Today (January 20, 2001), local activists held two counter-inauguration protests in Columbus, Ohio. The Green Party organized a demo in front of the Office of the Ohio Secretary of State (180 East Broad St.), protesting against the absence of democracy; the Ohio Chapter of NOW held a rally at Founder's Women's Health Center (1243 E. Broad St.), highlighting the need to defend reproductive rights & freedoms; civil rights for GLBT people, etc. The Green Party demo was from 11:00 to 12:00 noon, and the NOW rally from 2:00 to 3:00 PM, so many activists -- including four students who drove all the way from Kenyon College -- attended both. It was a terribly cold & snowy day, and the turnout was much less than expected; about twenty people showed up at the Green Party demo; and about thirty took part in the NOW rally (enlivened by an appearance of a middle-aged religious-right woman who entertained activists in attendance by yelling, "Get off _my_ public space!"). Activists from NARAL; the Ohio Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Stonewall Union; the Democratic Socialists of Central Ohio; Professional Guild of Ohio; the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee; etc. who braved the cold, however, vowed to remain vigilant in the defense of hard-won rights & liberties & resist the Right. Despite liberal feminists' pre-election hostilities to the Nader/Green Party campaign, the first person invited to speak at the NOW rally was Green Party activist Gina Ficociello. The loose network of local progressive activists survived the election in 2000. However, with the exception of yours truly & one student from Kenyon College, activists of color were absent, with no African-American in sight, which, alas, does not reflect well on NOW & the Green Party. There is much work to be done to break down racial segregation in organizing. Good news is that so many drivers honked in support of both the counter-inauguration activities, indicating a possibility to broaden the local activist base for many more protests to come against the Bush administration. Whether the Green Party or any other organization can capitalize on the latent discontent over undemocratic electoral politics, however, remains to be seen. Yoshie
