Wayan Barre
In 2020, Jo and Joy Banner co-founded The Descendants Project, a nonprofit focused on protecting Black descendant communities’ land and cultural heritage from industrial threats in Cancer Alley. Grounded in their Creole culture, they are committed to advocating for a healthier, more equitable future for residents of the area.
In Wayan Barre’s photo essay, “Women on the Frontline,” he enters the historic, and economically vulnerable, communities of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley. Barre’s story celebrates the efforts of five women who have stepped up to defend their communities from the harm of the area’s enormous chemical and industrial presence through grassroots activism and education initiatives. Jo and Joy Banner, founders of The Descendants Project, were at the forefront of efforts to halt the controversial Greenfield Grain Elevator Project last year and are now working to open a museum at a former plantation site that will serve as a place of healing and reflection on the area’s history of enslavement, as well as the continuing resilience of Black communities in Cancer Alley.
In this first-ever “Good Deeds” issue, we celebrate the individuals and organizations who have stepped up to make a difference in their communities—whether that be by hosting trail rides to fundraise for breast cancer awareness, facilitating a public art program, or marching for environmental justice.
