An invitation to participate

In a few short weeks the public view will, without doubt, fall back upon the coast and her people. We must take clear and insurmountable advantage of this. We must decide that this will be our stand.

My dear fellow citizens,

Nearly a year has passed now since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon. This year has been without doubt devastating to those of us in the Gulf States, as well as to those across our country.
 
 
We have been witness to the devastation of our ecosystem, the assault upon our industries and future sustainability, the decimation of our cultural norms, and the catastrophic incursion upon our civil and human right to clean air and water.
 
 
Truth, in and of itself, has been violated on all issues pertaining to our weary fight for justice for the people and environment of the Gulf Coast. The media, with exception, has at times been remiss in its role as the true protector of our people. It was Hugo Black who stated that, “The founding fathers gave the free press the protection it must have to bare the secrets of government and inform the people.”

Watch: We shall overcome

Sadly, we have seen less and less factual information as the focus of our press as we have entertainment and conjectural alignment to either a corporation or divisive tactic. Truly it has been more toward production of the headline with the most compulsory drive for sales, than the needs of the people to be informed of their country and their world.
 
 
Again, we cannot blame the media for this. It is us, who volley back and forth to the whim of their desire to conform us to their intent of sale and/or disconnection.
 
 
But, whatever is, does not have to be.
 
 
We can counter this illusion of score, between those who have and those who have not, between those who are and those who are not, between what is and what is not. We can, and must, now rise to an alignment with truth and justice.
 
 
Truth is a requirement of a free and equal system within a democracy, just as true representation is a requirement of a healthy and vibrant republic.
 
 
In a few short weeks the public view will, without doubt, fall back upon the coast and her people. We must take clear and insurmountable advantage of this. We must decide that this will be our stand.
 
 
The truth is it is WE, that hold the power as tenants of a higher law. We must hold our ground and demand from ourselves, without abandon, the righteous decision to claim that power that we have been given through the blood and testament of those before us, in the spirit of love for those beside us, and for the future for those yet to come.
 
 
In the past, many of us have chosen not to participate in solving the issues of our day, only because we believe the causes are too many, or worse, we believe ourselves to be ineffective in their solution. This, my friends, is a great lie. Our lives are not rigid institutions of resignation and hopelessness. In truth, our country and our world is whatever we choose it to be, and everyday more and more people are making brand new choices.
 
 
Some people will laugh at this, some people will find folly in you for daring to believe that your life and those of your children are worth more - and that is okay. They will soon know that it is not your life you fight for, but theirs. It is the greatest of giving to say, “Whether you believe in yourself enough or not, I believe in you enough to battle for you."
 
 
A new day is dawning, my friends, and it is an all inclusive one. I ask that you seek refreshment in the idea that we will not only survive this catastrophe, but that we will thrive within the catalytic and monumental arrival of a better us. This event, this year, will not - cannot, have been in vain. We must now make the decision to drive the grief of our recent losses, into the focus of an exciting and victorious future.
 
 
We must not let it all have been for nothing.
 
 
March 12th, at Westwego Farmer’s Market, in Westwego, LA, from 1 - 4 pm we will begin to rebuild our Gulf, and to honor her and her people. I am asking those of you who can, to join us there.
 
 
Please stay tuned, for more info on that day, and the days to come as you begin to build the movement that is no longer against any entity; but only for our Gulf, our people, our country and our world.
 
 
Voices, no matter how many, united in love cannot be defeated.
 
 
Peace be with you,
 
 
Cherri Foytlin
 
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103042516441587
 
P.S. If you would like to participate in helping to organize, aide and/or volunteer to help at the event on March 12 or other events being planned along the coast up to and past April 20, please message me on Facebook.

Other posts by Cherri:

• Feinberg denies meeting with local citizens made ill from oil disaster, despite promises
• A letter to my people
• Kenneth Feinberg and the GCCF - How You Can Help

Cherri Foytlin is an oil worker's wife, mother of six, Louisiana resident and journalist whose family has been deeply impacted by the BP Gulf Oil Spill and consequential moratorium on deep water drilling. She has been a constant voice, speaking out to the Obama Administration's Gulf Oil Spill Commission, and in countless forms of media. On July 15, 2010, in a CNN interview, she called out to the president for help, but was unanswered. She has also spoken at "The Rally for Economic Survival" and at the "Spill Into Washington Rally" in Washington D.C.where she challenged the American people to get involved in what she sees as an "atrocity on the shores" of the Gulf Coast. In addition, Cherri has written and illustrated a children's coloring book on coastal erosion. Cherri will continue her fight for the industries, people, culture and wildlife of south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast "until we are made whole again".