Sisters Jo and Dr. Joy Banner live just miles from where their ancestors were enslaved more than 200 years ago in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana.
Their tidy Creole cottage cafe in the small riverfront town of Wallace lies yards from property their great-grandparents bought more than a century ago. It’s a historic area the sisters have dedicated themselves to keeping free of the heavy industry that lines the opposite shore of the Mississippi River. “We have all these little pockets of free towns surrounding these plantation cane fields.
It’s such a great story of tenacity and how we were able to be financially independent and economically savvy,” Joy Banner said. Today, miles of sugarcane borders homes on Wallace's west side. Eastward, two plantations tell the story of enslaved people: One has more than a dozen slave quarters, the other a memorial commemorating a slave revolt.
Directly across the Mississippi, refineries and other heavy industry crowd the view, showing Wallace residents exactly what the Banners are fighting against taking over their side of the river. Together, they created a nonprofit called The Descendants Project to preserve Black Louisianans' culture. The immediate goal is to stop a 222-acre (90-hectare) proposed grain export facility from being built within 300 feet (91 meters) of the Banners’ property and near several historic sites.
“It would essentially pave the way for the whole entire West Bank area that doesn’t have any heavy in.