The meeting this evening that is generating all the buzz is about plans to extend or block the extension of the Inner Loop in southeast Shreveport, an area of continued residential, commercial and industrial vitality.
Across town from that 6:30 p.m. meeting at LSU-Shreveport will be another gathering about the same time but focused on an array of issues that has more import for those living in the city’s older core that Inner Loop-enabled sprawl left behind. Foremost in the Allendale meeting will be a time of worship led by members of a faith-based, interracial coalition out to promote the community’s commonalities and, where conflicts occur, the importance of a more civil discourse.
But Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith also seeks to build energy to combat more worldly challenges of living-wage jobs, quality public education and decent, affordable housing. Frame them as battlefronts for social justice or bread and butter essentials to building a healthy community. But after eight years of efforts, it’s encouraging that Interfaith continues to work on behalf of those who too often lack a voice in board rooms and government chambers.
