Back when "tin soldiers and Nixon" were "cutting us down" in 1970, a group of Ohio State University students and campus activists started an underground newspaper in Columbus. Driven mostly by the murder of four students at Kent State – Allison Krause, Jeff Miller, Sandy Scheuer and Bill Schroeder – shot during a demonstration that was opposing President Nixon's illegal attack on Cambodia and the Vietnam War, the Columbus Free Press was born. Not surprisingly, the Free Press was the first western newspaper to expose Cambodia's killing fields thanks to international law professor John Quigley's reporting from Southeast Asia. In the first issue of the Free Press, the October 11, 1970 issue, a Free Press opinion attacked a special grand jury's decision not to indict Ohio National Guardsmen for the Kent State killings. Continue reading

During riots and uprising in Ferguson in 2014 many activists and crowds protested against the shooting that led to the death of Michael Brown by police. Brown was unarmed. During these protests military styled policing teams fired rubber bullets drenched and bombed people with tear gas. It was then that Palestine showed and expressed global solidarity by tweeting advice as how to survive the attack. The Green Party of the United States Black Caucus stands with Palestine and condemns Israeli state violence and the use of United States supplied weapons to murder, tear gas unarmed Palestinians. We also recognize that this atrocity could not have occurred without the U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s tweet of support and celebratory comment outlines that both parties have no problem with ethnic cleansing, genocide, execution, rape, and theft of land. Continue reading

MAY 15, 2018 — While a delegation from the Trump administration and leaders from various parts of the world gathered in Jerusalem to witness the illegal and immoral move of the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to the beleaguered and contested city, Israeli soldiers slaughtered unarmed Palestinians in Gaza. The latest count reports more than 50 dead and 2,700 wounded. The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) demands the United States condemn Israeli state violence and the use of U.S.-supplied weapons to murder unarmed Palestinians, a violation of U.S. law. Guidelines for the sale and transfer of military equipment stipulates U.S.-supplied arms cannot be used to violate human rights. Continue reading

Reliably unpredictable and defiantly unconventional, our President Donald Trump is known as a wily negotiator of real estate and trade deals, a creative manipulator of immigration and election laws as well as grandstander on domestic and foreign policy—tax cuts for the wealthy, reneging on international agreements and treaties (Paris Climate Accord, Iran Nuclear Deal). But now he's outdone himself. He's keeping his promise to make America great again by taking the first step to make Palestine/Israel one country again. Continue reading

It's great to have a day dedicated to honoring and appreciating motherhood. But instead of buying a card and flowers, how about doing something more meaningful — like honoring motherhood by volunteering some time for the peace movement? Hey, flowers are great — in nature. But it is not really honoring motherhood, and certainly not Mother Earth, to support the commercial practice of growing tons of pesticide-laden flowers in Ecuador and Colombia, then consuming tons of fossil fuels to ship them to U.S. consumers — so that they can look and smell pretty for two or three days before being thrown in the trash. And unless labor conditions have improved in the last few years, the ephemeral joy that your mother might experience from a bouquet comes with a bitter irony. More than likely, the true costs include the suffering and pesticide contamination of mothers in Colombia or children in Ecuador. Continue reading

Patients, health providers, and community activists will hold a protest and press conference outside of the entrance of the Johnston Medical Building (3333 N. Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD) at Union Memorial Hospital at 11:00 am on Thursday, May 10. The protest is against MedStar, which recently dropped Dr. Shawn Dhillon, a primary care doctor at Union Memorial for 16 years since he completed his residency in internal medicine there. Dr. Dhillon was dropped without cause from MedStar’s insurance plans, immediately terminating half of the patients in his practice and pressuring him to leave. Continue reading

from the Mobile Bay Green Party A recent turn of events at a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama has brought attention to the very real, pervasive, and systemic problem of racism and police brutality. Chikesia Clemons, aka Keke, a 25-year-old black woman, was met with harsh brutality from Saraland Police after they were called by an employee of the Saraland Waffle House due to an argument over a dubious extra charge for plastic cutlery. When Chikesia asked for their corporate number to air her concerns of unfair treatment, a dispute broke out between the two parties. An employee at the Waffle House called the police, and the police, upon arrival, made no attempt to investigate or deescalate the situation; instead, police dragged her out of her chair -- resulting in the exposure of her naked body -- placed her in a choke hold, and threatened to break her arm. Continue reading