Joy Banner
Dr. Joy Banner is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Descendants Project, a nonprofit organization founded to protect the health, land, and lives of the Black descendant community in Louisiana’s River Parishes—an area known as “Cancer Alley.” The Descendants Project champions historic preservation and environmental justice, mobilizing community power and demanding accountability to confront the harmful impacts of toxic industrial pollution on historically Black communities. Joy has 20+ years in heritage and tourism, which she has leveraged to champion the preservation of Black historic sites, heritage, and communities.
Through The Descendants Project, Dr. Banner and Jo founded the Descendant Culture and Education District in Wallace and spearheaded the acquisition of Woodland Plantation—1811 site of the largest slave rebellion in the United States—putting the plantation under Black ownership for the first time.
Her efforts are credited with stopping 140 tons of pollution per year in her home community by successfully blocking the development of what would have been the world’s largest grain terminal through years of legal battles and community advocacy to preserve the health and culture of the Black descendant community. Additionally, Dr. Banner has testified at the United Nation’s Convention on the Eradication of Racial Discrimination, the United Nations Global Plastic Treaty, and the Business and Human Rights Working Group in Geneva, Switzerland.
