Sunday, May 30, 2010
BP oilspill protest draws hundreds to French Quarter
Posted by Kevin Allman on Sun, May 30, 2010 at 11:58 PM
Hundreds of New Orleanians gathered in Washington Artillery Park adjacent to the French Quarter on Sunday afternoon to express their outrage over the response to the ongoing ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The target of most of their frustration was BP, the oil giant that had said that morning the oil volcano under the Gulf of Mexico may not be capped until August -- but there was also plenty of invective directed against the federal government, which many of the speakers felt was bowing to the demands of BP rather than taking charge of the situation and telling BP what to do. The protest was staged by Murdered Gulf, an ad hoc group which sprang up to organize the protest and has compiled a list of demands -- and ways citizens can help -- on its website.
Alex Woodward's recap is in the post below this one, and here are some photos from the protest. For others, check out WWL-TV's gallery or this Flickr set by Gambit reader boxchain.
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
like
dislike
Great event, although silencing the anti-authoritarian speakers at the end kind of sucked. . Regardless, the Gambit deserves plaudits for beating the drum on this one. Not sure what, if any coverage the TP will have. . This was the single largest protest yet, anywhere, about the BP oil flood. Proud it happened in New Orleans.
What did New Orleans ever do to the LA Times? Why they hatin' on us CONSTANTLY? http://bit.ly/9CEetr
Lots of good photos here as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infrogmation/sets/72157624169797978/ Looks like Spike Lee was in attendance, and many of my friends were as well. Good on 'em all.
This is the comment I made to the LA times article. I dunno if they're even going to post it: Thanks for totally washing over the importance of our protest by mentioning the tourists (who most likely have NO idea what's at stake) crowding at Cafe du Monde. Super-insensitive of you to do so. If you want to use your power as a journalist to bring light to issues, this kind of writing totally diminishes what we were out there, in ... See Morethe rain, protesting. So please consider the magnitude your writing and weight your words as such. Consider the cultural context for one. We costume very often for all types of reasons from Mardi Gras to expressing our rage. That's how we express ourselves. I know the rest of the country always views costuming as a way to make mockery and merriment, but its one our our chief forms of expression. However, the light that you cast on it makes it seem like we're just "those partying New Orleanians" who "let the good times roll" without a care. This is how we express ourselves. We can be dead serious with a tutu on and that's just New Orleans. Next time you cover our reaction to a tragedy such as this, try to be a little sensitive and think about what your goals in how you portray us are. Otherwise your just doing what everyone else is- dumbing down our efforts to be heard in our own way. BTW: we saw your photo people elbowing protesters out of the way to get pictures of Tim Robbins. Typical LA. Keep up the "journalism"
