In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted essential parts of the Voting Rights Act, allowing GOP legislatures to enact some of the most racially discriminatory district maps in state history.
Last year, a federal judge in Georgia ruled that GOP-drawn maps were discriminatory and unlawful because they diluted Black voting power and ignored the state’s growing Black population.
In North Carolina, voting rights advocates filed suit charging GOP legislators with racially gerrymandering the state House and Senate maps by deliberately diluting the voting power of majority-Black areas.
And in Louisiana, a federal court determined that GOP-created maps violated the Voting Rights Act by weakening the power of Black voters. The state was ordered to finalize a new map
early this year.
Recently in Alabama, the Republican legislature refused to comply with a federal judge’s order to create fair voting maps that better represented Black voters. It had to be enforced by court order.
The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO), in consultation with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) has issued a precautionary boil water advisory (BWA) for the Lower 9th Ward, Holy Cross and Bywater neighborhoods which includes:
The entire Lower Ninth Ward
The area bounded by Montegut Street, The Intercoastal Waterway, Florida Ave and Mississippi River
How federal tax dollars meant to fight #ClimateChange could end up boosting #Louisiana’s fossil fuel production
"On the surface, these projects seem beneficial. Keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere prevents the greenhouse gas from fueling climate change. In practice, however, this may lead to a net increase in #FossilFuel production and more emissions.
Louisiana has taken advantage of disasters to boost the fossil fuel industry before."
"Critics argue that using carbon capture as a transition technology will divert billions of dollars in federal resources away from more proven renewable energy development and require building thousands of miles of specialized pipelines. "
Reading for Justice: An Evening with Mac Marquis and Victoria Law
Join One Book One New Orleans and Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners for a conversation about #SocialJustice, #literacy, #activism, and more. Mac Marquis, author of Books Through Bars: Stories from the Prison Books Movement and Victoria Law, author "Prisons Make Us Safer" and Twenty Other Myths About Mass Incarceration, will discuss their books and their justice-focused work. Guests will also hear from Louisiana Books 2 Prisoners and One Book One New Orleans about their efforts at the local level.
This event will take place on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 6:00 PM at the Community Book Center (2523 Bayou Road). The event is FREE, family-friendly, and open to the public. Complimentary refreshments will be served.
Erin Reed reports on how Southern states (i.e., solidly Republican-voting ones) are pushing hard to quash all legal recognition of trans people. They want to invisibilize and cancel trans people. She writes,
"Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama all are advancing bills that 'define sex' to exclude transgender people from any legal recognition of their gender."
The case involves a lawsuit initiated by… #Missouri & #Louisiana & individual #SocialMedia users. They accuse the #Biden admin of violating the #FirstAmendment by operating a sprawling federal “censorship enterprise” to #influence platforms…. Justices #Kagan & #Kavanaugh, who previously worked in Democratic & Republican admins, respectively, suggested that such exchanges were routine occurrences & did not amount to #censorship or #coercion in violation of the constitutional right to #FreeSpeech.
#Gardening season! In my raised beds I’ve added parsley and basil plants to the almost-mature garlic on the other side. Corn, snap beans, and zucchini for the warm days ahead. And lots and lots of greens to harvest quickly before they bolt!
Confession: This is my first bowl of grits. Amazing and creamy and you don't want the bowl to end. If you are ever at the Montrose Brown Line, go to Spoken Cafe right under the CTA and order the Acadian Grits. And the coffee is half priced if you get a mug!
"An Insurify report published April 1 found #Michigan is projected to have the third-highest homeowners #insurance rate spike in the nation on a percentage basis in 2024, with a projected increase of 14% and an average premium of $2,095.
The first- and second-highest percentage increases are expected in #Louisiana (23% to $7,809) and #Maine (19% to $1,571)."