BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Abortion rights advocates came together to talk about how the ban on abortions in Louisiana has affected their lives. Speakers came together at the Louisiana State Capitol for “We Have a Vision: Louisiana Reproductive Justice Day at the Capitol.” The event started at 9:20 a.m. and some of the speakers who were scheduled to attend included those listed below: https://d-12833587732725203327.ampproject.net/2304132133000/frame.html...

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The legislative session kicks off the second week with advocates pushing against legislators to pass voting access and to offer more support to incarcerated people. As the fiscal session ramps up, advocacy groups want to make sure the state is investing in bills that will expand voting access, criminal justice reform and community resources. The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice is partnering with the Voice of the Experienced to push bills that create access to mental health services for incarcerated people, as well as create more early voting locations in each parish....

A special session of the Louisiana Legislature ended last June with lawmakers failing to sign off on a new congressional map for the state that included a second majority-Black district. Almost a year later, a group of progressive activists gathered at the State Capitol Monday to decry that outcome, advocating for various measures they said would increase voting access for disabled Louisianans and people of color — access they say has not improved enough in recent years....

We must not allow our movements for justice to be silenced by laws that criminalize dissent. At least 42 people who have protested the building of an 85-acre, $90 million police training facility in Atlanta, Georgia, have been charged with domestic terrorism. While demonstrators always fear being criminalized for exercising their constitutional right to stage protests, being charged with domestic terrorism has a particularly chilling effect. The move to charge protesters with domestic terrorism comes months after one protester, Manuel Paez Terán (who went by the name Tortuguita), was killed by police. Across the United States, we are seeing a rise in laws that seek to squelch and criminalize protests. Since 2017, North Dakota has considered a series of anti-protest laws, including one that allows the state attorney general to bring police from out of town to respond to protests. In South Dakota, one law allows the state to prohibit protests of 20 people or more...

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Ashley K. Shelton is the founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice in Louisiana. She is an advocate for climate justice, traveling to COP27 in Egypt to discuss the needs of Black communities and the ways in which they are harmed by climate injustice. Shelton is also a passionate advocate for environmental justice, voting rights and equitable redistricting processes. She is a member of the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative. She has traveled the world advocating for justice and encouraging organizers not to be weary in their activism, understanding that our communities will prevail if we refuse to relent. Learn more here and here....

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – With a March 25 municipal primary election fast approaching, voters who requested them have begun receiving absentee ballots in the mail. But for some, the ballots they received are incomplete. There should be two judicial races on the ballot, and voters living in House District 93 also should have a runoff decision for the state representative seat vacated by now-State Sen. Royce Duplessis. But according to some voters who reached out to Fox 8, the absentee ballots they received only had the judicial races, even though they live in House District 93. “If people saw this and didn’t realize (the House race) wasn’t on the ballot and don’t think about it, they just send it back in,” said one voter who asked not to be identified....

A crowded race to replace Royce Duplessis in the state House of Representatives will go to a runoff after none of the six candidates secured a majority of the vote, in an election held on a busy day in the Carnival calendar that drew few voters to the polls....

After defying the odds to become the first openly LGBTQ person elected to a statewide office, Davante Lewis intends to use the momentum to take on utility giants such as Entergy and move the state toward more renewable energy in his first six-year term on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission.  Many see Lewis’ victory as a sign of shifting politics around renewable energy in a state where, traditionally, fossil fuels have ruled.  “If you were to look on the surface, someone like Davante Lewis shouldn’t have had a prayer of a chance because he was taking on a long-term incumbent who had not demonstrated any electoral weakness in the past,” said John Couvillion, a Baton Rouge-based political pollster and president of JMC Analytics and Polling. ...

BATON ROUGE — From the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children: Feb. 1 marked the start of the second annual Early Ed Month, which is a month-long initiative to educate local and national policymakers, business leaders, parents and advocates on the need for robust investments in high-quality early care and education to support a strong workforce and economy in Louisiana.   Created by the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, a nonprofit working to ensure all Louisiana’s young children are ready for success in school and life, Early Ed Month will consist of 12 in-person and virtual events across the state that provide opportunities to learn more about critical issues surrounding early care and education that impact children and families. ...

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – At this point in the school year, kids may be running out of supplies. To help with this issue, a Shreveport teacher is helping replenish those supplies. Marvkevea’s Learning Center is hosting The Re-Up at Sci-Port. Parents and students have the chance to tour the new exhibits, get free school supplies and enjoy an evening dance party! Marvkevea Campbell says he hosts a summer school supply giveaway and was inspired to replenish those items this winter. ...

This week, in an Extraordinary Special Session, the Louisiana Legislature is discussing the authorization of $45 million in funding to entice insurance companies to return to the Louisiana markets. We think that this is a misguided approach that will lead to more harm than good. Read HousingLOUISIANA’s full statement here: puthousingfirst.wordpress.com/2023/01/31…l-session/...

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) – State lawmakers are back at the capitol to deal with the issue that’s costing many lots of money. There’s only one thing on the agenda at the special session and that’s dealing with the state’s homeowners insurance crisis. The session started at noon Monday, with the one bill being assigned to the appropriations committee to take up on Tuesday. Lawmakers will have 7 days to come up with a plan on how to divvy up $45 million in state money. According to insurance commissioner Jim Donolen, that should be enough money to entice some companies to do business here in Louisiana....

In the trailer for the new Hulu docuseries on the groundbreaking “1619 Project,” creator and host Nikole Hannah-Jones notes that, “No part of America’s story has been untouched by the legacy of slavery.” It was that viewpoint, reframing American history by exploring the impact of slavery and the contributions of African Americans to our nation, that underpinned the project and produced both controversy and revelation.   ...

January 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that codified the right to an abortion. But this year on January 22nd, we’ll largely remember this anniversary as the one that wasn’t. For 49 years, Roe helped to allow people who could become pregnant decide what was best for them and their families, but on June 24th, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. Since then, bans on abortion have taken effect in 13 states, and courts have blocked abortion bans in 9 others, according to the New York Times abortion ban tracker, though this is constantly changing....

In an about face, Louisiana’s top school board Tuesday voted to take another look at new learning standards for the state’s youngest students amid controversy on whether the benchmarks would allow politicized instruction. The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education had twice approved the revised guidelines, including on Dec. 13....

Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere of New Orleans started his re-election bid with a respectable warchest, three terms under his belt and the backing of some of the state’s most powerful Democrats. It ended in a rout. Boissiere got crushed by nearly 20 points by Davante Lewis, a 30-year-old progressive who lives in Baton Rouge and works for a left-leaning nonprofit advocacy group. Lewis will be the first openly LGBTQ person elected to state office in Louisiana....

In November, our network educated voters, drove turnout in BIPOC communities, and ensured voters could cast their ballots free from interference and intimidation. Now we’re bringing the same energy and relentless focus on fair representation to Georgia and Louisiana as we did to our entire network in November. ...

The two candidates for the Public Service Commission district that represents New Orleans and parts of Baton Rouge sought to distance themselves from one another Wednesday in a testy debate ahead of the Dec. 10 runoff election. Commissioner Lambert Boissiere, who is facing a rare runoff for an incumbent, defended the commission’s record, touting Louisiana’s relatively low electric rates. He said the PSC is “moving in the right direction” with recent deals for renewables and competitive energy....

In New Orleans, all eyes are on the Public Service Commission runoff on Dec. 10, but in many parts of the state, three proposed constitutional amendments will be the only thing on Louisiana voters’ ballots. If passed, the amendments would clarify who can vote in state and local elections and would give the state Senate the opportunity to weigh in on the governor’s appointment to certain state oversight panels....

The head of Louisiana’s Office of Juvenile Justice has resigned amid a deepening crisis inside the state’s youth lockups including escapes, riots and a capacity shortfall that the agency recently said had forced it to stop accepting youth into its custody....

Out of five states that put measures to voters on the subject, Louisiana voters were the only ones to vote against banning slavery and involuntary servitude in the state constitution, according to calls by The Associated Press. This year, in Vermont, Oregon, Alabama and Tennessee, voters decided to ban slavery and involuntary servitude....

Voters in Vermont, Tennessee, Oregon and Alabama amended their state constitutions to abolish slavery and indentured servitude this week — but a similar initiative failed in Louisiana, garnering embarrassing headlines for a former slave state that remains infamous for modern mass incarceration and forced prison labor....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – With inflation and the costs of oil and goods skyrocketing, the economy is a hot topic in the 2022 election. Where do the candidates for Senator in Louisiana stand?...

WASHINGTON — Anxiety is the best description as the nation’s voters approach the Tuesday election that will decide which party controls Congress for the next two years....

NEW ORLEANS – As early voting began in Louisiana last week, Taetrece Harrison and her mother waited for the polls to open. Most of the people in line with them were women. Harrison and her mother were both galvanized by this summer’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, which triggered Louisiana’s near-total ban on abortion. More than 363,000 votes have been cast during the early voting period, which ended November 1....

SHREVEPORT, La.-In partnership with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, members of the Divine Nine, a collective of Black Greek-lettered organizations, gathered in the parking lot of Remington College for a “Stroll to the Polls” event aimed at encouraging early voting in Shreveport.  The event featured food, entertainment and fellowship as a way to highlight the secondary early voting location at Shreve Memorial Library. ...

A group of four phone-bankers sat around a conference table at the offices of Women With A Vision in New Orleans, a group that advocates for abortion rights, about a month before the midterm elections, dialing up voters across Louisiana to ask them about reproductive rights. They didn’t use the word abortion — it tends to make people hang up on them. Instead, they said they were calling about “Louisiana’s statewide decision in regards to family planning” and “women’s reproductive rights,” euphemisms for Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade....

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— The organization, Young People Vote, is hosting a “Bike N Vote” initiative, which provides free bikes for the community to use during early voting for local elections. The initiative is especially geared toward getting people of color out to the polls to vote.  “Voting is a part of our right as humans and our ancestors fought for years to uphold the integrity and equity of the vote. We must continue those efforts throughout the years,” Morgan Walker, Young People Vote and Bike N Vote Founder said....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Young People Vote invites the public to bike through downtown Shreveport to go vote when the early voting is open. On Oct. 29, the nonpartisan state-based civic engagement and movement-building organization, Young People Vote is hosting Bike N Vote across the state of Louisiana with a focus on getting Black and brown people, especially gen Z, gen X, and millenials energies up for the upcoming election....

WASHINGTON, DC — Shortly ahead of arguing before the Supreme Court on a voting rights lawsuit that bears his name, Alabama attorney Evan Milligan was already looking forward to what needs to be done to secure permanent voting rights protections for all Americans. “My hope is not based on the court,” Milligan said at a recent news conference. “My hope is based on the agency of my people and our allies.”...

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – If you missed the deadline to register to vote in person you still have a chance to register to vote online. The Power Coalition for Equity & Justice explains why it’s important you make your voice heard.  “We must make sure that we are participating in this process, that we are voting and having our voices heard,” said Ashley Kennedy Shelton, Founder & President of Power Coalition for Equity & Justice....

Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a 2022 Vote Your Voice grantee, represents Louisianans like Deborah, who has a partial disability and walks with a cane. Deborah is one of the countless Black residents who, for over a century of Black voter suppression, have been forced to wage herculean efforts just to cast their ballots. Deborah was living in Red Cross evacuee housing in New Orleans, three hours’ drive from her home in Calcasieu Parish, after two mighty hurricanes struck in late summer 2020. When early voting began in October and she was instructed by her home parish board of elections official to vote in New Orleans, she tried one, and then a second polling location where the line was shorter. She never anticipated what happened next....

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As The South Votes, Episode 2. What gerrymandering looks like in the South—and what we can do about it before it’s too late....

Technical difficulties at the Claiborne Building plagued Louisiana’s Disability Voting Task Force meeting Monday, preventing nearly 20 people from attending via its virtual live stream — a critical means of access for some disabled people.  Louisiana Secretary of State spokesman John Tobler said in a phone interview that the task force had experienced technical problems with YouTube’s live stream function and could not fix it without disconnecting others who attended via the Zoom platform. ...

Competition in the electric utility industry, and more solar, nuclear and wind power, represent the best ways to reduce power costs for customers, according to The Times-Picayune Power Poll. Louisiana historically gives power utilities a monopoly in their geographic markets, but the Public Service Commission is considering competition, which was the No. 1 choice of Power Poll respondents. Here are the weighted rankings:...

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – With midterms just over a month away, the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments on a case involving the Alabama electoral map and redistricting that could negatively impact Black voters in the state. Tuesday’s arguments present a test for the conservative-leaning court with more voting rights cases to come. This case could ultimately weaken the landmark Voting Rights Act by making it easier for states to defend against claims of racial gerrymandering....

With midterm elections only a few weeks away, political groups on and off campus are working to mobilize student voters — a demographic that saw historic levels of voter turnout in the 2020 election.  Margaret Easley, vice president of Tulane College Democrats, said the group aims to get people registered to vote for upcoming elections and make sure they have all the resources they need. Additionally, College Democrats President Darcy Schleifsteinsaid the group strategizes as to where student votes will count the most.  ...

WASHINGTON — About 100 Louisiana students gathered Tuesday in the plaza in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as the nine justices considered whether Alabama’s congressional election maps meet the standards of the Voting Rights Act — a case that’s nearly identical to one from Louisiana....

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — On Tuesday, The U.S. Supreme Court took up the case of the congressional maps for Alabama, which will have major implications for the Voting Rights Act and Louisiana’s case that awaits a hearing. Advocates rallied at the state capitol to push for a second majority-minority district. The Republican majority of the Louisiana Legislature voted to pass congressional maps that kept only one majority-minority district, anchored both in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The case, if it violated the Voting Rights Act now rests with the U.S. Supreme Court. Advocates at home are continuing their push for the map to be overturned....

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) – For citizens concerned about rising utility bills, Oct. 4 was the final chance residents could voice their opinions, at the second of two forums hosted by the Alliance of Affordable Energy. The forum gave citizens a chance to learn more about the Public Service Commission, and what role they play in utility rates. The P.S.C. is ultimately responsible for the price of your utility service....

Statewide, LA –  Yesterday,  Monday, September 26, 2022, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice (PCEJ) started an on the ground canvassing initiative in major cities like New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria and Lake Charles. The campaign is part of a statewide Get Out and Vote (GOTV) strategy currently underway ahead of the November 8, 2022 Primary Congressional election. In the beginning of September, PCEJ onboarded over 100 phone bankers and canvassers statewide to help register voters and educate about key ballot initiatives. ...

International Democracy Day came and went this year with barely a whisper, but a quartet of human rights and community advocates from Alabama and Louisiana took the opportunity to reflect on the challenges to achieving America’s promise of equity and fairness.  Among those challenges are the flurry of adverse rulings in redistricting cases soon to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court....

When the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) passed in 2021, White House officials were explicit: the $350 billion promised by the legislation was to be used by state and local governments to ensure sustainable, equitable, and inclusiverecovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. For communities of color hit hardest by both the pandemic and decades of socioeconomic inequality, it was a chance to build the kind of basic local infrastructure—schools, jobs, and other resources—that build public safety....

International Democracy Day came and went this year with barely a whisper, but a quartet of human rights and community advocates from Alabama and Louisiana took the opportunity to reflect on the challenges to achieving America’s promise of equity and fairness.   Among those challenges are the flurry of adverse rulings in redistricting cases soon to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court....

SHREVEPORT, La. – Candidates for mayor of Shreveport faced off Tuesday night at a candidate forum exchanging ideas about how to drive the city forward. The event held at the Performance Gallery downtown on Commerce Street.  The event was moderated by Willie Burton....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — As election season continues, another mayoral forum took place in downtown Shreveport Tuesday. The crowd was small, and only five mayoral candidates were in attendance....

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative today celebrated National Voter Registration Day (NVRD), a civic holiday meant to encourage voters to register to vote. The collective, which organizes across the South to improve the material conditions of Black people, pledged to register thousands of voters on NVRD and beyond. They also vowed to address long-standing barriers to the ballot such as felony disenfranchisement, voter purges, and intimidation at the polls. The group released the following statement:...

Voting has been an important aspect of community voices. It wasn’t until the 26th amendment that the minimum voting age for all citizens was 18 years old. This ratification enabled young adults in society to inspire change for newer generations as communities around the world continue to evolve....

Black women are uniquely saddled with student loan debt. by Ashley Shelton in Truthout From record inflation to attacks on reproductive rights, to an unfair and inequitable redistricting, it can feel like all hope has been lost this year. But many voters are not giving up. My state of Louisiana has faced multiple challenges, particularly when it comes to the electoral process. Historically, we have seen literacy tests, brutal attacks on persons seeking to register to vote, the elimination of voting sites, changing polling sites without notification, and other efforts to deny and abridge the right to vote. We have experienced voter suppression in all its forms, including its newest more insidious form, racial and partisan gerrymandering.  In 2022, the Louisiana state legislature drew unfair congressional district lines. Voters, including those reached through my organization, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, testified throughout this year’s redistricting process, which saw...

“As it has been for generations of Black Americans, freedom is on the ballot, along with the Constitutional rights that define our citizenship,” said BlackPac’s Executive Director Adrianne Shropshire....

The briefing also comes a week before National Voter Registration Day, which is held annually on Sept. 20. Alabama Values and Spotlight PR LLC are scheduled to host a media briefing discussing “the state of democracy in the U.S” this upcoming Thursday, according to a release sent on Monday. The meeting is planned to coincide with the International Day of Democracy: a day put aside by the United Nations General Assembly in November of 2017 in an effort “to promote and consolidate new or restored democracies” globally, according to the resolution. The briefing also comes a week before National Voter Registration Day, which is held annually on Sept. 20....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – The NWLA Makerspace and creative group 318 Makes is inviting the public to bring their families to enjoy its Family Fun Block Party. The party begins on Sept 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a morning filled with music, family, food, and fun for all ages.  These events are to be held on one Saturday every month with special activities....

Increases in voter registration in women were noticed nationally, following the Supreme Court ruling on abortion...

Youth justice advocates are asking Louisiana residents to sign a petition to demand that Governor Edwards not move youth to Angola....

Imagine waking up every day to the smell of sulfur dioxide, gas fumes and other foul-smelling chemicals. Even if you don’t live near gas export terminals on the Gulf Coast, you know the air must smell bad. Imagine your children are constantly breathing these chemicals and your elders have among the highest incidence of cancer in the nation. Now imagine that you also hear daily sirens warning of gas leaks and potential catastrophic explosions. What you’ve imagined — this is the reality for Gulf Coast communities....

The state’s three juvenile detention centers, Bridge City, Monroe and Bunkie, have all suffered from chaotic violence and severe understaffing in recent months. On August 8th, youth justice advocates held a press conference outside of the Angola State Penitentiary in Lousiana in protest of the decision to move juvenile inmates into the facility. Dubbed “the bloodiest prison in the South,” Angola, the largest maximum security prison in the U.S. is notorious for its horrific violence. Since 1992, over 1,300 vicious assaults have occurred at the facility between inmates and staff....

Ashley Shelton, Founder, President and CEO of the Power Coalition says many Black women, are disappointed in what’s happened to them since the 2020 Presidential election. Despite, playing a decisive role in the election, they “have less rights than our grandparents had”, says Shelton. But that’s about to change. Podcast page: https://www.podcastone.com/episode/-EP-112–Disheartened-Black-Women-in-the-South-mobilizing-for-change...

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Dozens of advocates will host a press conference to protest the state’s plans to transfer youth inmates to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and the Jetson Center for Youth. “We don’t have to do it this way,” Rev. Alexis Anderson from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition said. In July, Gov. Edwards announced plans to move about 25 teenagers from the troubled Bridge City Center for Youth after numerous escapes and riots within the past year. Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC), and several other youth justice groups will protest the state’s plan outside the Jetson prison on Tuesday, Aug. at 11 a.m....

ATLANTA – After a bruising year that saw attacks on reproductive freedom and equitable and fair drawing of district lines, many people are heading into the midterm elections questioning whether voting matters. But advocates with the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative today reminded voters that they cannot cede power to those who wish to deny and abridge the right to vote. The leaders, who played a leading role in redistricting fights in Florida, Louisiana and Georgia, also urged voters to not only commit to vote in the upcoming elections but begin developing a plan to vote. They released the following statement:...

The Louisiana Department of Health faces backlash over a social media post that included a picture of a local drag queen at a health awareness event in Alexandria as part of LGBTQ Pride Month. The controversy began June 24 when LDH tweeted photos of a “family-friendly Pride event” at the Alexandria Convention Center with a description that said, in part, “Local drag queens entertained the audience while the state Office of Public Health handed out health-related pamphlets and info.” The event also featured music, games, arts and crafts, and vendors. ...

Jada Gabriel goes grocery shopping for her family of four every two weeks. On her last trip, she noticed the price of butter had increased. “It was normally 98 cents,” said Gabriel, an ophthalmic technician who was on a shopping trip Wednesday at the Hi Nabor Supermarket on Winbourne Avenue. “Now it’s $1.18.”...

Ashley K. Shelton, founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice: “This moment is devastating. In a place like Louisiana, where you have the highest rate of maternal mortality in the country, you are literally sentencing Black women to death. Louisiana has a trigger law, and as soon as Roe came down, it automatically made abortion care illegal. This tramples people’s rights, even beyond abortion. This is about privacy, it’s about healthcare, it’s about the criminalization of Black and poor women, and it’s about what happens when a person’s choices are taken away....

A judge in Baton Rouge ruled Friday that new election maps approved last month are illegal and is giving the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board until 8 a.m. Wednesday to come up with new maps — or he will implement a rival set of maps that would likely flip the board’s racial balance to majority-Black....

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A federal judge will redraw the state’s congressional map after state lawmakers abruptly ended a special session two days early. Saturday afternoon members of the Louisiana legislature decided there was no more moving forward with work to redraw the state’s congressional map. Dillard University political analyst Robert Collins says, “I think we were surprised by the abrupt ending because we thought they would at least go through the motions and pretend to follow the judge’s order but no one is surprised by the result.” On June 6, Federal Judge Shelly Dick ordered the special session saying lawmakers needed to add a second majority-black district or else she would redraw the map herself. Just four days into the six-day special session, talks grinded to a halt....

The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative today announced a series of Juneteenth events in Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Tennessee. The organization, which includes Black women organizers and executive directors in the South, will register people to vote, host a series of educational events and actions, and talk to communities about the true meaning of liberation. The group released the following statement:...

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 At an Ethnic Media Services briefing, June 3, speakers and moderator ­­– Ashley Shelton, Founder, President, and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice (Louisiana); MacKenzie Marcelin, Climate Justice Manager, Florida Rising; Chrishelle Palay, Executive Director of the HOME Coalition in Houston; Daysi Bedolla Sotelo, Senior Strategist for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (California); and Moderator: Jennifer R. Farmer, Principal, Spotlight PR LLC­ – discussed what they are planning for the current season and what they need government at all levels to do....

The first edition is Tuesday, June 14, from 5 p.m., with guest chef Marcus Jacobs, of Marjie’s Grill and Seafood Sally’s, raising money for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice....

June 1 marks the start of wildfire and hurricane season. Community activists from Florida to New Jersey, California to Louisiana and Texas, under the banner of Organizing Resilience, for the first time, are working together to pressure elected leaders to address a failed disaster relief system and the PTSD, fear and economic impact that failure has had on their communities. EMS briefing on June 3  discussed what they are planning for the current season and what they need government at all levels to do. Ashley Shelton, Founder, President, and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice (Louisiana) said her state has experienced the double whammy of the coronavirus and hurricanes last year. Her Coalition for Equality and Justice works to provide cash assistance to affected families to help them pay rent, utilities, food and more. In addition, the group is actively pushing for legislation to make insurance companies...

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) – Kids are out on summer break and while some families are focusing on fun in the sun, others may be worrying about where their child’s next meal is coming from. At least one in four children in Louisiana experience food insecurity according to Feeding America. Groups in Calcasieu Parish are working to help. “Due to the increase in this economy and the price of everything going up, you won’t know people’s situation. A lot of people are dealing with hunger and we’re just trying to do our part to make sure people get fed,” volunteer Joshua Lewis said....

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – On Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called for a special legislative session in Baton Rouge to redraw the state’s congressional district maps before the upcoming election. The governor’s decision comes after a federal judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit claiming the maps do not accurately represent the state’s population....

Louisiana legislators are going to have to return to the drawing board and come up with new maps that allow the possibility of a second minority congressperson to be elected in Louisiana, according to a 151-page ruling Monday by Chief U.S. Middle District of Louisiana Judge Shelly Dick in Baton Rouge. Dick’s ruling enjoined Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin – the defendant in the case – from holding congressional elections under the new map drawn by the GOP lawmakers earlier this year and enacted into law over the governor’s veto in March....

The judge ordered the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw the map to include a second district that gives Black voters the chance to elect a candidate of their choice. A federal judge ruled on Monday that Louisiana’s new congressional map represented a racial gerrymander and must be redrawn to include a second district that gives Black voters the chance to elect a candidate of their choice. The judge, Shelly D. Dick of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, ordered the State Legislature to produce a revised map of the state’s six congressional districts by June 20. She also directed the state to extend the filing deadline for House candidates, now set for June 22, to July 8....

Hurricane season has just begun in Louisiana. Activists in several states are “organizing resilience” to prepare their communities and they are pushing officials to fix a disaster relief system which many consider broken. “The one thing that has actually worked in the aftermath of disaster is the community coming together to help each other,” said Ashley K. Shelton, the Founder, President, and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. Shelton does civic engagement work with community organizations and politicians. She is the former Vice President of Programs at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation....

East Baton Rouge Parish School Board members on Thursday took a deep examination of Superintendent Sito Narcisse’s spending plans for next year, quizzing him and other staff on staff changes, new positions in bilingual education and cutbacks in student transportation. The fallout from the forced reassignment of more than 230 school employees in early May continues. A handful of local activists held a press conference before Thursday night’s board meeting to apply new pressure to the board to reverse Narcisse’s moves....

In a dramatic turnaround from a month ago, the Jefferson Parish School Board opted Wednesday night to stick with the same nine-district alignment it has had since 2012. Last month, the board indicated — in a narrow 5-4 vote — that it intended to add two seats to the board and possibly double the number of majority-minority districts to four. The vote will have no effect on school attendance zones....

For the past year, Roishetta Ozane has been trying to stop new liquified natural gas, or LNG, export terminals from being built in southwest Louisiana. “We are already inundated with LNG and oil and gas,” said the clean energy organizing director with Healthy Gulf, who lives in the town of Sulphur. “We’re surrounded by it.”...

Louisiana lawmakers have commissioned a task force to study the expansion of voting rights for people with disabilities. House Concurrent Resolution 14, sponsored by Rep. Matthew Willard, D-New Orleans, received final passage Monday with a unanimous vote in the Senate. ...

The Louisiana chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement after the Louisiana Senate Judiciary C Committee voted to advance HB 37, dangerous permitless carry legislation to remove the state’s permitting requirement for carrying a concealed handgun in public. The vote comes despite fervent opposition from a number of key public safety stakeholders, including law enforcement officers, faith leaders, local leaders, and advocates. ...

By Reggi Marion | BRProud BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – A new grassroots advocacy group, Louisiana Families for Vaccines, is hosting a diverse group of partners, including the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, for a day of action at the Louisiana State Capitol to support evidence-based vaccine policy in the state....

By Seth Freed Wessler | ProPublica A whistleblower says a plan to build a grain elevator on an old plantation would disrupt important historical sites, including possibly unmarked graves of enslaved people, and that her cultural resource management firm tried to bury her findings....

The Jefferson Parish School Board has published four redistricting proposals that the board will take up as it considers a generational shift that could add two new seats to the nine-member board. The four district maps published on the school district’s website include the current nine-member district alignment and three 11-seat options prepared by outside groups. The board is scheduled to vote on the proposals at its June 1 meeting....

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Hairstyles come in all forms and a bill that advanced in the Louisiana legislature on Monday aims to prevent discrimination related to hair-dos. Some people say wearing braids, dreadlocks, cornrows, twists, curls, etc., has caused them to be discriminated against. House Bill 41 by Rep. Candace Newell, D-New Orleans, would prohibit such discrimination....

by Terry Jones for The Advocate Creating a sixth majority-minority district on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council could be impossible.  While the city-parish’s racial demographics are pretty much 50/50 when it comes to the Black and White population, demographer Mike Hefner says the parish is still too geographically segregated to create the sixth majority-minority district that could even the power structure for the Black Democrats on the Metro Council going forward. ...

by Ariel Salk for BRPROUD BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — After five long days, arguments have wrapped up at the Middle District Court of Louisiana in the fight to challenge Louisiana’s congressional map. The evidentiary hearing for a preliminary injunction came to an end Friday. Civil rights groups argued the map is in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and that it “severely dilutes Black voting power.”...

by Charles Lussier for The Advocate A challenge to Louisiana’s newly drawn congressional maps opened Monday in federal court, with a coalition of civil rights groups hoping judges will eventually do what legislators wouldn’t: create a second majority-Black district. ...

by Ariel Salk for BRPROUD BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The next step to challenge Louisiana’s congressional map happened Monday at the Middle District Court of Lousiana.  Civil rights groups are turning to the federal court, in what will be a week-long hearing, to block the congressional maps....

by Paula Jones for BRProud BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – A group of local organizations are planning a Thursday evening rally at the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board (EBR Schools) Office just prior to the Board’s 5 p.m. Public Hearing and Adoption/Ratification meeting. ...

In a seismic shift that will dramatically alter Louisiana’s largest public school system, the Jefferson Parish School Board plans to add two seats to the nine-member body, its first expansion since 1982, in an effort to increase minority representation....

Board is two thirds White, school system one third White by Faimon A. Robers, III for Nola.com The Jefferson School Board has had nine members for more than a generation, but a number of impassioned speakers urged the board Thursday night to redraw its election districts – and perhaps add more – to reflect the parish’s mixed demographics. ...

By Rebecca Santana | AP EDGARD, La. — Descendants of slaves who lived and toiled in southeastern Louisiana won a key ruling Thursday allowing their legal challenge to go forward against a $400 million grain elevator planned along the Mississippi River, although the company behind the project said it would likely appeal....

Setting up a likely lawsuit, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board on Thursday voted along racial lines to give preliminary approval to a new election map likely to maintain the status quo of five White and four Black board members, even though the city’s White population has declined and its Black population has grown over the past decade. ...

Only a couple of hours after the Louisiana Legislature voted to override Gov. John Bel Edwards’ veto of a congressional map that didn’t expand minority representation, a lawsuit has been filed that claims the map violates federal law....

On this day, 57 years ago, March 7, 1965, activists endured attacks and abuse crossing the Edmund Pettus bridge to demonstrate for equal voting rights. Their sacrifice and valiant efforts led to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote for all Americans, regardless of their color of their skin....

Dear Governor Edwards, On behalf of the below signatories, we write to thank you for doing what is right and fair by vetoing the racially discriminatory and illegal Congressional map passed by the state legislature. By failing to pass maps that increase representation for Black Louisianians and other communities of color, the Legislature ignored the law, the Census numbers, and the will of thousands of community members who made their voices heard during the redistricting process. Your veto was necessary to ensure the Congressional districts in place for the next decade reflect Louisiana’s vibrant and diverse communities and uphold the principles of a fair, inclusive, and representative democracy. The math is clear. According to the most recent Census, over the past 10 years, Louisiana’s Black population increased while the white population decreased. Though Louisiana’s voting population is 1/3 Black, the Congressional map passed by the Legislature only provided an opportunity...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Chris Kinney, a resident of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana, has seen his electricity disconnected eight times in the past two years for falling behind on his energy bills to Cleco Power. His family did everything they could think of to catch up: pawning possessions, accumulating vast bank overdraft fees, borrowing money and applying for energy assistance. Somehow, Kinney’s outstanding balance kept growing....

Sade Dumas, executive director of the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition(OPPRC) in Louisiana, has worked tirelessly to decrease the population of the Orleans Parish Prison and improve conditions there for those held behind bars. A Vera partner, she advocates for evidence-based methods to reduce incarceration and promotes alternatives to arrest. Under her leadership, OPPRC has helped stop a planned expansion of Orleans Parish Prison and is fighting to establish a non-police crisis unit that is trained to respond to mental health emergencies. Dumas also helped recruit and support the candidacy of Orleans Parish Sherriff Susan Hutson, who last year became the first progressive and first Black woman ever elected sheriff in Louisiana....