Edna Stewart
March 15, 2011
Is Our Seafood Safe?
March 17, 2011
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is protesting – beginning at 9:30 a.m. today – in front of BP on La. Highway 311 for non-payment of emergency funds in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
For the next 48 hours, Dr. Art Rocker, special assistant to the chair and vice-chair of the SCLC, which was founded in 1956 by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Bring your sleeping bags because we’re going to spend the night,” Rocker said. “We’re going to set up tents.
“Bring your candles, because we are going to have a midnight prayer vigil. We’re going to sing songs, worship and fellowship together,” he said.
Rocker is joining forces with Terrebonne’s Chapter of the SCLC in an effort to gain national media attention regarding the slow pace at which BP claims have been paid.
“We’re just tired of what’s going on here in Terrebonne Parish and all over our area, especially the losses that all of our residents have faced, and are facing,” said the Rev. Vincent Fuselier, pastor of St. Matthew’s Baptist Church in Houma and head of the local SCLC chapter.
Rocker said the event is open to all races “whose lives have been devastated by this tragedy.”
“We’re urging all persons who have not filed a claim to meet us in front of BP and we’ll make sure [claims] are filed through the proper channels,” he said.
The SCLC assistant guesstimates that more than 15,000 claims – many filed by minority-owned businesses and lower economic residents – remain unpaid.
“The Gulf Coast Claims Facility does not address the needs of those most affected by the spill,” he said. “The claims process requires extensive documentation of one’s income, and most poor people simply cannot provide this information, because they keep few, if any, financial records. However, this does not mean that poor people do not deserve help.”
Former SCLC national president Dr. Bryon Clay is also expected to join today’s protest.
“We are here, we ain’t going nowhere, and no intimidation or harassment will move us to go anywhere. We are committed,” Clay said.
Rocker also had harsh words for oil spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg, whose law firm he said is reportedly paid $850,000 monthly to administer the BP payments.
“During public meetings, Feinberg has consistently lied to hundreds of minority ministers across the Gulf regarding the timeline of the payments of these claims,” he said. “That is why we are setting up a tent city outside BP headquarters, to draw attention to the fact that although BP has said it would make things right and it has done a poor job of paying claims. We will not let up.”
Fuselier said he is also aggravated with Feinberg.
“Those that are on the bayous, those who shrimp and crab and harvest oysters … these folks need to be paid. And Feinberg is constantly changing the game plan,” the local minister said. “I stand on record with the National SCLC office. Feinberg is a compulsive liar; every time you meet with him, he is changing the story.”
Terrebonne NAACP Chapter President Jerome Boykin said the event is long overdue for the people of this area. “When BP can do the things to the people of this community and feel that they can get by with it and no one can say anything about it … as I said, this is long overdue to help the voiceless.”
Rocker also argued that the moratorium should be lifted for all oil companies with the exception of BP.
“Drilling is paramount for the Gulf of Mexico and America. It is responsible for over 160,000 jobs in the Gulf Coast and indirectly affects 1.6 million job losses,” he said. “A moratorium of drilling by BP should be imposed for at least a 20-year probationary period. It should be imposed for the damage British Petroleum has caused to this area, its environment and its economy.”
Terrebonne Southern Christian Leadership Conference president the Rev. Vincent Fuselier, SCLC special assistant Dr. Art Rocker, former SCLC president Dr. Bryon Clay and Terrebonne National Association for the Advancement of Colored People president Jerome Boykin discuss plans for a protest in front of BP on La. Highway 311. HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.
