GrassRoot Ohio

Hi, I’m Carolyn Harding, producer/host of GrassRoot Ohio, conversations with everyday people, working on important issues, here in columbus and all around Ohio. For the past five years I’ve been honored to interview guests working for a better world in their communities, state, country, and, quite frankly, the world, in all areas of justice - environmental, social, racial and economic. My first guests were young activists working to pass the Lake Erie Bill of Rights, one of the first Rights of Nature laws ever to pass in the US, giving the citizens of Toledo legal rights to protect the health of their main drinking water source. I got to interview Ohio activists working on: Women’s Reproductive Rights; Black lives matter; folks making home-made protective masks for health care workers at the top of the pandemic; common sense gun reform; running for public office, even when the party pre-selects/endorses and funds “winners” before the primaries; protecting LGBTQIA+ rights at the State house; ranked choice voting; curbside composting; safe streets; organic farming; protecting the Columbus Metro water supply from oil & gas production and radioactive waste, etc. I interviewed city-wide and state-wide ballot initiative organizers with campaigns to: give Columbus citizens the legal right to protect their water from oil and gas production; End Qualified Immunity; Ensure $15 an hour to Ohio workers; End Gerrymandering; and Inshrine Women’s reproductive rights into the Ohio Constitution. I interviewed writers, doctors, musicians, housewives, attorney’s, nurses, film makers, teachers, bee keepers, retired fire fighters … People who felt the call to protect their communities, nature, rights - to stand up and fight back, in oh so many ways. Throughout these five years we Won and we Lost. And we got back up, adjusted, shifted and are working to create a better world for everyone and all life on this planet. I want to thank each GrassRoot Ohio guest, who shared your cause, your work and your unique stories with us. Thank You. You challenge and inspire us to do better. I want to thank the production teams at wgrn.org and wcrsfm.org for helping me get started and supporting me all along. I want to thank you, my listeners on air, podcasts and viewers on YouTube. I hope you gained as much insight, courage and gratitude as I have. GrassRoot Ohio is ending in its current form. I’m taking a hiatus. I’m curious to know what the next chapter of my life and work will be. So, It’s a wrap my friends- In solidarity for Equality, Sustainability & Justice for All. Thanks for Joining Me. GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8

Carolyn Harding with Randy Cunningham, Ohio activist and author of the new book, Where We Live, Environmental Activists’ Fight to Save Their Communities. Randy Cunningham is a Cleveland writer/activist. He has been active in a wide variety of issues for the past fifty years. His first book, Democratizing Cleveland: The rise and fall of community organizing in Cleveland, Ohio 1975-1985 (Belt publishing 2018) is a must read for a new generation of Cleveland activists. His second book, Where We Live: Environmental Activists’ Fight to Save Their Communities (Pilgrim Press, 2024) is based on interviews he conducted with environmental activists in Ohio, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Since completing Where We Live, he has launched an online weekly newsletter called Randy’s Rants that has become popular in Cleveland. To subscribe email Randy at: randino49@gmail.com. GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streams worldwide at www.WGRN.org, Sundays at 2:00pm EST on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams at www.WCRSFM.org, and Sundays at 4:00pm EST, at 107.1 FM, Wheeling/Moundsville WV on WEJP-LP FM. Contact Us if you would like GrassRoot Ohio on your local station. Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8 There's a time to listen and learn, a time to organize and strategize, And a time to Stand Up/ Fight Back!

Carolyn Harding with Mia Lewis from Common Cause Ohio. She helped organize the volunteer signature gathering effort for the Citizens Not Politicians amendment, with the goal of finally ending gerrymandering. Mia Lewis is Associate Director of Common Cause Ohio. She joined Common Cause during the push to pass 2018’s anti-gerrymandering Issue 1, coordinating teams across Ohio to push for a “Yes” vote. She comes from an organizing and educational background, and is passionate about protecting and expanding the right to vote. On July 3, 731,306 petition signatures were turned in to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, for the Citizens Not Politicians constitutional amendment ballot initiative, where the signatures will be validated by the Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio boards of elections, in order to be placed on the November 5, 2024 ballot. As a lead organizer of the state wide ballot initiative, Citizens Not Politicians, which would create an independent redistricting commission- talk about where we are today? citizensnotpoliticians.org fairdistrictsohio.org GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org, Sundays at 2:00pm EST on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams @ WCRSFM.org, & Sundays at 4:00pm EST, at 107.1 FM, Wheeling/Moundsville WV on WEJP-LP FM. Contact Us if you would like GrassRoot Ohio on your local station. Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8 There's a time to listen and learn, a time to organize and strategize, And a time to Stand Up/ Fight Back!

Carolyn Harding with Mariah Ross, Ballot Initiative Director at One Fair Wage, Ohio. Mariah Ross has worked in progressive politics for the past 10 years. Growing up on the east side of Cleveland in Glenville, she has a passion for economic justice, foreign policy and education. She focuses her work on turning out young voters and communities of color. Currently she is the Ballot Initiative Director at One Fair Wage, leading the campaign to raise the minimum wage and end subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth. The Raise the Wage Ohio ballot committee is working to put an initiative on the ballot for the November 2024 election in Ohio. The initiative would raise the state minimum wage to $15/hour, and end subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth. The initiative is being driven by a large coalition of organizations, led by One Fair Wage, Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Red Wine and Blue, and many more groups at the intersection of community, labor and faith. You are very busy- Talk about the Raise the Wage ballot initiative you are leading out right now. raisethewageoh.org mariah@onefairwage.org GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org, Sundays at 2:00pm EST on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams @ WCRSFM.org, and Sundays at 4:00pm EST, at 107.1 FM, Wheeling/Moundsville WV on WEJP-LP FM. Contact Us if you would like GrassRoot Ohio on your local station. Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8 There's a time to listen and learn, a time to organize and strategize, And a time to Stand Up/ Fight Back!

Carolyn Harding w/ Ginger Tornes and Margo Wakefield advocates for Friends and Families for Safe Streets Columbus. Ginger Tornes was born and raised in Columbus. She moved to Alaska, where she managed a commercial salmon fishing business and worked with the state legislature. Ms. Tornes became involved in safe street/safe systems advocacy after the 2017 hit and run death of a good friend on a street with no sidewalks. She formed Friends and Families for Safe Streets, Columbus, and World Day of Remembrance, a global event supported by the UN. Ms. Tornes is a member of the Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission attributable funds committee, and various other organizations. Margo Wakefield holds an advanced degree in the Performing Arts. As a writer and choreographer, she uses her Art to communicate the human condition. Her Baha'i' spiritual training inspires her active participation in efforts and organizations that support Survivors of Human Trafficking, promote access to Mental Health care without stigma, and movements for Transportation Justice and Safer Streets. According to NBC4i.com, on Thursday, May 30th, at 9:24pm a young man was struck twice by separate vehicles in north Columbus. Unable to survive his injuries he died that night. And On Tuesday, May 28, at 9:15pm, a Pedestrian was killed while attempting to cross West Broad Street in Columbus. According to the Columbus Dispatch, On Friday, April 19, at 1:00am a male pedestrian died after being struck by two vehicles that both fled the scene on East Broad Street on the city's Far East Side. These recent deaths, are a result from pedestrians simply trying to cross a street in Columbus. Talk about these, all too common, tragedies happening in Columbus today. https://www.facebook.com/SafeStreetsColumbus GrassRoot Ohio - Conversations with everyday people working on important issues, here in Columbus and all around Ohio. Every Friday 5:00pm, EST on 94.1FM & streaming worldwide @ WGRN.org, Sundays at 2:00pm EST on 92.7/98.3 FM and streams @ WCRSFM.org, and Sundays at 4:00pm EST, at 107.1 FM, Wheeling/Moundsville WV on WEJP-LP FM. Contact Us if you would like GrassRoot Ohio on your local station. Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/GrassRootOhio/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grassroot_ohio/ All shows/podcasts archived at SoundCloud! https://soundcloud.com/user-42674753 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/.../grassroot-ohio/id1522559085 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAX2t1Z7_qae803BzDF4PtQ/ Intro and Exit music for GrassRoot Ohio is "Resilient" by Rising Appalachia: https://youtu.be/tx17RvPMaQ8 There's a time to listen and learn, a time to organize and strategize, And a time to Stand Up/ Fight Back!