columbus – whose proceedings are secret, not transparent.
LAWSUIT #1: The Estate of Jaron Thomas filed a wrongful death lawsuit on October 12 against the Columbus Division of Police. In response to Thomas’ call for help on January 14, 2017, Officers Darren Stephens, Chase Pinkerman and Michael Alexander decided to handcuff him and punch, body slam, knee, choke-hold and hobble strap him into submission which caused him to lose consciousness and cause his death. The Columbus Division of Police authorized the use of excessive force and his death was deemed an accident.
Upon entering the OSU Urban Art Space, you are greeted with a biography of Dr. Frank Hale and other culturally relevant icons.
Frank Hale worked at OSU from 1971-98. He was a man of many accolades, important jobs and podiums. He was the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion, and a Professor Emeritus. He sat on many regional boards – everything from the United Negro College Fund to the Ohio Martin Luther King Commission. Frank lectured many places including the National Academy of Science.
Dr. Frank Hale served as a consultant to various institutions and organizations such as the Department of Education and West Point. He published several books including an autobiography called Angels Watching Over Me in 1996 and What Makes Diversity Work in 2004. Dr. Frank Hale died in 2011. This information is condensed from BlackSociety.alumni.osu.edu.
I first saw the Salty Caramels seven or eight years ago when the Columbus music scene was locked in the death grip of the Americana movement. There were three ladies in matching dresses, and (if memory serves) they sang a song about ice cream. In addition to playing the acoustic miscellany of the day, one of them had a saw with a violin bow which sounded like an intoxicated ghost with self-esteem issues. It was saccharin to the point of nausea.
Subsequently, I learned that they had undergone a lineup change, adding a drummer and electric guitar. Even so, I was a little apprehensive when I popped in their new disc, Baby Blue, the title of which I suspected was not a Dylan reference. Sure enough, the opening track began with a sort of kitschy drum and vocal intro about a Baby Blue. About six seconds in I was actually reaching for the eject button.
Which would have been a serious mistake. Because this album is a collection of gloriously wonderful pop music that is light years away from what I expected.
In a primary race chock full of corporate-sponsored “establishment” candidates this past May, 5 candidates of the grassroots organization Yes We Can Columbuswon enough votes to run in the general elections for City Council and School Board this November.
In a city where the Democratic Party Machine holds a tight grip over local electioneering, this is a considerable achievement that is no doubt a reflection of growing dissatisfaction with the status quo in Columbus politics and part of the ongoingradicalization of sections of the Columbus community since Trump’s inauguration.
The International Socialist Organization shares the overarching goal of Yes We Can: to change the miserable conditions plaguing Columbus, and to shift power definitely out of the hands of the wealthy few into the hands of everyday people. We stand in solidarity with anyone working to achieve this aim and hope to continue to build a united front with Yes We Can and its supporters in the ongoing struggle toward this vision.
Just prior to Hitler-inspired neo-Nazis and their white supremacist allies descending on Charlottesville, Virginia in August, the FBI began characterizing the Black Lives Matter movement as “Black-identity extremists.” As best the Freep can tell, the FBI made up this term to apply to anyone who advocates equal rights, racial justice and an end to police brutality against minorities.
The Black Alliance for Peace put it this way: “The state is growing more desperate and dangerous. It faces a crisis, one where its own legitimacy is being questioned. In a re-play of the repression faced by Black liberation forces in the 1960s and ‘70s, news broke that the Black resistance movement is in the cross hairs of the state. So-called ‘Black-identity extremists’ are now the new FBI targets, a category that can include anyone who believes Black people have the right to resist and deserve self-determination.”
A balcony collapses in a synagogue and sparks a women’s uprising in the first offering of the 2017 Columbus Jewish Film Festival. Despite venturing into the hazardous intersection of religion and gender politics, The Women’s Balcony has been described as a “feel-good comedy” that you don’t have to be Jewish to love.
Then again, you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy the majority of films in this year’s lineup, said festival co-chair Sandy Meizlish. Though some deal with the aftermath of the Holocaust and likely have the most resonance for Jewish audiences, he said, others have more universal appeal.
Meizlish cited Mr. Gaga, a documentary about Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin, who pioneered a groundbreaking dance style called Gaga. The screening will be presented in conjunction with BalletMet, which recently performed one of Naharin’s works. “It was a compelling performance,” Meizlish said.
Two Dollar Radio Headquarters on the corner of Parsons Ave and Cline St. (across the street from the new Columbus Metropolitan Library) is one of the latest new vegan businesses to open empowering Columbus towards a rapid vegan shift in consciousness and choices. They are unique in offering “curated books, coffee, booze, yum-yum and culture” in one bright, open, clean and welcoming space.
They keep it interesting by combining standing menu items such as their house-made Pimento Cheese or quiche with a rotating platform for a variety of vegan pop-up businesses – from the long-established to the emerging local vegan entrepreneurs such as Willowbeez Soul Veg, Freaks and Leeks, to Village Taco to name a few.
Hero
Nathan Runkle is a hero to farm animals and a hero to the Free Press. His new book Mercy for Animals chronicles the rise of the animal rights organization he founded in central Ohio at age 15 that has grown into an international nonprofit headquartered in Los Angeles. Mercy for Animals’ mission is to end factory farming and, in turn, stop animal abuse and promote compassionate food choices. The group has been incredibly effective in exposing and stopping many brutally violent and unsanitary factory farm practices. It is successful primarily because of Nathan’s tenacity, his passion, investigations, films, organizing ability and professional promotion. Nathan came in town for a book signing last month and the Free Press stopped by for an autograph. The Free Press stands proud of our native son and his tremendous accomplishments. We also recommend the book for good reading.
Salute
Where's the soundtrack? You can't have a revolution without the right music.
In high school I wanted to join the S.D.S. So bad and I loved Abbie Hoffman and here's a few of my hate-my-father's-Republican-guts revolutionary playlist:
The MC5's "Kick Out The Jams," though I never knew the words was by its very explosive punk-soul jail-guitar-doors was Detroit proletariat punk rock revolutionary. Now the Left hate's the working class--go figure.
The Jefferson Airplane's 'Volunteers' and 'We Can Be Together' were totally right on musical manifestos for life in Year One of the New Order – co-ops, weekly love-ins, pig-free zones encompassing entire states, no hassles, organic everything and weed, weed, weed. Free of course.