New Orleans BDS organizers share tactics of successful campaign against Chevron

New Orleans, LA – A crowd of around 40 attended the NOLA Freedom Forum on May 15 to hear from local anti-war activists about their successful campaign to remove Chevron as a sponsor of French Quarter Fest. The activists, largely members of New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP), presented “Stop Fueling Genocide: Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest Campaign” as a public summation of their efforts.

The struggle, called the “Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest Coalition”, brought together anti-war activists, pro-Palestine organizers, local musicians, and a robust collection of organizations such as Jewish Voices for Peace, New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America, Sunrise Movement New Orleans, and NOLA Musicians for Palestine.

NOSHIP members spoke about the primary platforms – ecocide and genocide – which formed the basis of their public campaign against Chevron.

Organizer Matt Banks spoke about the damage that Chevron has caused to the region’s coast, which led to a Plaquemines Parish jury finding the corporation liable for the loss of 50% of the parish’s land. On April 17 of this year, Chevron won a lawsuit against Plaquemines Parish at the Supreme Court, requiring the case to be removed to federal court. “But this is standard practice for Chevron,” Banks said. From Ecuador to occupied Palestine, where Chevron owns the two largest oil fields, Chevron has gotten rich off of the suffering of other nations.

The organizers explained why and how they chose French Quarter Fest as their target and how they built a strategic coalition. For 13 years, Chevron and French Quarter Fest were considered synonymous, another organizer said, pointing to their website that still features a second line parade with a “Chevron” sign on the front. Chevron Out of French Quarter Fest proved that to be untrue. They noted that, in fact, French Quarter Fest existed for 29 years without Chevron as a primary sponsor.

NOSHIP helped organize teach-ins, public campaigns, petitions and protests that built awareness, another organizer said. They conducted power mapping and identified their primary targets, and they wrote a letter to the French Quarter Fest Board asking them to drop Chevron as early as October of 2025. As a result, they could identify their allies and opponents and develop their strategy. The Coalition got hundreds of signatures on their petition the day they launched their campaign in October.

Melina Diner, another organizer with NOSHIP, discussed the timeline of the coalition’s success and their planned action with the musicians. On February 20, they learned that Chevron would be completely pulling out of its sponsorship of French Quarter Fest in 2027, but they would still sponsor the event this year. This allowed the organizers time to plan an “Oil Free Afterparty” to celebrate.

At French Quarter Fest, instead of staging a disruption, attendees handed out small Palestine flags, donned keffiyehs, and wore “Chevron Out” shirts. The public and the musicians supported them. Four bands in total made statements in support of Palestine, Diner noted. The New Orleans Police Department was ruthless, however, threatening to escalate against them for wearing matching shirts and giving out flags. “But, you’re wearing matching shirts and wearing flags too!” Diner said, evoking laughter from the audience.

The public summation closed with a message of hope, noting that Chevron Out got their lessons from successful BDS campaigns in Austin and Denver. “We hope that our campaign can help the next one win, too,” Banks said.

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