Give Aid to the Gulf
Thursday, May 13th, 2010This Sunday, May 16th, 2010, New Orleans radio station WWOZ, local buisness and political leaders, community outreach and social leaders as well as musicians Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, John Legend and more, will descend upon the Mississippi River near the French Quarter of New Orleans and perform a benefit concert called Gulf Aid. Proceeds will be going towards cleanup efforts and families affected by the recent oil rig spill.
A few weeks ago, on April 20th, 2010, an oil rig operated by global conglomerate Transocean, but owned by British Petroleum (BP), had a malfunction that led to a large explosion. The malfunction may be due to faulty well-casing manufactured by Halliburton, and the three companies blame each other to prevent financial liability. Eleven people died at the scene and as the rig was badly damaged, thousands upon thousands of gallons of oil began to spew in to the Gulf of Mexico, killing and threatening wildlife, ridding much-needed tourism to the area, putting tens of thousands of fish and seafood workers out of jobs, and harming our precious ocean.
That area is in dire need of help, and although BP and our coast guard as well as other U.S. Government agencies have taken to task working through the night to cap the oily fissure in our Earth, the flowing well 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana continues to bleed black gold.
New Orleans itself is a historic and vibrant city that was recently (2005) ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, and as part of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, its beaches and fishing industry will be greatly affected by the recent BP Oil Rig catastrophe. If you can’t make it to the concert, you can make a donation at the quick website they’ve set up today here, or you may write a tax-deductible donation to: Gulf Relief Foundation, a 501 C3 non-profit corporation, located at P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009.
The video below was taken this week (May, 2010) by a local to the Gulf Coast pilot and the Institute for Southern Studies.