New Orleans, LA – On January 16, a group of students and other activists gathered in freezing temperatures outside the federal building to rally against the recent U.S./UK intervention in Yemen.

Islam Elrabieey, an Egyptian speaker representing NOLA Freedom Forums, painted a picture of Gaza, describing “men sleeping on concrete, women and children with the luxury of a tent to protect against wind.”

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, January 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) hosted an MLK Fight Back March starting at A.L. Davis Park at noon. About 100 members of the community came out in attendance, even marching in the rain as showers briefly passed over the demonstration.

They chanted “New Orleans, we’re on a roll, we’re fighting for community control!” as they took the streets down Claiborne Avenue and MLK Boulevard.

New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at around 1 p.m., Teamsters union baristas at French Truck Coffee on Chartres Street walked off the job to demand safety at work.

New Orleans, LA – On January 12 at 11 a.m., about a dozen protesters laid on the sidewalk in front of the Hyatt Regency during an annual luncheon for Greater New Orleans Incorporated (GNO Inc).

They rolled out banners reading “End collaboration with Israel” and “Genocidal New Orleans Inc: No innovation with occupation.”

New Orleans, LA – On January 11, with 90% support, workers at Starbucks on St. Claude filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. The store is located near the French Quarter and serves some tourists and locals.

“How I see it, unionizing my store will allow not only myself, but also my fellow partners to join together and create the ideal workspace for all of us. We've all decided the best way for us to see promising results is to take action into our hands and handle the situation ourselves,” said Julian Missy, an organizer and worker at the store for over a year.

New Orleans, LA – On January 7, over 60 motor vehicles in solidarity with Palestine occupied the streets of New Orleans on a traffic-filled football Sunday. The motorcade took place at the start of a busy parade and festival season in New Orleans, as the city geared itself to begin its 2024 Mardi Gras festivities.

Drivers decorated cars with signs, wrote messages on windows, and taped banners on bumpers. Among the protesters’ slogans were “Victory to the Palestinian resistance” and “End U.S. aid to Israel!”

New Orleans, LA – On December 10, several thousand protesters took to the streets in downtown New Orleans in support of Palestine. The march shut down several busy intersections around the city's central business district.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the Tulane 5 Defense Campaign.

The Tulane 5 are five courageous students and community members residing in New Orleans who face unfounded criminal charges. Zionists and Tulane University are pursuing them for protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation. The Tulane 5's only crime is opposing Israel’s genocide of Gaza.

New Orleans, LA – At noon on November 16, over 100 protesters gathered at Lafayette Square to protest the Port of New Orleans’ support of Israel. The activists demanded an end to all aid to Israel, including a technological trade agreement called the “innovation embassy.”

New Orleans, LA – On November 9, over 100 students from Tulane and Loyola Universities held a march for the national “Shut it Down for Palestine” day of action.

At 1 p.m., students walked off their campuses and gathered for a march. Before marching, the crowd practiced chants and took up signs from the organizers while listening to the first speech of the day. “They have the nerve to accuse us of hate speech, when Israel says Palestinians are human animals?” said Serena Sojic-Borne, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization in response to the baseless accusations made by enemies of the Palestinian liberation struggle.

New Orleans, LA – On November 3, about 150 protesters gathered outside the Sheraton on Canal Street to protest the annual State of the Port address. This address, given to port stakeholders who paid a $240 registration fee, took place in the hotel around 11 a.m. Protesters condemned the port’s collaboration with Israel, which includes a so-called “innovation embassy” enabling relationships between tech startups in New Orleans and Ashdod, which is located in Israeli-occupied Palestine.

New Orleans, LA – On October 29, over 300 protesters filled the streets to condemn the recent escalation in the siege on Gaza. The evening began with a rally at City Hall where members of some organizations spoke to the lively crowd. During the march, Palestinian community members led chants like “While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping” and “Biden, Biden, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today?” echoed off storefronts.

New Orleans, LA – On October 26, over 250 students and community members gathered for a rally near Tulane University’s campus. Despite a counter-protest of obviously intoxicated students shouting Islamophobic and racist slurs, demonstrators outnumbered them and drowned them out. Chants like “Tulane, Tulane you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!” energized the crowd. 

New Orleans, LA – On Monday evening, October 23, close to 100 people gathered in a lecture hall at Loyola University of New Orleans to listen to Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5. The Tampa 5 are three student organizers, a community leader, and a union member facing up to ten years’ imprisonment on felony charges. The charges came after their brutalization and the arrests of four of them, while they participated in a protest against DeSantis’ attacks on education at the University of South Florida. The state later charged a fifth. Members of the Tampa 5 are touring the U.S. to raise support for their case.

New Orleans, LA- On October 15, around 250 protesters in New Orleans gathered at the Hale-Boggs Federal Building, waving Palestinian flags and signs in solidarity. With heavy downtown foot traffic surrounding them, they yelled chants like “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!”

Harvey, LA – On October 14, over 100 protesters gathered at a busy intersection at the heart of Harvey’s Arab community to declare unconditional support for the Palestinian people’s resistance movement. People of all ages gathered at the intersection of Lapalco and Manhattan Boulevards waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs reading, “Occupation is a crime!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

New Orleans, LA – The New Orleans Palestinian community and supporters rallied on October 9 in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian struggle for liberation. Around 200 people came to Duncan Plaza in the city’s central business district, waving dozens of Palestinian flags. The event was held in the wake of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” and the renewed declaration of war on Gaza by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Jefferson, LA – On November 4, Jefferson Parish resident Arleen Robertson, mother of police murder victim Daviri Robertson, will speak out at a community forum at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. Robertson is fighting to appeal the qualified immunity of the police officer who murdered her son. Fight Back! spoke with Ms. Robertson to share her story.

New Orleans, LA – On September 20, workers at French Truck Coffee in the French Quarter voted 8-0 to unionize. The French Quarter is the city’s tourism hub and generates billions each year. But hospitality workers often work for low wages and no benefits at non-union small or mid-sized businesses. This is the first workplace of this kind to unionize. It is also the first union at French Truck, an expanding regional coffee chain.

New Orleans, LA – On September 14, volunteers petitioned outside of five non-union Starbucks to rally customers against the company’s union busting.