Meet the Columbus Activists Converting Outrage to Action
The emerging voices forcing Central Ohio to reckon with the racism in its midst
It was not the Columbus Way.
For a city that values civility and collegiality above all, the protest at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast was an uncomfortable experience. Two activists disrupted the January 2020 gathering a massive affair packed with Columbus movers and shakers to draw attention to the December 2018 killing of 16-year-old Julius Tate Jr. by Columbus police. Interrupting a speech by Columbus Mayor Andy Ginther, they shouted “Justice for Julius” and “he deserved to dream.”
Kayah Woodford Raises Awareness in Bexley
The Ohio State student draws attention to racial inequity in her hometown.
Donna Marbury
As protesters passed around the bullhorn, Kayah Woodford joined the circle of those expressing anger and frustration. She was inspired to speak out for racial justice at a Downtown Columbus rally in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. But she didn’t want her message to stay there. She wanted to bring it to her hometown, too.
Joining with friends and mentors, Woodford launched the Bexley Anti-Racism Project, an organization dedicated to shining a light on racial inequities in the wealthy, predominantly white community. In June 2020, they hosted a Black Lives Matter rally in Bexley with nearly 1,000 demonstrators marching from the tight-knit, East Side suburb to the Statehouse, where they lay on the ground for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck. “You could feel