Cherri Foytlin's blog

Some of you may not like what I am about to say, but I'm going to say it anyway.

It is time to stop calling Donald Trump and his associates "Republicans." They are definitely far right-wing extremists, but can you imagine Ronald Reagan having this much play with Russians? The Party of Lincoln? Yes, I know all about Lincoln and his egregious assaults on native peoples, but do you really think he would have been able to stomach the gross-ness of DT?

I don't know when I started the tradition of taking a picture of my shoes. Maybe it's because I want to remember all the ground I stood on before. I don't know, but I've got feet shots of me in forest fires, oil spills, raging flood waters, the mountains, the desert, the Gulf, Europe, Canada, and on and on.

Originally posted on the Bold Louisiana site on December 1, 2016 

Photo: Moon rising on the Oceti Sakowin camp on November 12, 2016, by Karen Savage

December 2, 2016

Sheriff Greg Champagne
President, National Sheriffs’ Association
St. Charles Parish Sheriff
15025 River Rd.
Hahnville, LA 70057

Dear Sir,

Somebody asked me what it means to be a "grassroots organizer"?

I certainly can't speak for everyone in that role, because every experience is different and although most struggles are similar, the path is very different depending on participants, history and place ... but I will do my best.

- Being a grassroots organizer means having your heart broken and repaired a thousand times over - sometimes several times in one day.

On December 7, 2015, while participating in events surrounding the 21st Conference of Parties regarding Climate Change (COP21), I had the opportunity to join a group that included an artist, several documentarians, activists, and Gulf Coast front line leaders Juan and Bryan Parras, in visiting The Jungle - a “refugee camp” in Calais, France.

Monday’s viral video of a young student being flipped and flung from her desk by Deputy Ben Fields at South Carolina’s Spring Valley High School, is certainly not the first to expose the growing concern for the overreaction and over policing of children, and in particular children of color.

While questions remain for some, America can no longer bare the cost of these continuing acts of assault upon those to whom we as adults are obligated to protect.

Last week I was part of an action at BP America’s Houston headquarters that ended with six of us, all Gulf Coast residents, getting thrown into jail and charged with trespassing.

More than 500 years ago, before the arrival of the first Europeans, vast civilizations flourished in what is now called the Americas.

Trade routes and commerce had long been established across the Rockies and the Andes, from the farthest northern to the farthest southern regions of the Americas. It has been said that this was the time of union for Indigenous Peoples, the time of the Condor and the Eagle.

The Condor represents the Indigenous Peoples of the south, while the Eagle represents the Indigenous Peoples of the north.

This is part two of a three part series featuring an insider look at the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico - including environmental practices, worker-related injuries and deaths, and the industry’s economic and political influence - through the lens of thirty-five-year oil worker Randy Comeaux. See part one here. 

This is my full speech from the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 9, in commemoration of the 50th Commemoration of Bloody Sunday. Due to time constraints, the original was cut down to one minute, so I am sharing my full thoughts here.