“The difficulty with nuclear power is that it produces the worst industrial waste that’s ever been produced by any industry on earth. This stuff remains deadly for literally, millions of years!” - Gordon Edwards, President, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility

“Your project is a remarkable example of cinema that seeks to raise awareness and drive meaningful change.” - Organizing Committee of the Festival Internacional de Cine Animal y Ambiental (FICAA).

A broad  coalition of democratic organizations from across the state have mobilized to protect free speech rights from a secretive attempt by right-wing lawmakers to make public criticism of the state of Israel illegal in the state of Ohio.

This is the story of how they did it – how people of all different backgrounds came together on short notice, learned to navigate the convoluted cutlure of the Ohio statehouse, and faced down a powerful lobby determined to shield the state of Israel and its supporters in the US government from accountability for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Faten Odeh, the executive director of the Cleveland chapter of The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH), had heard rumblings of states intending to codify the IHRA definition of antisemitism into law, but could have never anticipated how fast legislation around the definition would develop in Ohio. Perhaps a bigger surprise was how quickly she, along with Ann Ghazy, Jawhara Qutiefan, and a myriad of other organizers were able to mobilize large numbers of people to help protect free speech from government overreach.

Please urge Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a new provision that will make Ohio less transparent by enabling additional costs to public records requests to law enforcement.

A change in open government and public records was snuck into House Bill 315. They have added language to House Bill 315 that says body cam footage and dash cam footage can only be provided by a police department after charging the public $75 per hour (with a cap of $750) for the agency to “retrieve, download, review, redact, seek legal advice regarding, and produce the video record.”

Take Action Before Gov. DeWine Signs the Bill

WE NEED YOU!

How will families understand police incidents? How will reporters get access to footage? How can they hide transparency behind a costly payment scheme?

TAKE ACTION | Call Governor DeWine: (614)-466-3555

Use the script below:

Saturday December 21 at 7 pm
First Unitarian Church, 93 W. Weisheimer Road, Columbus 43214

On the darkest day of the year when daylight will be at its lowest ebb, join me and my musical friends for an uplifting concert that looks ahead to the new year, its emerging sunlight, and its potential for joy and progress.

I’ll sing popular songs from the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and beyond that represent our hopes, dreams, and prayers for 2025. They’ll be songs that symbolize positive values of peace, community, gratitude, love, courage, justice, friendship, activism, and struggle. These are songs linked to a wide variety of folks –- Mama Cass, Pete Seeger, the Byrds, the Beatles, James Taylor, Carol King, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, and Judy Garland.

Fellow musicians Joanne Blum and Joe Lambert will add beautiful vocal harmonies, and Ann Fisher will add soothing counterpoints with her flute.

The reflective evening will also feature wise sayings about darkness and light. And the concert in the darkened sanctuary will be bathed in the glow of dozens of candles. Expect a couple fun surprises too.