Voices of the Gulf

Last week, Hurricane Katrina survivors packed two Greater New Orleans churches and voiced some of the frustration, anger, and hurt that they’ve been nursing over the “Road Home” recovery program.  The public meetings, in St. Bernard parish and New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, were held to inform residents about inequities and corruption in the housing program.
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Independent scientists have confirmed that Gulf marine life is heavily contaminated by the dispersed oil and oil sheen in the water. [...Read more]

With a new year upon us, it’s time to take stock of the historic BP oil disaster and look towards the future. The Deepwater Horizon blow out shined a national spotlight on the oil and gas drilling  in the Gulf, an environmental time bomb that blew 50 miles offshore. [...Read more]

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Crossposted from Facing South. [...Read more]

Condita Duplessis hugs granddaughter Jalinh Vasquez Barthelemy outside their FEMA trailer. Photo: Getty Images/Mario Tama

by Julianne Hing, Colorlines. [...Read more]

An annual Asian heritage festival, hosted by Mississippi youth, is now extending into an ongoing effort to support fishing families impacted by the BP oil disaster.  [...Read more]

While Americans frantically dash through crowded strip malls, Paul and Michael Orr jump into their 17-foot Boston Whaler ready to hunt for a different kind of merchandise—the kind that grows in the Gulf of Mexico. They are searching for samples of seafood and sediment located in the oil damaged bayous of Louisiana.  And what they have found so far may lead to important revelations about potential contamination along the entire Gulf coast.   [...Read more]

Hello all, my name is Stephanie Thomas and I am a lifelong resident of the North Gulfport Community in Gulfport, Mississippi.  This neighborhood consists of primarily low income African Americans who have generations of family here, and are being threatened by the proposed port of Gulfport expansion project.  The expansion is being billed as an economic boon to our area, but a closer look reveals that it is unlikely to significantly benefit our community [...Read more]

With the DREAM Act now stopped by the Senate, the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans (VAYLA-NO) continues to hope that undocumented young people across the nation will get the opportunity to become American citizens. [...Read more]