To stand on the top of Observatory Mound at the Newark Octagon – to see the massive Native American earthwork stretch out in the distance – can be a mind-bending experience. It transforms one into the Great Shaman of the Hopewell, experiencing what their spiritual leaders saw and lived roughly 2,000 years ago.

The problem is, getting to the Observatory Mound requires trespassing on private property. (pictured above).

What’s worse, once at the Observatory Mound, it’s hard to ignore the par 4 on the right – one of many golf holes that cut through what is arguably the most significant pre-historical site in Ohio, perhaps more compelling and mysterious than Serpent Mound.

A few days per year the golf course, the private Moundbuilders Country Club, does allow visitors to walk the entire Octagon.

The Ohio History Connection (OHC) owns the Octagon’s property, but why the OHC in 1997 renewed Moundbuilders Country Club’s lease until the year 2078 perplexes anyone who loves the state’s ancient Native American earthworks. Some say that at the time, the OHC needed money or didn’t have the wherewithal to save the Octagon from developers.

Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16, 24 hours each day, this event will be on-line

To stem the immigration tide, Mexico and the U.S. collaborate to crack down on migrants, forcing them into ever more dangerous territory.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants make their way along the trail running from southern Mexico to the U.S. border. Gustavo’s gunshot wounds from Mexican police, which have achieved abundant press attention, might just earn him a ticket out of Nicaragua. Meanwhile, anthropologist Jason painstakingly collects the trail’s remains, which have their own stories to tell. Fragmented stories from Hondurans crossing through southern Mexico assemble a vivid portrait of the thousands of immigrants who disappear along the trail.

“Border South” reveals the immigrants’ resilience, ingenuity, and humor as it exposes a global migration system that renders human beings invisible in life as well as death.

Documentary Team

• Raúl O. Paz Pastrana, Director, Producer, Cinematographer

• Jason De Leon, Producer, Advisor

Sunday, April 11; Sunday, April 25; and Sunday, May 9, 8-10pm; this on-line event requires advance registration

Join the Revolutionary Socialist Network for three discussions on From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s indispensable contribution to the movement for racial justice. This stirring and insightful analysis surveys the historical and contemporary ravages of racism and the persistence of structural inequality. In this context, the author argues that the struggle against police violence holds the potential to reignite a broader push for Black liberation.

According to Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Hammer and Hoe, Taylor “reveals how structural racism and class oppression are joined at the hip. If today’s rebels ever expect to end inequality and racialized state violence, she warns, then capitalism must also end. And that requires forging new solidarities, envisioning a new social and economic order, and pushing a struggle to protect Black Lives to its logical conclusion: a revolution capable of transforming the entire nation.”

Saturday, April 10, 7-8pm, this event will be occurring via Zoom

"The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth." ~ Chief Seattle

Since we aren’t getting together in person, we can gather for a couple of hours on the second Saturday of each month, 7-8pm Eastern Time, on Zoom.

Salon presentations:

• Brian Clash, music

• WGRN producers Annie Warmke and Herbert Ndeki II.

• Cathy Cowan Becker, Columbus Climate Action Plan and Simply Living

• Morgan Harper, on the Climate Strike organizing and AlphaFraternity members

• And more!

A question-and-answer period will be included.

If you have any announcements for the progressive community, contact us at 614-253-2571 or at <colsfreepress@gmail.com>.

Please use this Zoom link to join this event.

When we recently spoke with Cynthia Brown she was driving around town on a sunny Saturday morning visiting “every activist event” in Central Ohio that day.

Brown is seeking roughly 1,000 signatures needed by the Ohio Attorney General to approve ballot language for a 2022 initiative she is proposing to end qualified immunity for Columbus and Ohio law enforcement. If the language is accepted, Brown knows she will need a small army to gather the 400,000-plus signatures to get approval for a statewide vote.

Disheartening was how some state level and City of Columbus office holders talked tough during the summer of 2020 about ending qualified immunity, which they could do themselves, but as usual so found their promises were empty. 

Brown has taken it upon herself to end qualified immunity, her passion since her nephew Kareem Ali Nadir Jones was shot and killed by Columbus police in 2017. He was harassed for no good reason and ordered to get on the ground. He was then tragically shot in the face, neck, and in the back while on the ground by two white officers. Both are still with the Division.