Voices of the Gulf

For those of you who do not know already, this year has been a journey of  learning and becoming aware. This journey began years ago, when my adopted  Dad went on an expedition and came back trying to educate people, including his bosses at Shell, as to what damage the oil industry was causing to the Continental Shelf.  This harm would not be stopped or slowed until change was brought about. [...Read more]

In preparation for the upcoming holiday season, I've been working with organizations across the coast to ensure children in our communities have the best Christmas possible. Gulf Coast families have taken hit after hit, year after year from hurricanes, the BP Oil Disaster and then again this year from Hurricane Isaac. Our families are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and essential needs met, in far too many cases leaving no resources for Christmas gifts or even a good Christmas dinner. [...Read more]

Crossposted from Facing South -  A professor who left the University of Texas at Austin following a scandal over his failure to disclose his oil and gas industry connections is now heading up a nonprofit, taxpayer-supported water research institute in Louisiana --  and he is still being less than candid about his industry ties.

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 On November 27, news broke about a black teenager in Jacksonville named Jordan Davis who was shot and killed by 45-year-old Michael David Dunn apparently after an argument between the two over loud music. On November 28, news broke about U.N. [...Read more]

On Monday December 3rd, Diane Wilson walked out of the Harris County Jail a free woman after being arrested for blockading a Valero Refinery. But her act of civil disobedience didn't end there: she's been on a hunger strike for 13 days, and says she won't stop until Valero divests from the Keystone XL pipeline.  [...Read more]

This letter was originally sent to U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier by Dr. Michael Robichaux on November 26th, 2012. Dr. Robichaux is a physician in Raceland, Louisiana, who operated a detox clinic for people who became ill after exposure to BP's oil and dispersant. [...Read more]

“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. [...Read more]

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. [...Read more]

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. [...Read more]

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. [...Read more]