Central Ohioans for Peace Meeting. Program: Screening of the film “Hidden Colors 4”

Woman holding sign saying One People World Peace

Monday, August 26, 2018, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
This film is the fourth in a series of films exploring the real and untold history of people of color around the globe.  This installment explores the motivation behind European global subjugation of people of color, the history of the vast West African empires, the ways germ warfare has been used on people of color, and the slave breeding farms in America.  Because this is a longer film, our discussion after viewing it will be short.  Location: Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Avenue, Columbus, Ohio. For information about COFP, visit our website at https://sites.google.com/site/centralohioansforpeace/Home

How Tobacco Companies Have Contributed to the Trump Administration

Young black man with glasses blowing smoke out of his mouth with a cigarette in his hand

As we approach the 2020 presidential election, you may find yourself in a bout of confusion over the GOP’s agenda. Denying climate change, accepting support from white nationalists, and the marriage of church and state all come to mind as things that have never been promoted so radically by the party. In addition to this shortlist, they are also pawns of the tobacco industry.

In a scathing piece by the Guardian, the Trump administration was taken to task with a plethora of facts connecting it to the tobacco industry. It turns out that over the last 35 years, the president has had a mutually supportive relationship with tobacco companies. The same is true of other big names in the GOP.

These ties have allowed tobacco lobbyists to play a role in policymaking. The fact that this has not been spoken of more is odd considering that the evidence for it is so condemnatory. What’s the deal with the Trump administration’s affiliation with the tobacco industry, and how is it shaping national health policy?

Franklin Park - Open Up the Gates!

Iron gate with grass and trees on one side and big building with a lot of windows on the other side

I attended two of the three Pro Musica concerts held in the Franklin Park Conservatory gardens over August 8-11. Both concerts were lovely and distinct. The weather, the moon, stars and the jewel-like lighting in the glass conservatory building behind the stage created a magical, exquisite experience.

I want to thank the Franklin Park Conservatory, Pro Musica leaders, musicians and sponsors who made this event free and open to the public.

You see, the last time I attended this music series, there was no tall, black cast-iron fence surrounding the gardens of the Conservatory.  And if you are like me, the fence/wall came as a fist in the gut.

The first time I saw the fence/wall, I was shocked, angered and saddened at the same time.  It circles the conservatory, encompasses the entire west garden, the silver sails fountain and extends all the way back to the Adventure Center parking lot.  It appeared at the same time POTUS was trumpeting his border wall to lock out “criminals”.

Mini-Farm Stand to Raise Funds for School in

Lots of young Guatemalan girls in colorful dresses

Sundays, August 25, September 15, October 6, 27, 2019, 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Buy local to support a good cause: Herbs and vegetables from local urban gardens, Home-made baked goods, Hand-made crafts from Guatemala. 100% of sales goes to support The New Dawn Middle School:  Education for Maya Youth in Guatemala.  More info?  contact Heather at copalaa2003@yahoo.com.  
Location: Oakland Nursery, 1156 Oakland Park Ave, Columbus 43224.

Columbus Vegan Festival

Two young women in the foreground walking through a line of tent booths on a blue-skyed sunny day

Saturday August 24, 2019, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Spend a day with friends, enjoy music, education, dynamic speakers, or just perusing vegan owned businesses and sample local vegan eats! 

THIS IS NOT BERLIN (ESTO NO ES BERLIN) Film Review

What I loved about director/co-writer Hari Sama’s This is Not Berlin is that it immersed me (and I suspect most grinning Gringos and other non-Mexicans) into a world I’d never encountered before. Set in Mexico City in the mid-1980s, Sama depicts the punk rock scene, counterculture and gay “subculture” of the Mexican capital of that era. It reminded me of the ultra-cool Andy Warhol “Factory” world in Manhattan during the 1960s and 1970s, with the kind of wild parties that Rico Salvatore Rizzo, aka Ratso (Dustin Hoffman), walked out of in 1969’s Midnight Cowboy, denouncing the revelers as “wackos, they’re all wackos.”

 

Our Vanishing World: Glaciers

Something is causing the worlds glaciers and mountain ice fields to melt. And, despite your first thought, it is not the ongoing climate catastrophe.

 

It does not matter where on Earth the glaciers and mountain ice fields are located, they are all melting. Moreover, the projected timeframe for some of them to disappear altogether is ‘imminently’; that is, within years. And for the rest: a few decades (although that projection is being routinely revised downwards, depending on the glacier).

 

African American Cultural Festival

Friday, August 23-Saturday, August 24 (Fri 4-9pm) (Sat starts at 11am)
Mayme Moore Park, 867 Mt. Vernon Ave.
The Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, with support from the Department of Neighborhoods, present the third annual African-American Cultural Festival Friday, August 23 and Saturday, August 24, 2019

Hosted in the heart of the Historic Bronzeville District, a variety of live music, spoken word and dance performances highlight the third annual African-American Cultural Festival. Visual artists, a kids’ fun zone and more will help round out the day. Admission is FREE.

This year’s African-American Cultural Festival will feature entertainment and live performances, education, health and wellness, the cultural corner and main stage performances. Our main stage will enjoy great performances by several groups, including the Urban Jazz Coalition, the Paragon Project, Mark Lomax, MojoFlo, ZuZu Acrobats and Rose Royce.

Main Stage Schedule:

Friday, Aug. 23:
4 p.m. Opening Ceremony
4:15 p.m. The ReDO
7:30 p.m. The Urban Jazz Coalition
Tribute to Sly and the Family Stone

Participatory Evolution

The big black pickup truck plunged into the protesters blocking the parking lot and I cringed, viscerally, as though I could feel it myself — this merciless crush of steel against flesh.

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