Louisiana

Searching for a way to mark the one-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster, I thought about a series of photographs I saw recently from Lower Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana. They weren’t images of coastal destruction, they were the faces of people young and old holding up a simple handwritten message answering this question: “Why Should We Save Coastal Louisiana?” [...Read more]

March 31st, 2011 - Civil rights activist Catrina Wallace, who received national acclaim for her central role in organizing protests around the Jena Six case, was convicted today of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance. She was taken from the courtroom straight to jail after the verdict was read, and given a one million dollar bail. Her sentencing is expected to come next month. [...Read more]

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The Black mayor of Waterproof, Louisiana has spent nearly a year behind bars without bail. A legal dispute in the rural Louisiana town of Waterproof has attracted the attention of national civil rights organizations and activists. Color Of Change, an online activist group that helped garner national attention for the Jena Six Case, recently rallied their members in support of Waterproof mayor Bobby Higginbotham, who has been held without bail since May of 2010. [...Read more]

Justice Department Report, Released Today, Calls Louisiana's "Crime Against Nature" Law Discriminatory [...Read more]

By Sue Sturgis, Facing South. The environmental destruction caused by Louisiana's oil industry did not begin with the BP disaster, and a visit to the town of Norco 25 miles west of New Orleans powerfully illustrates that reality. [...Read more]

Last month, I sat down with my friend Clarence Adams Sr. to discuss the current state of homelessness in New Orleans, LA.  Mr. Adams is currently the Administrator at Ozanam Inn, a homeless shelter for men, where he has worked for the past sixteen years. In this video, Mr Adams discusses the definition of "homeless," and the way Ozanam works to make homeless people Whole from a holistic perspective, including programs that go beyond just serving meals. [...Read more]

By Shannon Dosemagen, Louisiana Bucket Brigade.  On Monday, February 28th, the National Institute for Environmental Health Services began sending letters to clean-up workers from the BP oil disaster, in anticipation of enrolling people in a multi-year study to examine the effects of exposure on health. [...Read more]

This week the local organization Women With a Vision (WWAV) is celebrating a huge step forward in their fight on behalf of low income women and lgbt people of color in New Orleans. [...Read more]

By Ada McMahon and Liana Lopez, videos by Bryan Parras.  Alarming levels of toxic chemicals from the BP disaster have entered the blood of some Gulf Coast citizens, who are showing symptoms like internal bleeding, kidney infection, muscle atrophy, pain, headaches, an [...Read more]