Wade Rathke, founder of ACORN and Chief Organizer of ACORN International, joined us from Mississippi to take about the Voter Purge Project. This protects eligible voters against disenfranchisement by monitoring, reporting on, and organizing against wrongful voter purging. Wade has a list of purged Ohio voters and asked for volunteers to help call them and get them re-registered. Volunteer for Wade Rathke’s voter purge project - OHIO

Important election dates for Ohio:
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
The deadline to register online to vote is Monday, October 5, 2020.
The deadline for registering by mail to vote is (postmarked by) Monday, October 5, 2020.
The deadline to register in person to vote is Monday, October 5, 2020.
The deadline to request a ballot by mail is (received by) Saturday, October 31, 2020.
The early voting period runs from Tuesday, October 6, 2020 to Monday, November 2, 2020, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live.

Cynthia Brown of the Heartbeatmovement in Columbus, joined us to talk about the importance of ending police brutality and making law enforcement accountable for their use of excessive force and killings. Her nephew, 30-year-old Kareem Ali Nadir Jones, was murdered by police a couple of years ago.

Cindy promoted an upcoming Heartbeatmovement event:
DeEscalateOhioNow ! End Qualified Immunity
Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 3 Pm – 5 Pm
Ohio Statehouse

She emphasized the importance of voting FOR the City Columbus Civilian Review Board and AGAINST any Republican state legislators who want to keep qualified immunity for police.

Some good news about the Henry Green case regarding qualified immunity.

State Rep (26th) Erica Crawley supports the END to qualified immunity.

Heartbeatmovement
Cindy’s Facebook page

More information about DeEscalateOhioNow! Heartbeatmovement -- a collection of Grassroots organizations rising up from the collective pain, in order to educate and ensure changes take place NOW. Our multiracial coalition is not about being anti-police, we are fighting for human life. We are NOT part of, or associated with partisan political parties, nor are we directed from the top by others. Our Public Safety Health DeEscalation goal is to:

•Get Justice in Policing legislation filed and passed in order that fair and impartial policing can take place,
diminishing systemic racism issues and effectively changing the system of policing as we know it.

•Eliminate QUALIFIED IMMUNITY by clarifying the true intent of Section1983, thereby protecting 4th Amendment rights.

•Eliminate legal lynching still on the books that our elected official, Governor DeWine, just denied overturning last week!

•Stop Police Officer Violence in the State of Ohio. Eliminate bad policing, rid ourselves of bad police departments and bad officers. How many more families have to go through loss of loved ones? Local police should use every non-lethal means at their disposal, be well and completely *trained to do so.

•REOPEN cases Involving Police Violence, identify
the Murderous officers and Prosecute these predators to the Fullest extent of the current Law.

•We demand Governor Mike DeWine admit to systemic racism and apologize to families impacted by legal intervention with qualified immunity, and the trauma it’s caused. The state must acknowledge what these families have had to deal with. PTSD does not go away on its own untreated.

*Mandatory DeEscalation Training, Racial Bias Training, Non Lethal Force must begin immediately. We can't have Accountability without Ending Qualified Immunity, Mandatory Mental health crisis Interventions, Prioritize CPR.

#DeEscalateOhioNow
is looking for Ambassadors to bring awareness to all of Ohio’s 88 counties, and encourage participation in this ongoing civil engagement by everyone. Justice strategies, prompting humane and effective approaches to police brutality and misconduct, plus legalized lynchings with qualified immunity are the topics of discussion Across the Coalition.
~Ohio needs creative leadership to help build new bridges between Law Enforcement and our Community.
~Police Accountability that ensure officers can work effectively with the community. Most police training academies continue to focus on racist, fear-based, lethal strategies. This must change.

Dave Lippman, our favorite political singer/satirist, joined us from Harlem, New York to sing a few amusing social justice songs to lift our spirits and make us laugh. Find more of his music here.

Mark Stansbery announced an event happening Sunday, Sept. 13: Interfaith March for Justice and Peace – Sunday, Sept. 13 – 3pm.

And an upcoming event: 50 Years of Student Rebellion
Monday, Sept. 21, 5:30pm on Zoom. See details in accompanying graphic above.

Lynn Stan and Candy Watkins joined us from Candy’s backyard to tell us about this weekend’s virtual Hot Times Festival with a lineup of live music.
look for a Jazz Poetry Ensemble at 4PM Sunday
and the Art cars at the Big Room on Front Street CD102.5 / just south of brewery district, north of Whittier.

Philena Farley announce that Green candidate Howie Hawkins will be on tour through Kentucky and Ohio ending up with a protest outside the Presidential debate in Cleveland Sept 29. Volunteers are needed, contact Philena Farley, pifbits@ohiogreens.org

Mary Jane Borden announced that the U.S. House will be voting this week to legalize marijuana. To remove it from the Controlled Substances Act and provide restitution for victims of the drug war. Please ask your legislators to support this bill!

Sandy Bolzenius announced that Move to Amend, Central Ohio has a program on SLAPP suits this Thursday from 7-8 PM. Go to Movetoamend.org and check events for the zoom link.

Bryan Curtiss announced that COTA is having a Virtual Meeting on Tuesday from 6-7PM. cota.com
and wanted to remind us about participating in the Census -- the deadline to respond is September 30th; Ohio is at 70% response; Franklin County at 67%; Columbus around 60%.

For those of you who knew the activist Kevin Zeese, you were sad to hear he passed away last Sunday. Read David Swanson’s piece on him. There will be a virtual memorial service for him, September 19 -- https://www.facebook.com/events/3308629395856831/

Thanks to everyone who presented and participated! We had a lot of technical issues but we made it through and promise to do better next time!