Columbus Heatin’ Up!

Posted byAlecia McGregor
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October 16, 2008

Ohio–that red state, blue state, who knew state–was another intense battleground visited on our GOTV tour.  We saw a lot of Get Out the Vote activities in Columbus and talked with several local activists.  It was one of those places in the U.S. that I had never ever been to, and just sort of imagined as a vast prairie in between the two coasts.  As ignorant as it sounds, I was surprised to see real legitimate buildings and a downtown area bustling with people.  Well maybe “bustling” is an exaggeration, but I did see a few pedestrians here and there. 

Anyway.

During our roughly 25 hours in town, we caught a lot of action.  First, we hit up the Early Absentee Polling Place taking place at Veterans Memorial Auditorium downtown on Broad St.  There were plenty of campaigners outside in the parking lot, and during the hour we spent there we spoke with several women of color who were showing up early to get their vote in. 

One woman wanted to vote early as she knew she would be on vacation on Nov. 4th.  Others showed up to make sure that their vote counted. 

Here are some highlights from the conversations we had with women of color who showed up to vote early:

A Registered Republican Woman Speaks on the Use of Tokenism and on the Economy

Hadn’t Voted in 11 Years and is Now Voting Because she Feels Empowered to Speak Out and Also Wants to Set an Example for Her Daughters

Political Activist Voices her View that “Women of Color Were Scapegoated in these Elections.”

In addition to engaging women at the polling place, Torkwase and I interviewed three local women health professionals working toward health care of communities of color in Columbus.  Angela Billingslead and Dana Scarlett of Project HIP spoke with us about the need for increased funding of HIV prevention programs in the United States and for the need for in-your-face prevention messages. Having recently returned from Botswana and South Africa where prevention campaign messages were ubiquitous, Ms. Billingslead expressed that it is a shame that in the US, the campaign message is nowhere to be found.

Ms. Scarlett, who has been HIV positive for 20 years, and finds it empowering to work in the field and encourages others with HIV to overcome STIGMA, and to come out with her status.  She voiced that she grew up with hustlers, pimps, and drug addicts and does not regret it, because the exposure to that side of life is invaluable to understanding what scores of others are experiencing around the country.  Politicians never come into certain communities, she explained, and have no idea what the other side is facing.  This is why they need to hear our voices!!!

Another incredible woman interviewed was Suban Egal, a Somali-American woman who works with Tuberculosis patients within the local Department of Health, and views health as a human right.  She helped to shed some light on the Somali immigrant community in the Columbus, the second-largest Somali population in the US.  And also told us about her active role in encouraging Somali-Americans who are citizens to become civically involved.  Her exasperation with the common view held by many Somalis that they are “just lucky to be here” motivated her to urge members of the community to register to vote, every evening of Ramadan at her local mosque.  Even though some felt the mosque wasn’t the proper forum for such secular discourse, she was determined to encourage other Somali Americans to exercise their political voice.   

Also, DEMONSTRATING OUR PHENOMENALLY GOOD FORTUNE, we happend to catch a campaign rally, and got to see presidential hopeful Barack Obama, speak in front of a crowd of hundreds in the middle of the workday, in Genoa park.  It was exciting, to say the least, to see him in person. 

One thing that’s important to note, that a work colleague of mine brought to my attention, is that NO CAMPAIGN PARAPHERNALIA IS ALLOWED AT POLLING PLACES IN MANY STATES.  Please keep that in mind!  Keep your Sarah Palin and Joe Biden T-shirts at home people, or else you will risk being disenfranchised.  With the pins you can just take them off before you vote–with T-shirts you face the catch 22 of disenfranchisement on one hand, indecent exposure on the other.  Not a good situation. 

Driving along Interstate 70, away from the city, I noticed an almost even mix of lawn signs boasting support for the democratic president/vp team and the republican candidates.  Although a lot of citizens came out in support of Obama a Friday afternoon, there seemed to be a pretty thick tension in between the two sides. 

I was a little unsettled as I left the state though.  As I crossed a railroad track close to the Ohio/Michigan border, I saw that someone had scribbled a disturbing message in HUGE LETTERS on one of the train cars: “ISLAM SUCKS.” 

Yikes.