Action Ideas

Lobby for Choice

• The 3rd Annual Freedom of Choice Ohio Prevention First Lobby Day will take place on April 9, 2008. Join pro-choice activists from across the state to learn about the Ohio Prevention First Act and meet with your state legislators to lobby for reproductive health legislation. Click here for more information.

Generation 2008: Our Leaders. Our Future.

• Formerly known as “Campus Connections” GEN08 is a summit bringing together college-age leaders from across the state who are working for LGBT equality. The summit takes place on April 12, 2008. Check out more information and registration at genconference.blogspot.com.

Lobby Day for Equality 2008

• Join hundreds of activists in Columbus on May 14, 2008 to tell your legislators that ALL Ohioans deserve equal rights, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Details and registration can be found here.

Protect the Vote

• Every year, thousands of college students are forced to vote provisionally because of voter identification requirements passed in 2006. For the March election, Oberlin College sought to mitigate this problem by issuing utility bills to on-campus students for their dorm rooms that they could use as proof of identity at the polls. Want to implement this program at your school? Email contact@acluohio.org and we’ll help you get started..

Close Guantanamo

• January 11, 2008, marked the six-year anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. This denial of Constitutional and human rights has tarnished America’s image and diminished our ideals; it is a symbol of torture, abuse, and injustice. Help close Guantanamo. A toolkit with activities and factsheets can be downloaded here.

An Evening Without

• The evolution of Banned Books Week, “An Evening Without” raises awareness about ideological exclusion and the threat is poses to the free exchange of ideas. When the government denies its residents the opportunity to engage in face-to-face debate and conversation with some of the world’s leading minds, it is the nation as a whole that suffers. Ask local writers and artists to read from the works of writers, poets, and scholars whose political views led to their exclusion from the U.S., such as Nelson Mandela and Ian McEwan. Email contact@acluohio.org for program materials.

Host a freedom film event

• Show the film in place of an event and advertise it to increase membership.
• Organize a film series around notable days in history like the Brown v. Board of Education anniversary (May 9).
• Build alliances by co-sponsoring film showings with other groups.
• Promote awareness by organizing an information table and leading a discussion after the film. Plan follow-up events such as letter writing or other actions to continue the energy generated by the film.

Lobby

• Check ACLU legislative alerts often. One campus club took the initiative to use half-sheets of paper with a paragraph about how they oppose Senate Bill 24 – the “Academic Bill of Rights” – and left a place for a name, signature, and address. The group made drop off points around campus and once collected, they mailed these to committee members who were considering Senate Bill 24.

Write a letter to the editor

• Have members write a letter to the editor of the campus newspaper about a timely civil liberties topic or campus issue.

Arrange a literature table

• Go to the student union or a busy spot on your campus and set up a literature table promoting your club and next event.

Hold speaker events or panel discussions

• Marriage equality, PATRIOT Act, privacy, reproductive freedom or the death penalty are just a few topics from which to choose.

Distribute "Know Your Rights" cards

• Stand in the student union or another popular spot to hand students “Know Your Rights” cards during an important weekend (Halloween, football game).

Protest!

• One student group protested the PATRIOT Act by checking out banned books from the library and standing in front of the library with special t-shirts reading “Am I A Terrorist?” About 100 students attended, and they received media attention on an area TV station and newspaper because they sent a press release.

Paint

• Do you have a graffiti wall or rock? Paint it with ACLU slogans and promote your club.

Host a benefit concert

• One campus club planned a benefit concert at a local coffee shop, where local musicians played for free. In between each set, students took the microphone to speak about a different ACLU issue. Donations were taken at the door, where a literature table was arranged.

ACLU of OHIO : Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center : 4506 Chester Avenue : Cleveland, OH 44103

P (216) 472-2200 F (216) 472-2210 E contact@acluohio.org