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The Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee [AFSC] announces the documentary release of...

CorpOrNation:  The Story of Citizens and Corporations in Ohio

Do we live in a true democracy?

CorpOrNation exposes the historic corporate rise to power in Ohio, the barriers citizens have fought to create a true democracy for themselves, and detailed assessments of  government influence by corporations  through "corporate globalization."  Spanning Ohio’s history from 1803 through present-day struggles between citizens and corporations, CorpOrNation suggests strategies for citizens to overcome current threats to citizen-led democracy and the corporate takeover of society.

Rich with analysis and history, CorpOrNation, produced by the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee, features interviews with people from the Ohio AFL-CIO, Ohio Public Interest Research Group, United Steelworkers, Ohio Family Farm Coalition, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, Program on Corporations Law and Democracy, and student activists discussing corporate farms, factory lockouts, “veggie libel” laws, and regional “free trade” agreements.

CorpOrNation is based on Citizens over Corporations: A Brief History of Democracy in Ohio and Challenges to Freedom in the Future, the 52-page booklet written in 1998 (reprinted in 1999) detailing the legal and political history of corporations and citizen control and resistance to corporate power in Ohio.

What people have said about CorpOrNation...

“CorpOrNation provides a valuable case-study, using the state of Ohio as its subject, of how corporate power operates against democratic values, and how citizens groups can battle and even win against overwhelming odds.”

- Howard Zinn, historian and author

“This video is a powerful demonstration showing how corporate giants like AK Steel control and damage people's lives and what used to be called 'our' government. Freedom has become the right of industry and the freedom of the people has been eroded.”                 

                                          - Marilyn Wall, Chair, Ohio Chapter Sierra Club

"CorpOrNation" will not be reviewed as a big summer movie...But the film is an eye-opener that deserves attention as lawmakers deal with matters affecting insurance, health care, education, the environment and countless other areas....it's a disquieting look at the state of democracy in [our] state...

- Cleveland Plain Dealer

“All political power is inherent in the people,' declares the Constitution of the state of Ohio.  'Government is instituted for their equal protection and benefit...' Yet, as this telling and important video makes clear, the steady and self-interested growth of corporate power has mounted to a point where these words may no longer be. For every Ohioan who still believes that a free people have a right to govern themselves, one may hope that this video may serve as a sign of alarm and call to action.”

                                                     - Perry Bush, Professor of History, Bluffton College

Several community showings have already taken place around Ohio with more planned this fall. In addition, the documentary will be shown in classrooms, union halls, community centers, environmental group offices, churches and living rooms. Interested viewers are invited to work with others across Ohio to assert democratic control over the corporate form.

For more information, contact Greg Coleridge at AFSCole@aol.com or Dana Williams at afscdmw@yahoo.com, or call AFSC at 330-253-7151.

CorpOrNation: The Story of Citizens and Corporations in Ohio 40 minute documentary Produced by the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee [AFSC] Cost: $10 (individuals), $20 (institutions).   Checks payable to AFSC.

Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee [AFSC] 513 W. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44302
(Phone)     330-253-7151
(Fax)       330-996-4664
(Email)     AFSCole@aol.com
(Web)       www.afsc.net