By New Orleans Peoples Assembly
On Sunday, March 8th 2020, the New Orleans Peoples Assembly will host the 2nd Annual International Working Women’s Day demonstration, rallying at Congo Square at 1:00pm, followed by a march to the steps of City Hall. The purpose of the demonstration is to build local and international solidarity of working class women in our movement to end what causes us harm, while building toward the new society that we so urgently need and want.
This year’s theme is anchored in a demand for higher wages. The minimum wage in New Orleans, and the entire state of Louisiana, remains unchanged since 2008 at $7.25, with no current signs of an upcoming increase. This is despite the constant surge in the cost of living: housing, healthcare, childcare, food, water, etc.!!!
New Orleans blames Baton Rouge, and says that it cannot raise all wages without the state’s cooperation, despite having a democrat for Governor. The state of Louisiana, primarily run by white conservative republican men, caters to the greed of this rich ruling class of Louisiana, and refuses to acknowledge the needs of the people. Furthermore, the city administration (currently led by Democrats) is NOT actively fighting for the ability to raise wages. Ever wonder why?
All of this is a problem. However, WE ARE the SOLUTION! Our revolutionary sister, Assata Shakur said, “People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.” Now, in 2020 nobody wants to think of ourselves as enslaved. Yet, if the material conditions demonstrate that forces are placed upon our people that are oppressive, we need to work actively to change those conditions.
Though, we are no longer facing literal chattel enslavement, we face enslavement by new names and in new ways, from mass incarceration to the reformed exploitation of labor called “wage enslavement”.
Just as our ancestors who resisted chattel enslavement fought back, and won to move the needle forward, we must continue to the struggle toward complete liberation.
When WE FIGHT, we win!
Join us in the streets on Sunday, March 8th at 1:00pm.
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu
Publisher — Black Source Media
Jeff Thomas
Publisher • Opinion Columnist • Licensed General Contractor • Real Estate Appraiser • New Orleans
Jeff Thomas is the publisher of Black Source Media and one of New Orleans’ most direct voices on civic affairs, economic justice, and Louisiana politics. He writes from the intersection of experience and accountability — as a licensed general contractor,a tech company founder and executive with over 30 years experience, and a businessman who has worked across the city’s civic, media, and construction ecosystems for decades.
His Sunday column covers Louisiana legislative politics, insurance discrimination, housing policy, and the forces shaping Black community life in New Orleans and across the state. Thomas writes in the tradition of Black journalists who hold power accountable without apology — building arguments from data, delivering verdicts from evidence, and speaking to Black New Orleans with the directness the moment demands.
He is also the principal of EA Inspection Services, LLC, a government inspection services company. Black Source Media is his platform for the civic conversation New Orleans has needed and too rarely had.
Selected Articles by Jeff Thomas
Black Neighborhoods Pay the Highest Insurance Rates in Louisiana. Here’s What They Don’t Want You to Know.
They Didn’t Yell the N-Word. They Went to Law School, Bided Their Time, and Rewrote the Constitution Instead.
Vappie vs. Morrell: Why Does Justice Look Different in New Orleans?
The State Has the Money. New Orleans East Just Needs Them to Use It.
The Failure of Mitch Landrieu