Two days after a tornado tore through Eupora, Mississippi, Cherraye Oats set out with her daughter Courtney to get tarps for their neighbors’ battered homes. Oats’ house was spared, but the mobile home 20-year-old Courtney rented was destroyed. “If my daughter had not spent the night with us, we probably would have been burying her.”
By Raleigh Hoke, Gulf Restoration Network. Originally posted on October 20th, 2011. On Tuesday evening, I had the pleasure of joining a bus load of fired-up Mississippi Power ratepayers from the coast on a trip to Kemper County, Mississippi – the proposed site for a massive new dirty lignite coal mine.
Yesterday, a contingent from the Gulf Coast joined twelve thousand people in a nonviolent protest against dirty energy at the White House. The advocates are trying to stop President Obama from approving the Keystone XL pipeline. If built, the 1,700-mile pipeline will stretch all the way from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, where "tar sands" sludge would be refined into oil.
Criticism of BP "claims czar" Kenneth Feinberg continued this weekend at a town hall meeting in Louisiana, and this time members of Congress were listening.
By Julianne Hing, crossposted from Colorlines. Alabama will not let the battle over its breathtakingly harsh anti-immigrant law, HB 56, be fought just in the courts.
We here on the Gulf Coast have fishermen and oystermen that are not licensed and bonded. They are subsistence fishermen who catch food for themselves and their families, and to sell informally to the community. That means, in short, they're not qualified to apply for BP funds through the claims process. By not reporting their income, they cannot apply for compensation and other resources.
(Houston, TX) Today, public health groups blasted ExxonMobil Chemical Company for blocking new restrictions on toxic chemicals that damage children’s health and pollute local communities. Outside its corporate headquarters, protesters unveiled a giant twenty-foot rubber ducky, a favorite bath toy often made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which contains toxic chemicals known as phthalates (pronounced ‘THA-lates’), which are produced by ExxonMobil at its Baton Rouge, LA factory.
Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader, once said, “Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.”
I believe in these words, during the dark times in which we live. It seems more than coincidence that so many people have been drawn together to stand against the tyranny now provoking our people in so many forms, across the nation and globe.
Editor's Note: Bridge The Gulf was recently featured on the State of the Re:Union website, in an interview about community journalism on the Gulf Coast. Check it out.<
As Keystone XL protesters savor their victory to postpone the pipeline project, another oil policy decision this week did not turn out so well; a plan to expand drilling operations in the oil-damaged Gulf and pristine arctic.
Dear BP and Mr. President, My name is Laurie. I’m a 38-year-old resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I love this place. It has been my home my entire life, and home to most of my memories – both good and bad. I was born in Louisiana and lived in Gretna, LA until I was about 4 years old. My family built a home here in Bay St.
Less than a week ago, I came home to the Gulf Coast after a trip to Washington DC (where I joined a group of Gulf Coast residents in protesting the Keystone XL pipeline and BP "Claims Czar" Kenneth Feinberg). Since coming back, here is what I've seen and heard: I have seen photos of a 7-year-old with a rash all over her body - whose mother is fearful we will lose her if she is not helped.
A citizen of the United Houma Nation writes about the tribe’s history, and its ongoing struggle to be officially recognized by the United States government. By Adam Crepelle.
Houston resident Aurelia Suchilt was detained two times, for more than two months each, in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities due to mistakes in bureaucratic paperwork. Iconic immigrant's rights activists Maria Jimenez (right, photo by Joshua Cogan) says women like Aurelia are leading the defense of people detained by ICE. Listen to these interviews, and more, in a radio segment
By Elon James White, originally published on Colorlines. Recently I was invited to be a part of a delegation of labor leaders heading down to Alabama to speak out against one of the worst immigration laws in the country
Two days after a tornado tore through Eupora, Mississippi, Cherraye Oats set out with her daughter Courtney to get tarps for their neighbors’ battered homes. Oats’ house was spared, but the mobile home 20-year-old Courtney rented was destroyed. “If my daughter had not spent the night with us, we probably would have been burying her.”
By Raleigh Hoke, 
By Julianne Hing, 
Yesterday, a contingent from the Gulf Coast joined twelve thousand people in a nonviolent protest against dirty energy at the White House. The advocates are trying to stop President Obama from approving the Keystone XL pipeline. If built, the 1,700-mile pipeline will stretch all the way from Alberta, Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, where "tar sands" sludge would be refined into oil.
Criticism of BP "claims czar" Kenneth Feinberg continued this weekend at a town hall meeting in Louisiana, and this time members of Congress were listening.
By Julianne Hing, 
We here on the Gulf Coast have fishermen and oystermen that are not licensed and bonded. They are subsistence fishermen who catch food for themselves and their families, and to sell informally to the community. That means, in short, they're not qualified to apply for BP funds through the claims process. By not reporting their income, they cannot apply for compensation and other resources.
Tecumseh, the great Shawnee leader, once said, “Let us form one body, one heart, and defend to the last warrior our country, our homes, our liberty, and the graves of our fathers.”
As Keystone XL protesters savor their victory to 
Dear BP and Mr. President, My name is Laurie. I’m a 38-year-old resident of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I love this place. It has been my home my entire life, and home to most of my memories – both good and bad. I was born in Louisiana and lived in Gretna, LA until I was about 4 years old. My family built a home here in Bay St.
Obama rightfully delayed building the pipeline, but the concerns of people of color still need addressed. By Kari Fulton, 
Less than a week ago, I came home to the Gulf Coast after a trip to Washington DC (where I joined a group of Gulf Coast residents in 
A citizen of the United Houma Nation writes about the tribe’s history, and its ongoing struggle to be officially recognized by the United States government. By Adam Crepelle. 
Houston resident Aurelia Suchilt was detained two times, for more than two months each, in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities due to mistakes in bureaucratic paperwork. Iconic immigrant's rights activists Maria Jimenez (right, 
By Elon James White, originally published on