As a woman with disabilities – she has cerebral palsy and requires the assistance of personal care attendants to live an independent life – Ashley Volion is no stranger to isolation and discrimination. But as she wrote on Bridge The Gulf yesterday, nothing hurt this 28-year old academic from Lafitte, Louisiana as much as having to defer pursuing a Ph.D.
On the news tonight they’ll be talking about undecided voters and swing states, and who the voters choose: Obama or Romney. What they probably won’t be talking about is those who didn’t vote, not because they’re lazy or ignorant or anti-American, but because it’s against the law.
Watching the last two years unfold has been both eye opening and heartbreaking. Earlier this week, as I sat with a twenty-seven year old mother of three from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, we went over the many health-related issues she and her family are dealing with. Her ten-year old daughter has severe stomach issues, breathing issues, skin issues, horrible headaches - there are very few days that come and go that she feels well.
Down in the Louisiana bayou, people have first-hand knowledge of the kind of suffering a maelstrom like Superstorm Sandy brings. After the titanic tempest slammed into northeast coastal communities, killing more than 100 and making thousands homeless, people in the Gulf could feel their pain.
Three BP oil disaster survivors and community advocates were forcibly removed from the fairness hearing on the BP class-action settlement yesterday, moments before the federal court heard objections to how that settlement would compensate people made sick by the disaster. The fairness hearing allowed U.S.
I had hoped to write a full article concerning my thoughts on the subject of the BP Settlement Fairness Hearing held Thursday, November 8, but I (along with 3 others) was wrongfully accused of “live streaming audio,” and forcibly removed from the federal courtroom. I won't go into that now, but you can read Ada McMahon's article for more information.
Crossposted from Colorlines. News reports say that BP has entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice for criminal penalties for the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. According to The Washington Post, BP has agreed to pay $4 billion over five years for their role in the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drill, which led to 11 workers dying and a lot of Gulf fisherfolk put out of work.
An oil platform explosion and fire today near the site of the nation’s greatest offshore oil spill in history—BP’s Deepwater Horizon—sent shivers up the spines of many Gulf residents as the U.S. Coast Guard reported that 11 crewmembers were flown to area hospitals and two crewmembers were still missing as of Friday evening. News reports said four workers were critically injured with burns.
Crossposted from Colorlines. A little over a week after the presidential election has ended, many voting rights watchers are reflecting on all that we learned through this year’s campaigns: what went right, what went wrong, and the unresolved challenges that remain ahead.
Indian Santa is a short documentary about, as the name suggests, Indian Santa. The tradition was started in 1985 when Hurricane Juan devastated the Houma Indian communities along the Gulf Coast. The Houma families received little help after the storm, and presents were going to be absent from many Houma children's Christmas.
Next week I’m going to share a post all about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of BP’s $4.5 billion criminal settlement with the federal government. But today I just want to give thanks. Not for the settlement itself, but for us, the citizens of and advocates for the Gulf Coast, and all the work we’ve put in to insist that BP be brought to justice and that our communities be made whole.
“We are part of America. We are a major city in America, but we do not need to be the sacrifice zone for the nation,” states Houston resident Juan Parras (pictured).
Parras joins a growing contingent of Houston residents concerned about the overburdening of minority and low-income communities in the area with the ill effects of energy production.
As a woman with disabilities – she has cerebral palsy and requires the assistance of personal care attendants to live an independent life – Ashley Volion is no stranger to isolation and discrimination. But 
On the news tonight they’ll be talking about undecided voters and swing states, and who the voters choose: Obama or Romney. What they probably won’t be talking about is those who didn’t vote, not because they’re lazy or ignorant or anti-American, but because it’s against the law.
Watching the last two years unfold has been both eye opening and heartbreaking. Earlier this week, as I sat with a twenty-seven year old mother of three from Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, we went over the many health-related issues she and her family are dealing with. Her ten-year old daughter has severe stomach issues, breathing issues, skin issues, horrible headaches - there are very few days that come and go that she feels well.
Three BP oil disaster survivors and community advocates were forcibly removed from the fairness hearing on the BP class-action settlement yesterday, moments before the federal court heard objections to how that settlement would compensate people made sick by the disaster. The fairness hearing allowed U.S.
I had hoped to write a full article concerning my thoughts on the subject of the BP Settlement Fairness Hearing held Thursday, November 8, but I (along with 3 others) was wrongfully accused of “live streaming audio,” and forcibly removed from the federal courtroom. I won't go into that now, but you can read 
Indian Santa
Next week I’m going to share a post all about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of BP’s $4.5 billion criminal settlement with the federal government. But today I just want to give thanks. Not for the settlement itself, but for us, the citizens of and advocates for the Gulf Coast, and all the work we’ve put in to insist that BP be brought to justice and that our communities be made whole.
“We are part of America. We are a major city in America, but we do not need to be the sacrifice zone for the nation,” states Houston resident Juan Parras (pictured).