GrassRoot Ohio

Carolyn Harding with Sherry Fleming and Susan Catterall, water protectors of the Michindoh Aquifer. According to epa.gov “In 2007, the city of Bryan, Ohio applied to U.S. EPA to designate the Michindoh Aquifer as a "sole-source" aquifer. That designation means the aquifer is the only source of drinking water for people in a nine-county area that includes parts of three states. Michigan, Indiana an...

Carolyn Harding with Greg Coleridge and Sandy Bolzenius organizers with Move to Amend, a movement to Amend the US Constitution to codify that Corporations are not People & Money is not speech. Greg Coleridge is Co-Director of Move to Amend. He worked for more than three decades with the American Friends Service Committee in Ohio where he educated, advocated and organized on a range of justice, pea...

Carolyn Harding with Tish O’Dell, a powerful voice for justice in Ohio, the US and Globally. Tish has been a Community Organizer for CELDF (Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund) since 2012 assisting residents to organize rights based initiatives in their communities in order to help them “make real” the just and sustainable communities they envision for the future. CELDF has assisted hundred...

Carolyn Harding with Esther Flores and Molly Cruz, on the front-lines of human trafficking in Columbus, Ohio. Esther Flores founded 1DivineLine2Health, a 501c3 public charity, gathering medical supplies for local and international clinics. In Columbus she operates two safe houses that serve survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and addiction. Her team supports sex workers on the stree...

Carolyn Harding with Bill Lyons and Susie Beiersdorfer, Ohio community rights activists and co-writers of the new book, “Death by Democracy”. Bill Lyons is a co-organizer of Columbus Community Bill of Rights, a group that is working to protect the water of the Columbus metro area from toxic and radioactive fracking waste. Bill is also the president of the Ohio Community Rights Network (OHCRN) whos...

Carolyn Harding with Craig Ness and Stephanie Pasamonte, bike lane advocates in the Columbus Metro region. Craig Ness is a transit advocate who resides in Bexley, Ohio. He has been a member of the Bexley Bike Plan Steering Committee since 2019 and uses cycling as a primary means of transportation. Craig holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Wake Forest University and is currently employed as...

When Christopher Austin asked to interview me for GrassRoot Ohio, I said YES to to my fellow actor/activist friend - this is Chris’ show & I’m in the hot seat! Shout out to Curtain Players Performance - The Laramie Project! Carolyn Harding with Christopher Austin, fellow artist/activist and colleague. Christopher Austin graduated from Otterbein University with a major in Theatre and received his M...

Carolyn Harding with Morgan Harper, Democratic candidate running to represent Ohio in the United States Senate. Morgan Harper was born at The Ohio State University Hospital, living in a foster home for the first 9 months of her life before being adopted and raised on the east side of Columbus by a Public Schools teacher. After receiving financial aid with help from the Ron Brown Scholar Program, M...

Carolyn Harding with Louise Valentine and Mikayla Lee, organizers with Women LEADing Ohio, part of the non-profit, Lead Ohio. Their mission is to make a difference in communities across Ohio by recruiting, training, supporting and empowering progressive leaders in all regions of the state. Louise Valentine has been the Deputy Director for LEAD Ohio since February 2019. Louise was a graduate of the...

Carolyn Harding with Mia Lewis, Associate Director of Common Cause Ohio and a leader of Indivisible Ohio District 12. She comes from an organizing and educational background, and is passionate about protecting and expanding the right to vote. As Activists, we’re always looking for the Answer, the Silver bullet, the Fix, and we both know, there’s no such thing. When it comes to Voting……Gerrymanderi...

Carolyn Harding with Roxanne Groff and Chief Sil, in the thick of Ohio oil & gas rule making, updating the Ohio Class II injection well regulations, written by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and slated for a hearing of the State House JCARR committee (Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review) as early as Monday, December 6. I got my start in activism ten years ago, raising the alarm of the...

Carolyn Harding with Dr. Julie Weatherington-Rice and Jennifer Fish, Ohio water guardians who helped create the incredible Central Ohio Greenways Project, connecting the Central Ohio region with over 230 miles of trails for everyone to explore parks, neighborhoods, rivers. They are a commitment to science and protecting our most vital natural resources - clean and safe water and soil. http://centr...

We The People vs. Agent Orange w/ Carol Van Strum, Alan Adelson, Kate Taverna & Bill Lyons by Carolyn Harding

For the second segment of GrassRoot Ohio, We get the update of the current Anti-Protesting Bills (HB 22, HB 109, and SB 41). Bills that would fine, create penalties or even felonize peaceful protests, and chill our First Amendment Rights of speech and assembly. Kristen Beireis and Joan VanBecelaere, organizers with Our Voices Together and Unitarian Universalist Justice Ohio, are here to update us...

I’m Carolyn Harding and today I would like to share my take, my personal opinion on an Ohioan with an infamous past, my great great uncle, Warren G. Harding. It’s been just over 100 years since his election and inauguration and I’ve been doing some deep diving, reading books, talking with family, trying to prepare myself to deal with an upcoming event in Marion Ohio, where my extended family will...

Carolyn Harding with Whitney Shanahan, Founder of ProChoice with Heart, a growing organization that focuses on holding protests across the country fighting for women's rights! They wear red as a symbol of women's oppression, inspired by Margaret Atwood’s book and hulu show, Handmaid's Tale. According to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, “On September 1st one of the most extreme abortion bans w...

Carolyn Harding with Mike Ferner and Markie Miller, advocates and activists for the health and well being of Lake Erie. Mike Ferner is coordinator of Lake Erie Advocates, a grassroots citizens’ group that educates and organizes to build awareness and public pressure to stop the assault on Lake Erie by factory "farms" and other polluters. He lives with Sue Carter, his wife of 35 years, and an ever-...

Carolyn Harding with Dominic Detwiler and Amanda Erickson, activists and advocates promoting lived and legal equality for LGBTQIA+ Ohioans, young and old. Dominic Detwiler (he/him/his) is a graduate of Ohio University where he studied Sociology with Minors in Psychology, Political Science, and Music. As Public Policy Strategist, Dominic works primarily on advancing Equality Ohio's objectives at th...

Carolyn Harding with Jonathan Beard and David Harewood, organizers with the Columbus Police Accountability Project, “To provide information for empowered citizens to learn more about how to exercise our collective power to ensure police accountability. Finally..” Jon Beard's life goal is to help make the world a better place. He now works in the field of career technical education after working fo...

Carolyn Harding with Claudia Sheehan, Anne Sparks, and Judy Smucker, three Athens County elders who traveled to northern Minnesota this week to support Indigenous women-led water protectors who are resisting construction of an enlarged tar sands pipeline that would take a new route through tribal lands, Enbridge Line 3. “We stand in support of all who are trying to stop construction of Enbridge’s...

Carolyn Harding with Ohio Representative Erica Crawley, District 26. She recently put her name in for the Franklin County Commissioner spot vacated by former Commissioner Marilynn Brown. The Franklin County Central Committee will vote within the month, amongst 6 or more candidates, many of whom are highly qualified, to take on this Consequential political Position. Erica Crawley is a State Represe...

Carolyn Harding with Teresa Mills and Roxanne Groff, founders of the Ohio Brine Task Force, educating and organizing the people of Ohio regarding Oil & Gas liquid waste or, “Brine”, which is currently spread on our roadways for dust and ice control, sounding the alarm that this Brine is far more than salty water, in fact it’s dangerous - it’s Radioactive. For almost 30 years Teresa Mills has worke...

Carolyn Harding with Bill Lyons and Terry Lodge, organizer and legal council for the Columbus Community Bill of Rights and the Ohio Community Rights Network, fighting to protect the water, air, soil & rights of Columbus Metro and communities facing environmental, social, racial & economic harms throughout Ohio. Bill Lyons is a mathematics and science teacher who has taught nearly 40 years on four...

Carolyn Harding with Cynthia Brown, Sabrina Jordan and Donald Wiggins, organizers and legal advisor for the newly submitted state-wide ballot initiative to End Qualified Immunity in Ohio. Cynthia Brown is a Political Humanitarian, Advocate, Organizer, Strategist, Visionary. She is from Youngstown, Oh, where she studied Media @ Communication, & Africans Americans Studies at Youngstown, Ohio, and co...

Carolyn Harding w/ Rebecca Ness and Kevin Doenges - Love Your Alley! "Love Your Alley is about collaboration, sustainability, creativity and beauty. It is transforming our underutilized alleys into extended living space for everyone to enjoy, while creating our own Homegrown National Park in Bexley with native plants that support our pollinators and biodiversity. These events and speakers are sche...