After a Legal Battle, Juneteenth Ceremony Honors Enslaved Ancestors at Gravesite on Formosa Plastics Land

Julie-Dermansky-022
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โ€œI feel like our ancestors are shouting and rejoicing in heaven about what we did for them today,โ€ Sharon Lavigne, founder of RISE St. James, a community groupย fightingย petrochemical plant construction in St. James Parish, Louisiana, said after aย June 19 ceremonyย held in their honor.ย โ€œWe did not forget them on Juneteenth. Weย honored them by leaving roses at the site where their remainsย areย buried.โ€

Late this morning, Lavigne and a couple dozen supporters held the memorial at what they say is a former burial ground for enslaved people that sits on the future site of a $9.4 billion plastics plant complex. But even as widespread protests against anti-Black racism have prompted a national reckoning, the ceremony at the former grave site was met with opposition. FG LA LLC, a local member of the Formosa Plastics Group, owns the property on a former sugar plantation and denied Lavigneโ€™s request to have a Juneteenth ceremony there. It took a last-minute judgeโ€™s ruling to force the petrochemical corporation to make the ceremony legal; Lavigne had planned to hold the ceremony there, with or withoutย permission.

Gail LeBoeuf, member of RISE St. James, speaking at the Juneteenth ceremony in St. James
Gail LeBoeuf, a member of RISE St. James,ย at the Juneteenthย ceremonyย in St.ย James.ย 

The site is on the banks of the Mississippi River in the middle of an 85-mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge known as Cancer Alley. The nickname comes from the dozens of petrochemical plants and refineries along the riverโ€™s banks and the poor health histories of the regionโ€™s predominantly African-Americanย residents.ย ย 

Holding the ceremony emboldened Lavigne, who has been fighting to stop the Formosa plant from being built ever since Governor John Bel Edwards announced the company’s plans in April of 2018.ย If built, the areaโ€™s already highly polluted air could see its toxic air pollution more thanย double.ย 

The Legalย Battle

On June 18,ย District Judge Emile St. Pierre deniedย FG LA LLC‘sย request to overturn a judgment he made earlier this week that gaveย Lavigneย andย membersย of RISE St. James permission to visit the site on Juneteenth, a dayย thatย commemorates the end of slavery inย America.

Sharon Lavigne and her supporters outside the Convent, Louisiana, courthouse after a victory against Formosa on June 18, 2020.
Sharon Lavigne, and her supporters outside of the courthouse in Convent, Louisiana, after her victory against Formosa on June 18,ย 2020.ย 

During the hearing, the companyโ€™s lawyer argued that allowing the community group and its supporters onto its property would pose a great liability, a claim at which the judge scoffed. โ€œI live here,โ€ St. Pierre said. โ€œI drive by the site every day.โ€ He pointed outย that he couldnโ€™t see how any damage could come from letting the group hold its Juneteenth ceremony in an open field for anย hour.

โ€œLetโ€™s look at where we are in America,โ€ the judge said. โ€œWe need healing.โ€ย He encouraged the two parties to set perimeters for the visit right there in the courtroom.ย โ€œIt is a good time to talk. No harm couldย come from talking,โ€ St.ย Pierreย said.ย 

But instead of discussing the prospective visit with RISE St. James, FG LAโ€™sย lawyers announced that it wasย moving to challenge the judgeโ€™s ruling in a final attempt to stop the Juneteenthย ceremony.ย 

The companyโ€™s lawyers continued to argue that its property is an active construction site, promptingย safety and liability concerns, and that the company was not givenย an opportunity to beย heard on the merits of the petition. However, Louisiana’sย Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal denied the companyโ€™s request to overturn the ruling later thatย evening.ย 

A Formosa spokesperson told the Associated Press in a statement, โ€œIt is important to note that despite assertions made about ancestral ties to the site, no archaeologist has been able to confirm the identity or ethnicity of the remains discovered on FGย property.โ€

An archeologist hired by the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents RISE St. James, used historic maps and aerial photographs to match up historical records of plantation cemeteries with the former gravesites on the Formosaย property.ย 

The Juneteenthย Ceremony

Lavigneย led a convoy of cars with RISE St. James members and supporters to the site. Security took peopleโ€™sย temperatures as a COVID-19 precaution,ย and wrote down theirย licenseย plates before escorting them to the burialย site.

Lavigne, who can trace her family in the area back multiple generations, opened the Juneteenth ceremony by acknowledging the evil of slavery and its aftermath and expressing her gratitude for being able to honor her ancestors. She was followed by Father Vincent Dufresne from the Catholic church in East St. James Parish, who deemed the site sacred ground by spreading holyย water.ย 

Fr. Vincent Dufresne spreading holy water over the former burial ground of enslaved African Americans on Juneteenth
Father Vincent Dufresne deeming the burial ground for enslaved African Americans asย sacred during the RISE St. James Juneteenthย event.ย 

Banner for the Juneteenth ceremony honoring ancestors of RISE St. James' members
A sign made for the ceremony to honor RISE St. James membersโ€™ย ancestors.

The allotted hour was filled with song and prayer. Lavigne left red roses on the fence that the company put up around the burial site before leaving, and others added flowers as theyย departedย too.ย 

Roses left behind on the fence surrounding the burial ground on the Formosa plastics site
Roses and other flowersย left behind on the fence surrounding a burial ground for enslaved people in St. James on the land Formosa where is building a petrochemical complex. ย ย ย 

RISE St. James and its supporters leaving the Juneteenth celebration at Formosa
RISE St. James members and its supporters leaving a Juneteenth event honoring the groupโ€™s ancestors buried at a grave site on a former plantation in St. James where Formosa is building a petrochemicalย complex.

After the event, the participants held an outdoor lunch at Welcome Park nearby.ย Guests were encouraged to practice social distancing protocols. Louisiana, like many states, is seeing a resurgence in COVID-19ย cases.ย 

A retired special-ed teacher turned environmental justice champion, Lavigne was bubbling with joy following the ceremony. But when I asked about her ongoing fight to stop Formosaโ€™s sprawling plastics plant in her increasingly industrialized community, her fire over the injustice of the situation came to theย surface.ย 

Despite legal challenges by RISE St. James and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental advocacy group, challenging state air quality permits and federal wetlands permits, Formosa is starting work on the site. Trucks moving earth could be seen from the burialย site.

โ€œFormosa is starting construction even though the pandemic is still going on,โ€ Lavigne said.ย It isnโ€™t lost on her thatย air pollution has left many in the regionย with weakened health going into the pandemic. โ€œBuilding the plant in aย Black community shows that they just want us to die off,โ€ she said, but she doesn’t plan to make it easy for Formosa. She plans to fight until the company isย gone.ย 

Changes that are taking place across the country following the police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota and other Black Americans have encouragedย Lavigne.ย 

โ€œWe are seeing change that should have been here a long time ago,โ€ she said. โ€œThe world will change. The young people are comingย out.โ€

She hopes thatย Governor Edwards, a southern Democrat, is taking note of the changes. โ€œIt seems like he doesn’t care if we live or die,ย because he is the one that approved the plant coming here,โ€ Lavigne said, referencing the history of Cancer Alley communities pushing the Edwards administration to address the areaโ€™s pollution and health problems. โ€œIt is environmentalย racism. He is on the wrong side of history, but he still has time to fix it and stopย Formosa.โ€ย ย 

Main image: Sharon Lavigne speaking at the Juneteenth ceremony at the site of a former burial ground for enslaved African Americans on the site where Formosa plans to build a petrochemical complex. Credit: All photos and video by Julie Dermansky forย DeSmog

Julie-Dermansky-022
Julie Dermansky is a multimedia reporter and artist based in New Orleans. She is an affiliate scholar at Rutgers Universityโ€™s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. Visit her website at www.jsdart.com.

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