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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
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.
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.
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 
Obama rightfully delayed building the pipeline, but the concerns of people of color still need addressed. By Kari Fulton, 
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.
As Keystone XL protesters savor their victory to 
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.”
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.
By Julianne Hing,