Just Economies

The Gulf Coast has historically been one of the most economically poor, yet culturally and naturally rich places in the United States. It is time that our federal policies and practices reflect the integral role of this region, again in solidarity with the movements for black lives, migrant workers, queer and trans folks. Continued investment in industries such as the fossil fuel industry keeps our region behind in the long run by continuing to develop resources that do not have a long term, sustainable future. We can invest in repairing existing infrastructure as well as building our Gulf Coast around a robust renewable energy economy while we move towards a just transition for us all.

For a just and fair economy, we want to see:

• • A right to restored land, clean air, clean water and housing and an end to the exploitative privatization of natural resources — including land and water. We seek democratic control over how resources are preserved, used and distributed and do so while honoring and respecting the rights of our Indigenous family.
  • A reallocation of funds at the federal, state and local level from policing and incarceration (JAG, COPS, VOCA) to long-term safety strategies such as education, local restorative justice services, and employment programs.
  • The retroactive decriminalization, immediate release and record expungement of all drug related offenses and prostitution, and reparations for the devastating impact of the “war on drugs” and criminalization of prostitution, including a reinvestment of the resulting savings and revenue into restorative services, mental health services, job programs and other programs supporting those impacted by the sex and drug trade.
  • Real, meaningful, and equitable universal health care that guarantees: proximity to nearby comprehensive health centers, culturally competent services for all people, specific services for queer, gender nonconforming, and trans people, full bodily autonomy, full reproductive services, mental health services, paid parental leave, and comprehensive quality child and elder care.
  • A constitutional right at the state and federal level to a fully-funded education which includes a clear articulation of the right to: a free education for all, special protections for queer and trans students, wrap around services, social workers, free health services (including reproductive body autonomy), a curriculum that acknowledges and addresses students’ material and cultural needs, physical activity and recreation, high quality food, free daycare, and freedom from unwarranted search, seizure or arrest.
  • A divestment from industrial multinational use of fossil fuels and investment in community- based sustainable energy solutions.
  • A cut in military expenditures and a reallocation of those funds to invest in domestic infrastructure and community well-being.
  • Protections for workers in industries that are not appropriately regulated including oil and gas workers, domestic workers, farm workers, and tipped workers, and for workers — many of whom are Black women and incarcerated people— who have been exploited and remain unprotected. This includes the immediate passage at the Federal and state level of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and extension of worker protections to incarcerated people.