Local

Columbus Rally For Expanded Sanctuary

Lots of people holding signs at a rally

Monday, March 13, 4:30-6:00pm
Columbus City Hall, 90 W. Broad St. 
A RALLY TO DEMAND SANCTUARY FOR ALL

Several organizations representing diverse communities within the greater Columbus area have joined together to make sure that we protect ALL people in Columbus. As we thank our Mayor Ginther and the Columbus City Council for the steps that they have taken to start the process towards making Columbus a Sanctuary City for some, we would like to ask for an Expanded Sanctuary. #ExpandSanctuaryCBUS means a #SanctuaryForAll

We demand that all marginalized groups - irrespective of their religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and immigration status - be welcomed and provided sanctuary and safety by our City, County, and State officials. 

Amy Wickes, Gone too Soon

Man making peace sign with woman making peace sign

Everyone who was Amy Wickes Friend on Facebook will remember her iconic pose: one hip thrust out, a big smile on her face as she flashed a peace sign. Amy left us too soon on March 9, 2017. To understand her life, one need only read her important book, From Privilege to Prison: Finding Purpose in a Dark Place. Anyone being abused in jail, in prison or in any part of the criminal justice system could count on Amy to come to their aid. Anyone with influence, be it County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien, City Attorney Rick Pfieifer, all the judges in Franklin County, media people – including me as the Editor of this newspaper – could count on the Wickes treatment: a passionate and unrelenting appeal for morality, decency, justice and facts.

Activist events for March 10

Pink triangle on black background with words Silence equals death

Silence is Death
March 10 7-11pm
Vanderelli Room, 218 McDowell St., Franklinton
This neighborhood exhibition explores the social and political role of creatives to ignite change, empower the people and challenge hatred in our community.
We UNITE to celebrate OUR HUMANITY. We UNITE to take a STAND AGAINST HATE. We have the POWER to eliminate hate when we are UNITED.
All GREAT revolutions are fueled by CREATIVES.
Curated by: Alicia Jean Vanderelli, Dana Harper, and Tona Pearson
Planning committee: Dana Harper, Gaye Reissland, Heidi Madsen, Hakim Callwood, Callie King, Lisa Steward, and Lynne Bieber
Inclusion - Promenade Gallery, 400 West Rich-
Locker Room Talk - 129 Studios
The Pussy Grabs Back - The Vanderelli Room
Making America Create Again - The Idea Foundry
Make Mine America - AWL (artist wrestling league) Headquarters
Soapbox- Lundberg Industrial Arts
**20% of sales will be donated (distributed evenly) to Gladden House, Planned Parenthood, Standing Rock and the ACLU

Activist events for March 9

Cartoon with huge ship named Status Quo on ocean with Columbus City Council flag, and a bubble that says "This Ship is unsinkable -- full speed ahead!"

Kick-Off Meeting for Columbus City Council Reform Working Group
March 9 - 6:30PM
Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch Library, 1600 E Long St, Columbus, OH 43203
Kick-off meeting on 2017 campaign to reform Columbus City Council. Help organize our thinking around a new campaign and strategy to victory on election day.

March is Women’s History Month: Here are events celebrating women

Pink female symbol

A Day Without A Woman: Women's March Ohio & International Women's Day Rally

March 8, 4:3-7:30pm rally, 6-9pm fundraiser
Outdoor event at the Gazebo in Goodale Park, indoor event in Goodale Shelter House, 120 W. Goodale St. 43215
Outdoor event – free. Rally will present speakers from the community, local leaders, elected officials, and a variety of food trucks

$20 donation for indoor fundraiser benefiting The RISE Project with RISE Travel will be held at the Goodale Shelter House from 6pm-8pm. This donation will help sponsor the WMW-OH Rally and includes drinks, music, snacks, a silent auction, plus raffles.

Actions include your personal contribution In Solidarity to A Day Without A Women. Attend the WMW-OH local International Women's Day Rally, get together with a group of women over breakfast or lunch at home verses a restaurant In Solidarity with underpaid workers, boycott businesses that further disenfranchise people in our society, and or strike from cleaning or cooking. What is A Day Without A Woman to you? Please Share! #HearOurVoice #WithoutAWoman #WMWOH.

Ohio man arrested at Standing Rock

NO DAPL sign

The last time I wrote, I said that I was on my way home from the DAPL protest at the Sacred Stone Camp in the Standing Rock reservation. Well, I got as far as Jamestown, ND, rented a motel room, and found I simply could not sleep. I was worrying too much about the few protesters I had left behind, and was afraid that I was wrong in my opinion that the camp would not be raided. So, I emptied my car of all my gear so that I might be able to carry people back with me, then went back to the camp.

There were very few people left. It was an incredibly surreal landscape. There were literally tons of perfectly good gear laying abandoned. Lumber, sleeping bags, dozens of ti pis, semi-permanent dwellings people had built, tarps, wooden platforms, wood burning stoves--literally every kind of camping gear you can imagine, and some I'd never seen before (like a propane powered instant hot water tank).

How Should White People Respond to Police Violence?

Movie poster with a police officer and yellow tape, words Police Officer

Monday, March 6, 6:45pm
Northwood-High building, 2231 N. High St., parking in "R" spots in rear
We will watch the award winning film "Peace Officer" and follow up with a group discussion on the abuse of SWAT teams and how should majority white communities deal with their own experience of police violence? How can these communities find the proper way to build solidarity with other over policed and marginalized groups?
Peace Officer is a feature documentary about the increasingly militarized state of American police as told through the story of William “Dub” Lawrence, a former sheriff who established and trained his rural state’s first SWAT team only to see that same unit kill his son-in-law in a controversial standoff 30 years later. Driven by an obsessed sense of mission, Dub uses his own investigative skills to uncover the truth in this and other recent officer-involved shootings in his community while tackling larger questions about the changing face of peace officers nationwide.

No More in 614 marches by the Arnold

People marching down High Street holding signs that say No More in 614, no more bigotry, black lives matter.

Bodybuilders and sports fans at the Arnold event stood dumbfounded outside the Columbus Convention Center Saturday afternoon as the "No More in 614" demonstrators marched by holding signs saying "Black Lives Matter," "No Homeless Children," "Don't Frack the Wayne National Forest" and other demands to our local government. They chanted "No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!" which could be interpreted either as a response to Trump's call for deportations, or a welcome to our country to Arnold himself. A few Arnold-goers yelled "Make America Great!" while others looked surprised, and a few gave the protestors a thumbs up.

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