Syria, known throughout history as the “crossroads of civilization,” now finds itself at a crossroads of its own. After 54 years, the Assad family’s brutal dictatorship in Syria has finally ended.

“I never thought I’d live to see this day,” said my dad, who left Aleppo as a teenager. My parents grew up there.

This article first appeared in the Buckeye Flame

As one of the fastest growing cities in the country, Columbus is in for major changes in the coming years—and local queer community leader Densil Porteous wants to be a part of the conversation to fill the vacant District 7 representative on city council.

“We know we are going to continue to grow, and we have to be thoughtful, strategic and intentional about that growth,” he said.

As a queer Black man, a parent and a two-decade Columbus resident, Porteous believes he will bring a much-needed perspective to Council to ensure a bright and equitable future for the city. His platform is centered on affordable housing, inclusive economic growth, environmental justice and community-centered safety solutions.

Monday, December 16, 7pm
Call your legislator to stop House Bill 8. According to activist Rachel Coyle, it's a "Christmas tree bill" that does a lot of different things. It would ban books and curriculum that have "sexuality" content (an incredibly broad term), require forced outing of LGBTQ+ students without consideration for the child's safety at home, and require all Ohio school districts to allow release programs (like LifeWise) to remove students during the public school day for religious education.

For more information: bit.ly/stopHB8

STEPHEN SPOONAMORE: I’m a network engineer..

I build hardware. Most of it is for the credit card or satellite communications business.

I find it statistically almost impossible, as do a significant number of other people who are who are statisticians, that Trump won seven out of seven swing states just outside the margin of error.

There's an additional analysis… two of them that have been completed since then…one of them is absolutely stunning. It looks at what's called the 208 hinge counties. They’re the counties that are of a scale that tend to be the lead associated with the changing of election.

Dozens of people from across the city gathered in the Columbus Short North district on a cold December afternoon to show the world that “Hate has no home here”.

Following just weeks after the shocking Nazi march in Columbus , which received international press coverage and condemnation from the Biden administration, the people of Columbus organized a “Walk for Humanity” down the same city streets.