Organizing and Engagement

An overflow crowd of more than 150 people showed up despite a downpour of rain to attend a community meeting sponsored by two organizations that have come together to help the Africatown community in its ongoing struggle to achieve environmental, economic, educational and social justice. A new local community organization know as C.H.E.S.S which stands for Clean, Healthy, Educated, Safe & Sustainable community and DSCEJ or Deep South Center for Environmental Justice co-hosted the meeting to introduce themselves to Africatown residents.

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 Monday, April 20th, Gulf Coast fisherfolk, residents, and artists gathered at BP's Houston headquarters to speak out about the ongoing impacts of the BP oil disaster. Advocates said fisheries and the communities that depend on them are in serious decline. “When BP says it has done right for the Gulf, they are lying,” said Thao Vu* of Biloxi, Mississippi, "Less than 18% of the health claims submitted have been approved and even fewer have actually been paid out. While BP plays games with our media and with our court system, our fishing families are sick and suffering.”

"So let it be written, so let it be done." Let history record that much like the Freedom Riders came down from the North to help Southerners in their Civil Rights struggle during the 60's, students from Oberlin College near Cleveland, Ohio traveled 1000 miles to help residents of Africatown in Mobile, Alabama in their ongoing quest for economic and environmental justice as well as social respect. 

In January, the fourth Extreme Energy Extraction Summit came to Biloxi, Mississippi, and brought with it organizers and activists from across North America who face issues such as coal mining and mountaintop removal in Appalachia, uranium mining in New Mexico, fracking in Pennsylvania and North Dakota, and tar sands mining in Canada. To kick-off the gathering, Cherri Foytlin with Bridge The Gulf organized a day-long tour that grounded participants in some of the extreme energy challenges facing Gulf Coast communities.

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.

As over 300,000 people took to the streets of New York City for the People's Climate March last Sunday, events across the Gulf Coast brought people together closer to home, in solidarity and support

Last Friday, May 23rd, Louie Miller of the Mississippi Chapter of the Sierra Club emailed a number of friends and colleagues: "Sharing the tragic news that Linda St. Martin passed away at 9:30 this morning from complications due to chemotherapy. I would appreciate everyone taking a moment to reflect on Linda in honor of her body of work, passion, and commitment in service to the Sierra Club and the Gulf Community as a whole."

On April 24th, parents, students, and community advocates from across Louisiana rallied at the State Capitol in opposition to Senate Bill 652. The draconian bill would further criminalize our children in a number of alarming ways that are more about expanding the “school to prison pipeline" than promoting safety.

“Environmentalists aren’t born, they’re made – by necessity and circumstance.” - Derrick Evans in Come Hell or High Water - The Battle for Turkey Creek. As the Earth Week events at USM-Gulf Coast came to an end, these words still rang in my head.