Now through August 17, 2014, The Riches of Central America:  The People, Customs and Culture. The Riches of Central America’ is a photographic exploration of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador’s cultural traditions, daily life and history as seen by award winning documentary photographers, Andrew Tonn and Robert Studzinski .  This exhibit  will be on display through August 17 at the McConnell Art Center in Worthington.   The McConnell Art Center is open 10:00 AM – 9:00 PM Tuesday through Thursday,   10:00 AM – 5:00 PM Friday and Saturday and 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM Sundays.    Everyone is welcome.  Location: McConnell Art Center, 777 Evening Street in Worthington.

 

Monday, July 21, 2014, 7:00 PM.   Central Ohio Solar and Smart Grid Cooperative.  Discussion of future projects.  Location:  First UU Church, 93 West Weisheimer Road.  Please check the meet up site to verify.  Sign up at meetup for more information. 

 

Monday, July 21, 2014, 6:30 – 8:30 PM.   Simply Living Meetup/Social at Third Hand Bicycle Co-op.  More good green fun in July as we meetup at Columbus' own Third Hand Bicycle Co-op! This is the place to go to find the facilities and tools to support both veterans and newbies who are making cycling a key part of getting around Cbus for work and play. They also offer classes and workshops to provide needed skills and knowledge as part of their goal to promote cycling as safe and environmentally responsible transportation. Our visit on Monday is Volunteer Night and we'll get a tour of the facility, learn about co-op membership, discuss the upcoming international gathering of bike co-ops in Columbus (Bike! Bike!), plus hear about their plans to install solar panels! Last Thursday of each month is Womyn and Trans night. We'll share updates too on what is going on with Simply Living, and leave plenty of time for socializing and networking. Free. Light refreshments provided. Location: 979 E 5th Ave, Columbus, OH 43201. Contact: Email: info@thirdhand.org; Phone: 614-299-2984. Hours: Open Shop: Wed 6-9pm, Sat 1-4pm. More info: Chuck.Lynd@gmail.com.

 

Monday, July 21, 2014, 7:30 PM.  Youth Beat Radio on WCRS.  Tune in Mondays at 7:30 p.m. on WCRS

102.1 and 98.3 FM or listen online at www.wcrsfm.org.   Youth Beat Radio is sponsored by The School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University, Ohio State University Extension, and the Puffin Foundation West.   Location: WCRS 102.1 and 98.3 FM on your radio dial. Program and podcasts here.   For more information, contact youthbeat@osu.edu

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 4:00 – 5:00 PM (EST).  CMEP National Briefing Call on Gaza with Khalid Elgindy.  You are invited to join the Churches for Middle East Peace briefing call to hear from Mr. Khaled Elgindy of the Brookings Institute.  Khaled Elgindy is a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.  Between 2004 and 2009, Mr. Elgindy served with the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) in Ramallah as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership on permanent status negotiations with Israel, and was a participant in the round of negotiations launched at Annapolis in November of 2007.  Mr. Elgindy's previous experience includes serving as a policy analyst for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, and as a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.  He also held positions at the Arab American Institute and the National Democratic Institute.  Please join us as we talk with Mr. Elgindy about the current state of affairs in Gaza and prospects for peace.   While registration is not required for the event, if you would like to receive a reminder about the event and a post-event link to the briefing please register here
Dial-in Number: 1-646-307-1300
.  Participant Access Code: 693031.    

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 12 Noon – 12:45 PM.  One Ohio Now Hosts Webinar on Ohio Tax Policy 101.
One Ohio Now is a coalition of 100+ organizations that believes in investing in Ohio's future by promoting progressive budgeting and tax policies. This webinar offers a highly informative 45 minutes from the comfort of your computer.  Learn Why Budget & Tax Policy Matters and Tax Policy Basics (e.g. "how big is our budget?" and "where does the money come from?"). Find out what is happening right now! Click here to RSVP for our first webinar! Our Values, Our Budget: Ohio Tax Policy 101. There will be a solid chunk of time for questions and answers (there are no stupid questions!!), and we can always follow up 1-on-1 if we don't cover what you need on the call. Contact: Gavin Gavore Leonard (gavin@oneohionow.org).

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014 - 1:30 – 3:30 PM (Registration begins at 1:00 PM).  “Make Your Mark.”  Nonprofit Voter Engagement Training.  Few building blocks are more integral to the strength of our democracy than educating, motivating and mobilizing voters. As nonprofits, we have the unique opportunity to offer these activities, all of which help us advance our missions and build awareness for the work we do and the people we serve. A strong democracy helps build a stronger community, so getting involved in nonprofit, nonpartisan civic engagement is a win-win proposition!  You will receive month by month plans and tips on how to make your voter engagement efforts successful and effective.  This event is being organized by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and OhioVOTES. OhioVOTES is a program of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).  Location:  Broad St. Presbyterian Church, 760 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43205.  Click here to register.

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 7:00-9:00 PM.  Free screening of Claiming Open Spaces – a film by Austin Allen.  Discover the struggle for civil rights in Franklin Park and take positive action!  Films for Action Ohio is partnering with GCMC for another challenging and locally focused film.  CLAIMING OPEN SPACES explores African-American culture as it clashes with the design of the modern American city. The film is both a critical examination of the design and histories of American urban open space, as well as a celebration of leisure, recreation and resistance.  Check out the trailer.   Location:  Greater Columbus Mpowerment Center (GCMC - http://www.columbusmpowerment.org),  1780 E. Broad St., Columbus, Ohio 43203.   Kindly RSVP via Facebook

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2014, 7:30 PM.   Free Press Free Film: Money and Life.  MONEY & LIFE is a passionate and inspirational essay-style documentary that that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity?  This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected. An optimistic film steeped in appreciation for human ingenuity, MONEY & LIFE does not dictate answers. It is a respectful invitation to consider questions critical to all our well-being: How can we move beyond being merely consumers, debtors and creditors, and put money in service to what we really care about as citizens, as human beings? Can we design a monetary circulation system that fosters democratic equality? What responsibilities should a corporate charter convey? What does it really mean to make a living? The film itself demonstrates how to approach these questions with both clarity and compassion.  MONEY & LIFE empowers each of us to respond to the fundamental issues of our time and participate in the emerging new economy.  Location: Drexel Theatre, 2254 E. Main St. Columbus 43209. Co-sponsored by Simply  Living, the Columbus Free Press, and the  Columbus Film Council. Contact Chuck Lynd <chuck.lynd@gmail.com> or call 614-354-6172

 

Thursday, July 24, 2014, 6:30 PM.  Stop the U.S. War Machine:  Marxism and Anti-Imperialism. 

With the United States continuing horrific drone wars in Pakistan and Yemen and providing unwavering military support for the Israel, Russia invading and annexing Crimea, and China extending its military and economic interests into Africa, the importance of understanding why states continually engage in militarism and violence is clear for anti-war activists today.  Marxism not only demonstrates the necessity of fighting imperialism, regardless of what country you live in, but also provides key insights needed to create a different world.  Location:  South High Library, 3540 S. High St., Columbus.  Hosted by the International Socialists Organization of Central Ohio.  https://www.facebook.com/events/662610780499383/ 

 

Thursday, July  24, 2014, 8:00 PM.  Move To Amend internet radio.   Listen to it streaming at:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/movetoamend and click on “Live.”  Move to Amend brings you voices from the movement to amend the Constitution.   This is a call-in program. Call (646) 652-2345 and press 1 to participate.  Listen in every Thursday - previous programs can also be accessed at the website.  

 

Friday, July 25, 2014, 7:00 PM.  Palestine Study Group.  Screening of The Great Book Robbery by Benny Brunner (58 minutes).  During the 1948 war, 70,000 Palestinian books were systematically "collected" by the newly created State of Israel.    From The Great Book Robbery website:  This entirely unknown historical event came into light by chance; an Israeli PhD student - while researching in various state archives - stumbled upon documents from 1948-9 that mentioned "collecting books in Arabic from occupied territories."  A particularly chilling document from March 1949 lists tens of Jerusalemites whose libraries were "collected" – it reads like a Who’s Who of the Palestinian cultural elite of the time.  For decades Zionist and Israeli propaganda described the Palestinians as “people without culture.” Thus, the victorious Israeli state took upon itself to civilize the Palestinians who remained within its borders at the end of the 1948 war. They were forbidden to study their own culture or to remember their immediate past; their memory was seen as a dangerous weapon that had to be suppressed and controlled.  Open discussion to follow.  Refreshments provided. Free and open to the public.  Location:  Maynard United Methodist Church, 2350 Indianola Avenue, Columbus.  For more information, please contact cmhammond11@att.net.   

 

Friday, July 25, 2014, 6:30-8:00 PM.  The Poets and Writers Guild - 4th Friday.  Guest Speaker: David Francis  Smith - poet living in Canal Winchester.  Visit his website at davidfrancissmith.com for examples of his work and insight into his areas of interest.  Location:  Pearls of Wisdom, 3522 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43214.  For more information please contact Dottie Turner at 614-263-9346. 

 

July 26, 2014.  ACLU of Ohio biennial conference, Resist. Reclaim. Restore. Your Rights!  Explore cutting edge civil liberties issues with nationally recognized experts. Learn how you can be a partner in our work on privacy, debtors’ prisons, disability rights, death penalty reform, LGBT rights, religious liberty, reproductive rights, and more.  Network with activists from across Ohio who are working on the issues you care about.  We’re working hard to make this the best conference yet. Check back often for updates on speakers, continuing education opportunities, and more.  Don’t miss the Friday night cocktail reception on July 25.  More information and registration page - http://www.acluohio.org/conference.

Location:  Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square, 75 E. State Street, Columbus 43215.   

 

Monday, July 28, 2014,  7:00 PM.  Central Ohioans for Peace.  Bob Hart will share about the Green Party and why we should vote for Green Party candidates instead of Democrats of Republicans.  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