In a recent documentary on Ms. Sharon Lavigne, Let No One Lose Heart, she reads her Bible, Ephesians 6, aloud over her kitchen table, rocking slightly in prayer, oak cabinets recently replaced after Hurricane Ida bright in the background. “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will boldly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I might have the courage to speak as I must.” Ms. Lavigne, environmental activist at 74 and grandmother of twelve, thoughtfully removes her reading glasses before the scene cuts to her testifying before Congress. The gospel music in the background intones, “Satan, we’re going to tear your kingdom down.” In her parish in Louisiana, the cancer rate is nearly fifty times the national average. Many of the chemicals being produced and emitted are known to cause cancer, birth defects, miscarriages, endocrine disruption, autoimmune disease, and many other maladies.

Ms. Lavigne says she doesn’t think they should have to be a sacrifice zone – nor do I.

When I meet with her, she is every bit the same person I first met online. Late one Friday night in January, it feels like Ms. Sharon Lavigne and I are sitting down at a table together—she at her kitchen table, I at my dining room table—but on zoom. My home is west of Chicago, IL; hers is in Louisiana, not far from the Mississippi River, in an area otherwise known as “Cancer Alley.” This once beautiful, pristine wilderness is now crowded with petrochemical companies that sought access to the transportation of the Mississippi and were granted special tax provisions from the 1930’s on. But of course, as Ms. Lavigne explains, the history really goes back to the plantations that preceded the plants, some of them built on land formerly worked by enslaved people, many of them still buried in that same wounded ground. I’ve been thinking about Cancer Alley and its inhabitants with compassion and commiseration ever since Spring 1997, when I first read an article in Audubon by Jon Bowermaster, “A Town Called Morrisonville.”

Ms. Lavigne, for 38 years a Special Education teacher, now one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, founded Rise St. James, the organization named after her parish, to fight the many chemical companies that keep trying to add to the already overwhelming burden of pollution and ugliness faced by people in her part of Louisiana.

In another of the several videos made of Ms. Lavigne, this one for the Goldman Prize she was awarded, she says, “The more they said there was no hope, the more something in me riled up….” This is a phrase I cannot let go of…it echoes my own sense of the injustice, the barbarity of piling more and more suffering on the same already disadvantaged people, on defenseless people like our own children, just so industry CEOs can make ever more vile piles of money, money earned by killing innocent people.

Ms. Lavigne says that God told her to fight – reminiscent of Jeanne d’Arc, who still needed to go into battle to accomplish her miracle. Many people have come to see protecting others as a battle, even if they are very peaceable and non-violent themselves. People who have already lost so much, have that much less to lose – and have only just begun to fight the petrochemical industry.

The intense work on this book has been immensely rewarding – and such a privilege – such a privilege to meet amazing people in academia and in the trenches, in the labs and in the streets. I like to think that this book can be an important link among them all.

If you are able, consider attending their event August 27, 2025.

Figure 1: Rise for Our Lives

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

SL: Hey, Jean!

JMK: Good to see you!

SL: Good to see you in person – well as in front of Zoom.

JMK: Yes – it’s a lot more personal than a phone call, I find.

Figure 2: Ms. Sharon Lavigne

I am happy to talk to you. And so, you have a coloring book project – that sounds interesting.

SL: Yes, let me go get the coloring book and show it to you.

JMK: I’d love to see it – what a great way to educate kids!

SL: We have the word search on the back. It’s from pre-K to third grade, and I’m the grandmother that’s talking to the children. That’s me.

JMK: Oh – that’s amazing!

SL: And so they helped me to create the third coloring book we had. We plan on doing three.

Here’s one we’re running out of – we did one with the soil, the water, and the air. So this one is about the air.

JMK: I love that!

SL: We need to put it online because people could teach that to the children in class. And the little kids love to color, you know, and plus, it’s telling you a message.

JMK: I wonder if I brought this to the EPA if they would be interested in putting this online.

SL: Oh, yes – I’m pretty sure. Let me see – I’d have to ask my daughter Shamyra if she can send you the link to Risestjames.org And The Story of Stuff wrote about St. James, and they say you can watch it on YouTube: Story of Stuff.

JMK: Wow! That's great. Did you say Story of Stuff? Because they're awesome, too!

SL: The Story of Stuff did a video on me.

JMK: That’s amazing!

SL: It was my voice, and what experience I’ve been through when I was little, and how I used to go fish, crawfish, and all that kind of stuff. It’s on YouTube. You will see a picture of me as a little girl. We’ll give this to them for the Black History program.

JMK: That’s lovely – and it’s just about time for Black History Month.

SL: Yes – next month. So that’s what we did today with the two students from Pennington College.

They helped me to get the coloring book out, and we got to bring it to print. We had to write all the words for the ten pages all together. So the girl sit up there and type it as we talked about what’s going to go on the first page, and what pictures to use. You have three children and a grandma talking. And we had a picture of the river. The river is brown – our water is brown.

And then I had them to come outside with me to bring in some of the cups that I had from the Goldman Environmental Award.

And then, we have some yard signs because D.G. Fuels wants to still come to our community. So I brought them and showed them where D.G. Fuels wants to come, and I took the yard signs. They drove, and I got out of the car and stuck them in the ground. So when D.G. Fuels come this weekend they are going to see – oh, they put their signs out again. Yes, we did!

JMK: My goodness….

SL: But we fight those people. So, my day was full today! And I enjoyed working with the two students.

And then we have our essay contest. They are going to be two out of the three judges, and we sent the flyers out to the schools so the children could start writing their essays.

JMK: I love that – because what a great way to educate the students.

SL: That's what I said, too, you know. So that's what I thought about all these years. I think of things to do, you know. Yeah, because I get it from God. And I give it to the people. And we start getting ideas together.

JMK: I remember when we spoke earlier, you said that you feel like God is telling you to do this, which reminds me of Joan of Arc – because she still had to get out there and fight. God might have told her to do it, but she still had to go out there and put some skin in the game.

SL: Right. God will tell you what to do. But you got to do what God do. You just want to let God do the work? You got to do the work.

JMK: Yes – that’s true.

SL: I don’t know. It was just a wonderful day today.

JMK: Oh, I'm so glad to hear that.

It's just interesting – how you've had one success after another, and it seems like they're building on each other.

SL: You think so? Maybe so.

JMK: Because you had those successes defeating those chemical companies. And then you got the Goldman prize. And now you're educating children about it, and you're being a mentor to those college students, but also those younger kids.

SL: And the college students told my daughter they like me. I said, “oh, that's so nice!” I was so glad to hear that. They're gonna come one day every week until the 14th. So they're looking forward to that.

And I asked if they want to work on the sugar cane. I say, if you see the sugar cane that they bring to the mill, and the way they grind it up is brown. Then it's another state, or wherever they send it, to turn it white. But I say, you want to see the process, you wouldn't want to eat that sugar.

JMK: Yes. I know that the history of sugar is fraught. It is not a good history, and a lot of people are exploited. It’s not happy.

SL: No. And years ago, when I started going to organic foods and stuff, they told me to stay away from the white sugar. So I stay away from it. I do have sweetener for my coffee, but I don’t have white sugar. No.

JMK: I was just talking to someone earlier today, Dr. Maricel Maffini, because I've had a busy day, too. And she said that they're using methylene chloride to decaffeinate the coffee, so you may as well drink it full strength, because they're using terrible chemicals to decaffeinate in many cases.

SL: Oh! Oh!

JMK: I know. Isn't that awful? And they don't always have to tell you what's in there, or what they use to process it.

SL: But they need to make it a law for them to tell us.

JMK: I could not agree more.

SL: Oh, my God! I'm sorry to hear that. But the doctor told me to drink decaffeinated coffee.

JMK: Oh dear. You know what – none of us can be pure. That's something else we have to recognize – we all are doing best, and what we need is systematic changes to protect everybody. As individuals making choices, it’s really tough.

SL: I know! And then, the plastic! We’re trying to get away from all that plastic because the plastic that the water sits in is made from cancer-causing chemicals. Yes, I found that out. How are you gonna get away from all this plastic and chemicals because you’re drinking from that plastic cup? But these cancer-causing chemicals made up that plastic?

JMK: Also, the microplastics and nanoplastics are being released into the water that it has contact with. And now we know that's in everything, including placentas and breast milk.

SL: I know – they said that too. And my other daughter Shamyra. I don’t think she wants to have a child.

But Shamell, do have a daughter. She lost a child, but she do have a daughter – Amerie.

JMK: I’m so sorry she lost a child to miscarriage. That is so hard – my heart goes out to her.

SL: Thank you.

JMK: And I’m going to talk to her on Tuesday – I have an appointment.

SL: She texted me.

JMK: What I hope is, I've been given a chance and given a voice. And what I want is to make everyone's voices heard, and to have everyone have a voice at the table and be able to share their stories so people understand the breadth and depth of the loss that people are experiencing because of these chemical industries. And it's not as though that many people are benefiting. It’s really the chemical industries themselves that benefit from this and make a whole bunch of money. But most of us would be happy to give up single-use plastics and all that.

SL: I know. That’s right. And the grocery bags – you know we can bring our own bags to the store. Shucks!

JMK: Many things – we just have to go back to how our grandparents did it.

SL: Yes – like when you go to Costco’s or Sam’s – they don’t put it in the bag.

At Whole Foods, too. It's 10 cents a bag. But I have cloth bags, got a bunch of them. And I could bring that with me to the store. I could put it in my car. That's not a problem. We don't need all these throwaway plastics. Just get rid of that stuff.

JMK: I could not agree more. And when you're educating people, one of the number one things is, don't microwave in plastics. I don't know if you've heard that one. But when you microwave in a plastic container or expose it to heat, the chemicals in the plastics migrate more easily into the food.

SL: I heard that too. They said, take it out of whatever you have it in, put it on your plate or something, and microwave it on the plate. I mean, it's just so much we need to educate our people on what to do, because they're hungry for knowledge. And when I have my meetings, I tell them, and they're listening. And I said, I'm so glad they're listening.

A friend of mine called me this morning. His name is Albert. In 2020 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

JMK: Wow!

SL: He said, “Lavigne, that’s nothing nice. When I go to the hospital for the chemo or radiation, I’m so weak, I can’t get out of the bed. They put a diaper, a pamper on you, so you don’t mess up the bed.” They should come there and clean you up. So when he get home, his wife have to do that. He said, “It’s hard, Lavigne…. It’s hard, but I’m so glad you’re fighting. You see, I tell people, won't you help that lady? Y'all just sitting up here talking. Won't you help this lady?” I said, “I wish they would come and help me.”

He wanted to, but he didn't come to our meeting Monday because he said he was sick.

JMK: I remember you were sick before the holidays. I hope you’re well now.

SL: I was sick. I was down in the bed – but yes, I was sick.

JMK: Well, I was just worried about you, because you know, you said you've had both neighbors die of cancer and…. You know. When you've had exposures, you are more at risk.

SL: I know. My two brothers have cancer, but they are still here. Thank God! When my sister died of cancer, she wanted to keep it a secret – she didn’t want to share it.

JMK: I’m so sorry.

It’s interesting that you said she wanted to keep it secret. I think one of the videos that you shared, you said people feel shame about having a cancer diagnosis.

SL: They all do – and then I will tell people we could pray for that person.

JMK: And it's so much the reverse of what it should be – the people who should feel ashamed about that is the chemical industry that's causing that. The people who have cancer don’t have anything to feel ashamed of.

SL: That’s right.

And I was putting some signs down today when I went to the Sunshine Bridge across the highway to put the sign in the ground. This man was getting ready to turn on Highway 18 where I'm from, and he was turning right, but I was parked on the left. That man stared at me like that and looked at me. I said, “Dear Lord, I hope this man go! Go.”

I said, “Lord, I have to be careful.” When I go to the restaurant sometimes, they know me by my face, and they stare at me, and it's scary.

JMK: Oh, my goodness!

SL: Like they want to shoot me or something.

JMK: Really? They stare at you in a mean way?

SL: Oh, yes – in a mean way. Yes, the young people have come to me and hug me and tell me I'm doing a good job. These people, I think, work in industry.

JMK: Oh, my goodness!

SL: I went to this other place to eat. This other man come from California – his name is David Steinman. I intended to call him tonight, and he’s there because he’s writing one of our newspapers. But we need to get funding for it so we can have it printed.

David and I went to the restaurant to eat, went to get some beignets. And a man was sitting across from me, facing me, looking at me – he must have recognized me. He and his family got up and went to another table, and I said, “David, when we leave out here, you look at him. I'm gonna keep my head straight.” David said, “he sure was staring at you.” He says, Sharon, you got to be careful. I say, “I am being careful,” and I say, “I like to go to that restaurant, you know, and get my beignets!”

They will stare at me. One man saw me and said, “are you Sharon Lavigne?” I thought, “Oh Lord, this man must be working with industry.” He said, “I know you because you work with Robert Taylor.” I said, “I sure do.” You know, I felt much better. I didn’t put my guards up. I thank God, he was a nice one. He didn’t stare at me. He talked to me, and I felt better after that.

JMK: It takes strength to go up against these industries, because people think their livelihoods are involved. I’m just starting into that world. And I get the feeling that we have to be willing to just endure some of that, and know, we're definitely on the side of right.

SL: That's right.

JMK: I mean, the Civil Rights movement -- people were terrible to leaders in the Civil Rights movement.

SL: I know! Don't I know.

JMK: But that said more about them than it said about the leaders, right?

SL: Yes, yes.

JMK: You know what? You said something. I was watching the Goldman Prize recipient video. It's just a few minutes. But you said something that really struck me, and I wrote it down: “The more they said there was no hope, the more something in me riled up.”

SL: That's right.

JMK: And I love that.

SL: It's in here. It riles up in my inner person, and I said, “Huh! They can’t stop me. All the way, baby, they can’t stop me.”

JMK: I love that. I need that energy. [We both laugh.]

SL: Yes indeed. The more they say we can’t do it, the more that gives me hope that we can.

JMK: I have to be ready for that myself. I haven't gotten a lot of it yet. Well, I hope I get that kind of attention, because that means that people will have heard me. The reason you're getting attention, and you're being recognized in public, both for good and for ill, is because you're making a difference. And that's huge. I mean, really, you've become a star in Cancer Alley.

SL: I feel better when I’m not in Cancer Alley. I get more recognition when I’m not here. The people look like they don’t understand, and they think I’m taking jobs from them – people over here. But I don’t get angry because they don’t know what is going on, and we trying to educate them.

We’re beginning to get funding – we’ve been writing grants. At first, we didn’t get any money, not one penny, because we didn’t understand the support you needed to get grants.

JMK: Of course. It’s not always easy to write a grant.

SL: I know. We had to hire a grant writer. She has been helping us to get grants and other people – like Bloomberg Philanthropies – They’ve been helping us – and the Tides Foundation.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream gave us $25,000.

JMK: Oh, that's so nice!

SL: So sweet of them! But they were so nice to us. So somebody said, “Why don't you ask Ben and Jerry to put your picture on the ice cream?” [We both laugh.]

JMK: Sure! You’re photogenic!

SL: I said, “that's a good idea, but no.” If they'll make the suggestion, I would say yes, but I can't make that suggestion.

I met so many nice people – especially outside of Louisiana and outside of Saint James, they treat me royal. And I appreciate that.

I’m going to Rome in March.

JMK: Going to Rome? My goodness!

SL: The other lady has an organization, and she invited me and one other person. They're paying for me and another person. And then one of our other ladies is coming that's on our board. She says she wanted to come, so Rise is going to pay for her to come. They're paying for the hotel and all. And I think that's so amazing.

They asked me to come to Africa in September to teach a class – to teach the students over there how to become an activist. Nobody didn't teach me. I’m gonna teach them what I did, and that’s it.

JMK: I bet you’ve learned a lot along the way.

SL: I have, I have. So I'm going to teach them what I learned and what I'm doing, and how I got started. And she said, for three days they want me to teach the young people, and the other two days, I guess, be a tour or do something else. So I'm looking forward to that, too.

JMK: Oh, my gosh! I think they will love you.

SL: In November, we’re going to Brazil for COP 29 – so I am applying for that, but they pay my way to go.

And then people would call me and say, “What’s your speaking fee? I said, “Baby, I don’t charge to speak. I say, I'm sorry – I'm not like other people.” I said, “if you want to give me an honorarium, of course I'm going to take it. But I’m not gonna charge you to speak to save your lives. One lady said, “you should charge $3,000.” I said, no, I'm not.

I am doing God’s work, so I’m not charging anyone. God didn’t tell me to charge.

JMK: I like that. [Laughing.]

SL: He didn’t tell me to charge people. He told me to speak and to fight. And that’s what I’m doing.

JMK: I think that is wonderful.

You know, and you're not the only one I've talked to who's like that. Bruce Lanphear is a wonderful researcher who is online. He's brilliant and has excellent videos.

SL: Let me write his name down.

JMK: Absolutely. And you can find him on my website as well. His Little Things Matter is all about children and how chemicals are poisoning them. Sometimes he will speak as an expert witness in court. He’s a high-profile PhD scientist, and he said one thing I loved: “I tell young grad students – stay pure.”

It’s one thing to pay expenses, but he said he doesn’t accept money for it. That is not to say you shouldn’t accept money when they offer it. But there is something about staying pure and not accepting money.

I doubt my book is ever going to make any money, but after expenses, any money I make I will donate to good causes in this area. You just want to be better than those industry people who are making money off other people’s lives.

SL: That’s right. They sure are. And then they don’t care.

JMK: No, they don’t. And I think many of them have convinced themselves that they're doing more good than harm. But they're lying to themselves.

SL: They are. And we always say, “Why are we a sacrifice zone? Why do we have to give up our lives for them to make money? It’s awful. I don’t know. I just pray so hard.

And then I was telling you about my friend Albert when he called me this morning. We talked for about 45 minutes. He just wanted to talk, to tell what’s going on with him. He was a big man. He’s about that big right now [holding up one finger.]

JMK: Oh!

SL: And he’s fighting pancreatic cancer. And he was telling the people, “why don’t y’all help Ms. Lavigne? She’s out there trying to tell us stuff, and we’re not listening to her.”

I told Albert, I said, thanks for telling them, but they are not listening. And they think I’m just saying something. But I leave out of my door and go to the left, drive down the highway – and you can smell the chemicals in the air. You shouldn’t have to live like this.

JMK: No.

SL: We breathe these chemicals daily in the flares. After the hurricane came – I guess they thought we weren’t looking or listening out there and seeing what was going on – they flared even more – it looked like 30 feet tall in the air. And just let these chemicals come out on us, and they won’t even help people rebuild their homes. Some people lost their homes. One guy that is in my organization – his trailer was turned upside down.

JMK: Oh my goodness!

SL: And he had to move to another area because he didn’t have insurance on the trailer. At least ride around the area and see who need help – at least help one person. They could redo their homes or get them another trailer or something. They won’t even do that. They come here and pollute us, and that is it.

One guy went to the plant and asked him for a tarp. They came bringing me three tarps. I said, “Tell them to go help somebody to rebuild their homes. Don’t tell me you’re bringing me a tarp. I gave away those tarps so fast. That’s like a slap in my face. It burns me up. People call and ask me if Rise St. James is going to give water. I said, you know I never thought about it. So some people gave us water, and we passed it out in the community. One company had an 18-wheeler. We had so much water – cases and cases of water and cases of canned goods. They brought that to Rise St. James. I said, “We didn’t order any water.” He said, “You’re Rise St. James? This is for you.” I said, “Sir, we don’t have any place to put the water.” So I said, go to the high school and ask them if they would put it in the cooler, and I guess he did. I don’t even know his name. But people thought about us. I thought that was nice, but I didn’t know who to thank.

JMK: Wow!

SL: I told you, people sent us generators. People sent us tarps, toilet paper, cleaning supplies for after the hurricane. But not one said, let me rebuild someone’s home. They gave out plate lunches. You can eat that plate lunch, then tomorrow, you don’t have anything to eat.

JMK: It's so hard. I mean, you all have all the chemicals from the petrochemical industry, and the climate change ultimately is the petrochemical industry as well, and so…. Of course, Louisiana is a beautiful place. You've always had hurricanes, but you've not always had hurricanes like you have them now.

SL: That’s right.

JMK: You said in your videos that you remember what it was like before the chemical industry came in. I bet you remember when hurricanes were not the same, too.

SL: That’s right. My house was totally destroyed – the roof came off my two-story house. And the water came down from the second story into the first floor. We had to redo all my walls. We got all new cabinets and everything new – flooring and everything in my house, even the TVs. All my bathrooms were messed up. So I tell people I have a new home now because everything is new in here. Everything came from Home Depot because I had to charge it to two charge cards.

JMK: Wow!

SL: My charge card was so high. I owed $27,000. I’ve been bringing it down.

JMK: So I did notice your cabinets look lovely.

SL: Why thank you. A friend of mine passed away, but before he passed away, he had bought me a stove, and the carpenter said, “you want to get a new stove?” I said, “no – that’s my friend’s stove. What am I gonna get a new stove for?” “Do you want a new washer and dryer?” I said no. I don’t have money to buy a new washer and dryer. And now my bill for Home Depot was so high. I said, I don’t want nothing new – no more. I have a new table in here. I still have my same chairs because we saved those things, and in my den, where the water was falling down, we put the love seat and the chair in the middle of the floor, and we put a tarp over it. So we saved that.

I was glad to save some things. My mama’s furniture was upstairs, and it rained on it – my mama’s bedroom set. The drawer won’t close all the way, but I don’t care – that’s my mother’s stuff, and I want to keep it, and so I shine it up, and I’m still using it. I’m not an extravagant person. I thank God we saved some of the things that I had.

JMK: Yes – I bet it makes it feel more like home.

SL: Yes.

JMK: It's just terrible with people losing their homes to hurricanes. And I'm sure you've been watching the fires out in LA. It’s heartbreaking.

SL: Oh! He lost the whole home. When you saw it on TV, the car sitting out there all burnt. The house is gone, the church is gone, I say, oh, my God!

JMK: We need to start thinking about other people and thinking as a whole community, all human people, because if we did that, we would be willing to give some things up so other people didn't lose everything. And you know what? Everybody's vulnerable to climate change. Everybody's vulnerable to environmental chemicals. Some people might be more vulnerable. But everyone is at risk.

SL: That’s right. That’s exactly right. My daughter Shamyra went to New Orleans to bring blankets to the homeless, the people living on the street.

JMK: That's wonderful. Well, and you know, it's interesting with climate change. Even some of the weird weather where it's getting cold in the south. I know Texas never used to get cold in the winter, and now, because the jet stream is slowing down and getting all loopy and disordered, you all are getting more of the cold weather, and you are not equipped for that. And we’re getting hot weather, and we’re not equipped for that.

SL: Oh boy! And it’s supposed to be snowing next week. [It did.] We don’t get snow over here – I like it. We haven’t had snow in years.

JMK: I bet.

SL: And I want the young children to experience the snow.

JMK: Yes, actually – snow is lovely.

SL: When I was a little girl, we made a little snowman. My little grandson has never experienced snow, and he’s twelve. I’m looking forward to snow so he can build a snowman. They said the school is closed Monday and Tuesday, and my doctor’s office called and said they would be closed. He said, stay safe, and if we get sick Thursday, come on into the office.

If it’s going to snow, just give me some groceries and stay warm.

JMK: Did you say you used to get snow when you were little in Louisiana?

SL: It was rare, and then we did get it. We were so happy. I don’t know how many years ago – because I had pictures of us making a snow man when I was a little girl. And my mama let us put on our gloves and coat and everything. We went outside and played in the snow, and we made a snowman.

The children here don’t experience that because we haven't had snow in God knows how long. I hope it snows. And I’ll stay in the house and stay warm.

JMK: Right – you can make the hot cocoa. [We both laugh.]

SL: Yes, indeed – hot cocoa. That's right. We were supposed to have an action in New Orleans Monday for MLK holiday. I said I am not coming. But the two students that were here today told me that they would go in my place to represent Rise. But they might wind up canceling because of the weather. They could have it the next Monday.

JMK: So actually, I wanted to ask you. It's so cool that Reverend Dr. William Barber was just at Benedictine a year or two ago, and that you worked with him. I remember him talking about the poor people's revolution and people rebelling, and I think that's so important how it intersects with the Civil Rights movement. I wonder if you could just talk to me a little bit about the Environmental Justice element of what you have been doing and how you see environmental issues intersecting with Civil Rights issues.

SL: Okay, one question at a time. I'll forget the first point.

JMK: Okay. I know that's a lot. Environmental Justice issues: you know that it is not an accident that some of these big industries are situated in majority minority neighborhoods, right?

SL: That’s true. Yes, and in my community, no one would stand up and speak against industry, and our politicians – they are not helping us. In fact, the last council person that we had over here voted for Formosa plastics to come in, and we voted him out of office.

So we have another council person, but he's not that much better. And they won't listen to us. They fear us. They say that we are the reason that we have all these financial fees – because of Rise St. James. I said, if you would stop doing all these wrong things, you wouldn't have all these fees.

I think that the work that we're doing speaks for itself because we are making progress. And that's why a lot of the industries don't like Rise St. James, because they know we're fighting. And they know that we are not gonna stop, and then that every little issue that comes up against us, we fight it.

Every plant that's tried to come into St. James ever since we started this, they have to go through us – like this company called D.G. Fuels. He said, he's clean, and my daughter asked him to define clean. He couldn't define clean. He said he's not going to pollute like the chemical plants, and they're going to have all kind of safety stuff, he told us.

And so they met with the lawyer, and the lawyer met with me. I know the lawyer – she’s from here. She’s their attorney, which is fine with me, and she asked me to meet with her at the Grapevine to have lunch. And I said, okay.

She said, “I have some good news.” I said, “good news?” “The good news is, DG Fuels is not going to be built here. You see, your prayers are answered.” I said, “it sure is.” And she said, “But Mr. Darcy said, would you sign a paper saying that wherever they go, you all won’t badmouth them.” If they go to another parish or another state, we wouldn’t badmouth them. And I said, “Okay, I'll sign a piece of paper saying, I won't badmouth them, me myself.” So she said okay.

So she kept harassing me, telling me, go to your email and sign the paper and just send it back. The paper was long like that, a legal paper. And I said “this girl crazy, think I'm signing that.” It said that people in Saint James would not badmouth DG Fuels to go elsewhere. I say, “I can’t control other people’s mouths. They wanted me to sign an MOU.

JMK: Oh!

SL: And a lawyer from Earth Justice saw it. They read it, and they immediately said, “Don't you sign it.” I said, “I'm not going to sign that.” I said, “I can't speak for the people in St. James.” And I didn't sign it. I said, “You don't have to worry, honey. I'm not signing it.” And so the lawyer got mad. I haven't talked to her since. I don’t care.

JMK: No!

SL: So that was the signs I put out today because they refuse to leave. And so I put the signs out, telling them we still fighting you.

JMK: Well, and that's a dirty trick to say that you only care about your very own little community, and that you won't fight elsewhere.

SL: Isn’t that something?

JMK: And yet, there's a cost to fighting, I mean the energy required. Look at you – you are working long hours – after your retirement. And so I assume for you, it’s just a stubborn resistance to injustice.

SL: Yes, it is. It is injustice.

Just like I say, they want to make us the sacrifice. We have twelve industries within a 10-mile radius, and I'm in the middle of the industries. We have houses here, industry, houses, industry, and we asked why we have to be the sacrifice.

Our governor – he's trying to recruit more industries. Let him put them at his house.

JMK: Right!?

SL: The last governor, we told him, if you love Formosa that much, you build it where you live. So I don’t know.

Then one preacher told me I should talk to the Governor, because undoubtedly, he did not get our letter. We did a rally because he did not answer us. So I just don’t know about people. They just don’t mind killing us. I always say they are murderers. They are murderers.

JMK: I know. I feel the same way.

SL: Me, too. And the LDEQ – the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality – they're supposed to work on our behalf, the people's behalf. They're suing us with Formosa. Formosa got them on their side. I wonder how much money Formosa gave them to side with them. Formosa went to court with LDEQ. And we argued our case in court. The students were too loud, and we lost.

JMK: Oh my gosh!

SL: But look how many years they've been trying to come in – since 2018. This is 2024. They haven't made it. They haven’t gotten in here yet. So that’s God.

JMK: You're such a strong leader – and now you must be thinking, too – how to recruit new leaders to come up and help you carry the burden.

SL: I would love for new leaders to come on. But the people that broke away from my organization. They wanted to get some money. I don't know what they fight for – fighting to plant trees and to beautify the town while pollution gonna kill the trees, and will kill the flowers.

They left from me to start a new organization.

They need to be fighting what we're fighting because in their town, CF, the biggest ammonia plant in the world, is right next door to us. Now they're getting ready to put some pipelines through the grounds. People in that town thought that I'm trying to fight it, and we trying to go over there to fight to help them out. They don't want us there. So I just don't know.

JMK: It's so hard because it is in people's own interest to do this, right? But also, I think one thing to recognize is why companies like this come into poor neighborhoods, neighborhoods of people of color. They know that those people are maybe already working two or three jobs.

They know that people are stretched to the limits. People don't have extra money necessarily. And so, they know that they usually are not going to get as much of a fight. I think that's one reason a lot of people have honored the fight you and your people have put up, because it's not easy.

SL: No, it's not easy. It's not easy at all.

And I told one of the students, I usually try to be home before it get dark. And I said, if I happen to get home and it's dark, I get on the phone with someone and talk until I get in the house. My daughter said, “Mama, are you in the house?” I said, “yes, I'll talk to you later.” She said, “Bye, lock your door.” I'm in my house. I feel safe. And that student said, “you shouldn't have to live like that.” I know. But I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I have to do what I have to do.

I usually read the 91st Psalm for protection. And I tell people, if people are going to try to kill me, they're going to try to find some way to kill me, and I say I hope it don't happen, and I don't want to die, not right now, and I don't want to die violent. I want God to just let me sleep away when I die. But I don't wanna be suffering and dying. I don't want anybody to come in here and shoot me, and so I pray and ask God to protect me. But they worry about me. I have a bunch of lights, and I bought a doorbell.

But my cousin came from Georgia, and he says, “Sharon, I'm so glad for you. I'm so glad you're doing this work.” And he said in Augusta, Georgia, they have a plant out there, a nuclear plant, and he said it’s awful. “The same work you're doing – we have it in in Augusta, Georgia.” I said, “Really?” He said, “yes.” And he commended me.

JMK: Oh, that's nice!

SL: Yes. We have to educate our people. They don't know about the chemicals. We do have the chemical of the month. You can go online and look at that. We had, I think, chromium in December. So now we get another chemical of the month. Then we put out a commercial, and they go out into the community. And it's on MSNBC.

JMK: Well, I love that. I think that's just such a smart way to educate people just a little bit at a time.

SL: Yes, and we also have the Rise University. Every quarter, we have some topic. So right now, we're trying to get it together for the next three months. We're gonna do plastics. We get a speaker to come, and a lot of them do it for free. They come to help us. And I think that's so nice.

JMK: Absolutely. It's really something everybody should know about. And very few people do – not just your community but everybody.

SL: And one thing, maybe you can help me on this. We're trying to tell people stop using so much of plastic bottled water. What do we use in place of bottled water? In the stores, they have plastic bottles. They don't have the glass bottles anymore.

JMK: It is hard. If you could trust your tap water, then tap water is usually better, but in your area, I don't know what the situation is.

SL: It’s polluted with chemicals. There’s benzene in that water now.

JMK: That is terrible. I'm looking through my questions because I'm sure you're getting tired. But I just enjoy talking to you so much.

SL: You were going to ask me about Ashley Gaignard. And so now they getting money from CCS (Carbon Capture and Sequestration). You don't take money from the enemy. Look how many years I've been doing this. I don't take money from CCS. You do better if you talk to Kaitlyn Joshua. She worked with EarthWorks. She’s on the board, and she’s fighting for the same things for which we are fighting. She’s still going through it. She said that so many women are experiencing miscarriages – cancer alley is one of the reasons. And after the abortion law, they cannot get care for their miscarriages.

JMK: I appreciate it.

SL: You will find phonies. God spoke to people that's going to do the work. You have to care. I care about my community. I say, I guess if something happened, I guess they'll say I sacrificed my life for my community. I don't want that to happen. Don't get me wrong. I want to live. But I follow the guidance of God.

JMK: Well, I was remembering when you were saying that about your life – you know Martin Luther King, Jr's last speech: “I may not get to the promised land with you, but I’ve been to the mountaintop.”

SL: I know, I know.

JMK: He knew that people were after him. And that was a poor people's campaign. He was working with the garbage collectors. And that's why I think a lot of people do see Reverend Dr. William Barber as a true successor of MLK, looking after the poor people, not giving up on that. I think that idea, of having been at the mountaintop….

SL: “I might not get there with you. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” Oh, boy! And I look at him! That last speech he had. I could see in his face that God was talking through him. I could see his eyes. Yeah, I said, Dear Lord, just look at that.

When God first talked to me – it changed me. I cried. It’s good to know God – I'm telling you it's a whole new feeling inside of me. It's a whole different feeling inside of me. I don't hate people. I don't gossip – I pray for people now.

I pray for myself. I pray for my family. Just like I told somebody – my family isn’t perfect – we have problems. I asked God to help me to solve it. So don't think we don't have problems, you know, and don't think we got a whole lot of money.

It's a whole new world out there when you find Jesus. Oh, my God! I thought I knew Jesus until he spoke to me that day.

JMK: Oh, wow! That is wonderful that you had that experience.

SL: It is wonderful. Oh, boy, I wouldn't trade that for the world.

JMK: Did you say you were outside?

SL: I was sitting outside on my porch – and I sit outside there sometime. I have my Bible, and I read. Before I started Rise, I would sit on my porch. It'd be so relaxing in the summertime to sit out there, the cars passing by, they blowing it, and you're waving at them. We have good neighbors, and so I would come from the other meetings, and I would cry because they said we might have to move.

One lady said, “look how close that tank is to your house.” I said “golly!” One lady says she looks out the window, and she is looking at a tank. And so I didn't know that before. I saw it, but it didn't ring a bell.

After I started with Rise, I started to have a third eye – your eyes are open. And I said, my people are dying. And I asked God, “Do you want me to move?” He said, “no,” right there on my porch. “Do you want me to sell my home – the home that you gave me?” “No.” I started crying. “What am I to do?” He said to fight. He transformed my inner being.

JMK: You said that the petrochemical companies are murdering you. And I don't think that's an exaggeration. I really love the work of Sandra Steingraber, Living Downstream. And she says, how is this not homicide? If you're putting chemicals into the environment that you know are going to kill people even if you don’t know who?

SL: That's right – that's what I said, too, and I told them this is genocide. My friend Julie Diminsky said, “I don't agree with you, Sharon.” I said, “Why?” She said, “because you can get up. You can leave.” With no money? But where am I to go? They chose to come into our neighborhood because we are poor, and nobody would speak up. So that’s why we have twelve plants within a 10-mile radius. I said, I disagree with you.

When I spoke at the AGU (American Geophysical Union) in DC – I spoke with a woman named Lisa [Graumlich]. I love her, she’s sweet. She said she would stop by my house and speak to the priest or write a letter to let him know that he has a celebrity at his church. “You need to be helping this lady.” I hope she will write it, because I want to see the reaction.

I spoke in front of 28,000 people at the AGU in DC.

JMK: Wow!

SL: Lisa asked me, do you want to know how many people? I said I wanted to know after I speak.

I had never seen that many chairs in a room that big. They had 2,000 online. My daughter in Louisiana was having a zoom meeting but said she was listening to me. I spoke for about 30 minutes – and then Lisa and I sat down and spoke like Oprah. She was the moderator for another 30 minutes, and she was asking questions.

After that, the people in the audience applauded – and at the end, they did a standing ovation. I said, “they did?” I was so excited – I didn’t even know. And then she grabbed me and hugged me at the end. When we went behind stage to take off the mic, she said there are people lined up to speak with you – are you up to it? I said, “sure, Lisa.” They had a line of people who all wanted to talk to me and to take pictures on a cell phone. I never experienced that before. It was the scientists that we spoke in front of – teachers and students and scientists, and she said – these are hard people – they don’t hardly stand up and give nobody a standing ovation. I said, I didn’t even know. I didn’t look out at the audience. I was so busy hugging, and Lisa was so nice to me. She said she is going to come visit me when she comes to Louisiana to see her daughter.

JMK: Oh my goodness!

SL: I’m telling you – so many experiences that I’ve been through – it’s going fast – the fast lane. I describe it like God is the pilot – and we are passengers, and we in a jet plane. And we are going like that from 2018 until now – going faster and faster – but that is God.

JMK: Well, I wonder – maybe that's part of what has kept you like calm and grounded during this whole experience, because this could make some people feel anxious, but it seems like for you, because you feel you are God-guided, you feel like you just have to do your part. And I think that must be helpful.

SL: Shamyra said, we are so successful because my mama started off with a prayer.

People that do me wrong, I let it go. I can’t carry that burden. Who said that? Was it Dr. King? Hate is too hard a burden to carry in your heart. Let the hate go – it makes a difference in your body. It was hurting me more when I was angry with people.

JMK: It’s hard. It’s hard not to be angry at the industry.

SL: That’s a whole different story. That there is Goliath. We are David. There is a video supposed to come out this Spring. If you go on YouTube, look for Let No One Lose Heart.

JMK: I love that – it’s so interesting as I am talking to so many people. Dr. Ruth Etzel is someone who she was head of the Office of Children's Health Protection at the EPA, and she was ousted during the first Trump administration. She talked about David and Goliath too.

And so that is a really good parable. I think this is one reason you got a standing ovation – because you're David against Goliath, and you won, right? And to see the underdog win is just so inspiring.

SL: And for the scientists to stand up and give me a standing ovation – that never happened before.

JMK: The scientists are people, too.

SL: That’s right, and they listened to little old me.

That was wonderful. And this is a picture of me with President Biden, and also Bloomberg.

JMK: Oh! Can you send me that? I would love that.

Figure 3: Sharon Lavigne with President Biden and Mayor Bloomberg

SL: I will send that right now. I’m looking for the other one with Let No One Lose Heart.

Well, I enjoyed talking with you, Jean.

JMK: I enjoyed talking with you too.

SL: I feel like I know you.

JMK: I know. That’s a good thing about zoom – I do feel like we’re sitting down at a table together.

SL: Yes, yes.

And I sent a text to Reverend Dr. William Barber to tell him I got a friend with liver cancer. I have another one with ovarian cancer, and they're not doing much. She’s given up, and that’s my classmate. And she says, “Sharon, read Proverbs 3: 3-4. So I read 3, 4, 5, and 6.

I'll send the video to you, so you don't have to go look for it – it’s coming right here.

JMK: Thank you. I appreciate that.

SL: You're welcome.

The music that went with it gets to you – and they have been working on that for three years. They are going to come to the Black History program of the 22nd of February – and they are going to put it out.

JMK: It’s amazing that you are going to get national coverage for that.

SL: I hope so. The lady from Beyond Petrochemicals that worked with Bloomberg – she’s our guest speaker. So hopefully, we get more coverage. They are offering to pay for the place and the food for us. That’s $5,000. We are going to educate the public – and we have the coloring books for the children – and the cups I had for the Goldman Environmental Award.

JMK: It just goes to show that you're making such a difference. And it's not that much money, and it's not like you're giving out gold. You're giving out coloring books. But you're giving out knowledge, too. People appreciate that.

SL: That's the whole thing. We want to give knowledge. Shamell does the legal work, with the lawyers and stuff.

JMK: So if you ever end up in Chicago….

SL: I know. I'm so busy. I've been going to New York City for the longest time – and DC. Those are the main two that I go to. I don't think I've been to Chicago. So you teach high school or college?

JMK: College. Benedictine University. We're west of Chicago about 30 miles – a nice little Catholic college, and not too big. But we try to punch above our weight.

SL: Maybe one day I can come speak at your college.

JMK: We would love that. We have a teach-in. I’m sure you would be an amazing speaker, and I know people would love to meet you as much as I have.

I really appreciate you sharing your time and your story!

SL: Of course – I'm glad I did meet you. And how did how did you find me?

JMK: I just looked online. I looked for activists with Cancer Alley, because I think I mentioned to you I have been reading about Cancer Alley for decades. Now I first taught about it spring of 97. To me it's always been one of those number one stories on environmental injustice and how wrong that is. It's just always stuck in my craw, and I just always had a special place in my heart for people who have had to live through that. And as I'm looking at stories, of course you all were one of the first regions that came to mind. I want to get stories that represent all the people who are enduring these kinds of impacts.

SL: Oh, thank God for you.

JMK: Well, thank God right back for you. And have a wonderful night, and a wonderful weekend.

SL: You too. Be safe. Bye-bye!

JMK: Good-bye!