GROW

Death penalty abolitionist support at GROW
2024-11-01 17:30 - 22:00 (America/New_York) | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
On Nov. 1, the state of South Carolina plans to execute Richard Moore at 6pm. South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (SCADP) is asking fellow abolitionists to gather outside Broad River Correctional Institution to protest his execution. From 5:30–10pm, GROW will be open to folks who want to process the execution in a space away from the prison. There will be free snacks, drinks, and at least one “movement chaplain” to support folks. After the execution, Rev. Hillary Taylor (Executive Director of SCADP) will facilitate a “support circle” for interested activists.

Meaningful Conversations
2024-10-29 19:00 - 21:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Oct. 29, 7pm: Meaningful Conversations (last Tuesday of each month), a recurring program organized by the Columbia Bahai community. This month, the conversation is about gender roles. Panelists and guest performer TBA.

Food for Thought
2024-10-24 12:00 - 13:30 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Oct. 24, noon–1:30: Food for Thought lunchtime discussion group meets every 4th Thursday. Join Network members and allies for a monthly gathering to talk politics and social justice in the Palmetto State. All are welcome. Bring your own lunch or order take-out from the No Name deli across the street from GROW.

Journey of Hope
2024-10-22 19:00 - 21:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
The Palmetto Journey of Hope is a collaboration between SCADP and Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing. It is a speaking series empowering the voices of murder victim family members towards the abolition of the death penalty. Together with other anti-death penalty voices (former death row residents, death row family members, department of corrections employees, capital defense lawyers, and law enforcement), the Journey of Hope has sparked legislative change across the country.
About the Speakers:
SueZann Bosler is a sought-after speaker and Board member of Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing. In 1987, she lost her father, Rev. Billy Bosler, to an intruder in her home and was herself stabbed and left for dead. She worked for more than ten years to fulfill the promise she had made to her father, that if he were ever murdered, the killer should not be executed. After two death sentences were overturned on appeal, SueZann hired a victim’s rights attorney to help her make her wishes known: James Bernard Campbell was sentenced to life without parole. Abolishing the death penalty has since become her life’s work. Her story has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Jerry Springer Show, 48 Hours, and many written publications.
Yvonne Patterson Johnson is a retired nurse in Columbia, SC. She is the younger sister of Raymond Patterson and a murder victim family member. Yvonne is a gifted speaker who has spoken across the country about her experiences with loss and recovery.

Moses Peterson a returning citizen from a thirty-eight-year prison journey (two of which were spent on South Carolina’s death row). Originally from Florence, he describes himself as a determined individual, open to adapting and adjusting to new learning. These days, he is focused on sharing his story to make a positive difference with people. You can often hear him saying to others, “Our past is not our future.”
When he’s not sharing his story, he loves watching movies, fishing, and spending time with his family (especially his grandchildren). You can book him for speaking events by emailing info@scadp.org.

Pride Parade
2024-10-18 18:00 - 20:30
We invite our members and allies to ride on our float during PRIDE week‘s Famously Lit Parade down Main Street on Friday at 7pm. The SC Progressive Network has been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community since our founding in 1996, when taking that sort of public posture came with real risk. We are proud to continue to stand in solidarity. To ride with us, find our float during the parade line-up at 6pm.

GROW Jazz Workshop
2024-10-17 20:00 - 22:00, 2024-10-03 20:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Jazz Workshop, 8-10pm: (1st and 3rd Thursday) Join us at GROW for a casual gathering of friends enjoying live music by some of Columbia’s finest. If you have talent, you are invited to sit in with the band for a tune or two. No cover charge. All are welcome.
Need a nudge? Check out our playlist.

Peace for Palestine meeting
2024-10-15 18:00 - 19:30 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Join Columbia-area activists working to educate the public and advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza. They meet each third Tuesday at GROW.

Election Protection Online Volunteer Training
2024-10-12 10:00 - 11:00
We invite you to join the SC Progressive Network‘s campaign to help protect the vote in 2024. As Election Protection volunteers, we support more secure, transparent, and accessible elections for all South Carolinians. The trainings will be led by Susan Dunn, former SC ACLU lawyer who for years has worked with the Network on election protection. Volunteers are required to attend one training session on Zoom:

Saturday, Oct. 12, 10am: register HERE

Please share with anyone you know who might be interested in participating. Questions? Call 803-808-3384.

United Campus Workers meeting
2024-10-10 18:00 - 20:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Oct. 10, 6pm: United Campus Workers meeting at GROW (2nd Thursday). Join union organizers for a monthly meeting to talk shop and plan actions.

Election Protection Online Volunteer Training
2024-10-10 17:00 - 18:00
We invite you to join the SC Progressive Network‘s campaign to help protect the vote in 2024. As Election Protection volunteers, we support more secure, transparent, and accessible elections for all South Carolinians.
The trainings will be led by Susan Dunn, former SC ACLU lawyer who for years has worked with the Network on election protection. Volunteers are required to attend one training session on Zoom:

Thursday, Oct. 10, 5pm: register HERE

Please share with anyone you know who might be interested in participating. Questions? Call 803-808-3384.

Election Protection Online Volunteer Training
2024-10-08 19:00 - 20:00
We invite you to join the SC Progressive Network‘s campaign to help protect the vote in 2024. As Election Protection volunteers, we support more secure, transparent, and accessible elections for all South Carolinians.
The trainings will be led by Susan Dunn, former SC ACLU lawyer who for years has worked with the Network on election protection. Volunteers are required to attend one training session on Zoom:

Tuesday, Oct. 8, 7pm: register HERE

For a primer, watch this recording that was excerpted from the Network’s September meeting.

Singer-Songwriter Night
2024-10-06 18:00 - 20:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Oct. 6, 6–9pm: Singer-Songwriter Night at GROW. $10 at the door.

Katie Godfrey is a wife, mom, and teacher. In the Appalachian tradition, she writes songs that tell stories about the ins and outs of everyday life.
Candace Chellew began writing songs in her teenage years, because no one told her she couldn’t. After teaching herself guitar and joining a punk band in the 1980s, she put her guitar down and followed false trails to happiness through journalism and ministry, finally arriving back at her first love: music. She now writes and plays better than her younger self, but never forgot the thrill of hearing the first hints of a song enter her heart and mind. The muse insists she sing folk-inspired songs of love, peace, and unity. She gladly agrees. Chellew is currently working on her first album to be released in 2025.
Originally hailing from New Jersey, c_era grew up playing fiddle, mandolin, and guitar, surrounded by family with a hefty love for bluegrass music. Later, while living in Colorado, she started to put pen to paper and write songs about life, love, loss, and everything in between. Her style now sits somewhere between bluegrass, folk, roots, and Celtic.

UFO at GROW
2024-09-28 19:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 28, 7pm: Monthly live, local music at GROW. This month featuring Charlie Boy, Eighth House and Nowheregirl. Doors open at 7; music starts at 8pm. $10 at the door.

Food for Thought
2024-09-26 12:00 - 13:30 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 26, noon–1:30: Food for Thought lunchtime discussion group meets every 4th Thursday. Join Network members and allies for a monthly gathering to talk politics and social justice in the Palmetto State. All are welcome. Bring your own lunch or order take-out from the No Name deli across the street from GROW.

SC Progressive Network monthly meeting
2024-09-25 19:00 - 20:30 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
The SC Progressive Network resumes its regular monthly meeting schedule (every 4th Wednesday) with a 7pm meeting on Sept. 25. We will be talking about South Carolina’s oversized role in national politics despite not being a battleground state. We will also outline the Network’s upcoming Election Protection work and how folks can volunteer. For this month, at least, we will meet online only. Register HERE to join on Zoom.

Meaningful Conversations
2024-09-24 19:00 - 21:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 24, 7–9pm: Meaningful Conversations (last Tuesday of each month). Columbia Baha’is invite the public to a monthly panel discussion. This month, the topic is education. The SC Progressive Network‘s Gabbi Zurlo, a recent graduate of the Modjeska Simkins School, will be on the panel. All are welcome.

Labor Movement Movie Night
2024-09-22 17:00 - 19:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 22, 5pm: Join the United Campus Workers for the first in a series of labor-themed film screenings. Free and open to all.
First up is the 1979 award-winning classic Norma Rae, featuring actors Sally Field, Beau Bridges, and Ron Leibman. Like a lot of her family before her, Norma Rae works at the local textile mill, where the pay is hardly commensurate with the long hours and lousy working conditions. But after hearing a rousing speech by labor activist Reuben Warshowsky, Norma is inspired to rally her fellow workers behind the cause of unionism.
Her decision rankles her family, especially her fiancé, Sonny, and provokes no shortage of contempt from her employers. The film is based on a real-life union organizing campaign at J.P. Stevens Mill in Roanoke Rapids, NC. Norma Rae is based on Crystal Lee Sutton. Reuben Warshowsky, the union organizer, is based on Eli Zivkovich, a 55-year-old former West Virginia coal miner. In 1974, thanks to the efforts of Sutton and Zivkovich, workers at J.P. Stevens Mill voted to join the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. However, it took 10 years for the union to get a contract. Some real-life events are re-created verbatim in the movie, including Norma Rae holding up the “UNION” sign and the plant workers shutting down their machines.

GROW at Jubilee Fest
2024-09-21 11:00 - 18:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 21, 11am–6pm: GROW will open its doors to the public during Jubilee Festival, which will extend from our corner on Elmwood up Marion Street for several blocks. We invite festival-goers to drop in to see what we’re up to and take some free books. If you want to volunteer for a shift to meet and greet, email network@scpronet.com or call 803-808-3384.

Jazz Workshop
2024-09-19 20:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 19, 8–10pm: Jazz Workshop (1st and 3rd Thursdays) Join friends for a casual night of live music by some of Columbia’s finest at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave. Got talent? Bring your pipes or your instrument and sit in with the band for a tune or two. All are welcome.

Peace for Palestine
2024-09-17 18:00 - 20:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Peace for Palestine monthly meeting (3rd Tuesdays), 6-8pm: Join Midlands peace activists working to educate the public and end the bloodshed in Gaza. Sponsored by Carolina Peace.

United Campus Workers
2024-09-12 06:00 - 20:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 12, 6–8pm: The United Campus Workers union of South Carolina (UCW-CWA 3765) will hold its monthly meeting at GROW.

Remembering Bloody Thursday
2024-09-06 19:00 - 20:30
Help us mark the 90th anniversary of the killing on Sept. 6, 1934, of seven striking mill workers in Honea Path, SC. Join panelists Dr. Robert Greene II, who teaches history at Claflin University and is lead instructor at the Modjeska Simkins School; Cecil Cahoon, education advocate who serves on the board of the SC Progressive Network Education Fund, noted author and historian Vernon Burton; and Mark Nelson, who teaches history at Greenville Technical College.
This is an online event. Join us on Zoom by registering HERE.

GROW Jazz Workshop
2024-09-05 20:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Sept. 5, 8–10pm: Jazz Workshop (1st and 3rd Thursdays) Join friends for a casual night of live music by some of Columbia’s finest at GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave. Got talent? Bring your pipes or your instrument and sit in with the band for a tune or two.

Sixties Psychedelics
2024-08-30 19:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Columbia bands Siberian Mine Explosion and ModalCoda will perform covers of 60s psychedelic music. Doors open at 7pm. Music starts at 8pm. $10 at the door.

Meaningful Conversations
2024-08-27 19:00 - 21:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
The public is invited to join a gathering the last Tuesday of each month at GROW organized by the Columbia Bahai’s featuring a panel discussion.

Peace for Palestine meeting
2024-08-20 18:00 - 20:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Peace for Palestine monthly meeting (3rd Tuesdays), 6-8pm: Join Midlands peace activists working to end the bloodshed in Gaza.

Adopt-A-Street clean sweep
2024-08-17 10:00 - 11:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
The SC Progressive Network takes part in the city’s Adopt-A-Street program, committing to a quarterly sweep of Marion Street. We are dedicated to helping keep our neighborhood safe and clean. We provide our volunteers gloves, pickers, bags, and beverages.

Jazz Workshop
2024-08-15 20:00 - 22:00 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
The corner of Elmwood and Marion in downtown Columbia comes alive every 1st and 3rd Thursday with an ever-changing band of top-tier musicians. Got talent? Bring your instrument and sit in for a song or two. No cover charge. Check out our YouTube playlist for a sneak peek.

United Campus Workers meeting
2024-08-12 17:00 - 18:30 | GROW, 1340 Elmwood Ave., Columbia, 29202
Aug. 12, 5pm: United Campus Workers monthly meeting to organize employees at the University of South Carolina.
