Truthout
Louisiana
![The Colonial Sugar Refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana, was constructed in 1902 and was the first operating refinery to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/09/4521489405_27a28a1f05_o-400x300.jpg)
If We Don’t Act Now, the Entire US Could Become a “Cancer Alley”
Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” is a warning for what could become the norm if Trump and the plastics industry get their way.
![An arena bearing a huge us flag houses people sleeping on cots](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/09/2020_0925-flood-us-400x300.jpg)
Black Voters in East Baton Rouge Face Continuous Polling Place Changes
Advocates say officials are failing to properly notify communities about changes to polling places due to flooding.
![An aerial view from a drone shows a damaged home surrounded by water on August 29, 2020, in Little Chenier, Louisiana.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1269572647-400x300.jpg)
Hurricane Laura Signaled the Arrival of Climate-Intensified Toxic Disasters
Pollution will become a significantly worse consequence of climate disasters as greenhouse gas levels continue to rise.
![A video taken by a bystander on Saturday appears to show dozens immigration prisoners believed to be Cameroonian asylum seekers protesting dire conditions and a power outage at Jackson Parish Correctional Center, a privately-run jail in northwestern Louisiana that was slammed by Hurricane Laura.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/09/2020_0901-prison-hurricane-laura-400x300.jpg)
Jailed Asylum Seekers Report Unlivable Conditions in Wake of Hurricane Laura
Asylum seekers in Louisiana report going without running water since the storm hit.
![Hurricane Laura Devastates Gulf Coast, Laying Bare Climate Crisis, Environmental Injustice](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/08/SEG4-HurricaneLaura-4-400x300.jpg)
Hurricane Laura Ravages Gulf Coast, Exposing Legacies of Environmental Racism
Local communities are dealing with multiple crises amid the devastation of the hurricane.
![Black Trans Lives Matters chalk art is seen in Washington Square Park on June 26, 2020, in New York City.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/08/GettyImages-1252822425-400x300.jpg)
Black Trans Activists Are Organizing Against Louisiana Law Targeting Trans Women
Black trans activists are pushing the movement for Black lives to defend trans and gender nonconforming people.
![People participate in an abortion rights rally outside of the Supreme Court as the justices hear oral arguments in the June Medical Services v. Russo case on March 4, 2020, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/06/2020_0629-supreme-court-abortion-400x300.jpg)
Justice Roberts Joins Liberal Wing to Block Louisiana’s Restrictive Abortion Law
The 5-4 decision overturned a 2014 law that would have allowed only one abortion clinic to remain open in Louisiana.
![Abortion rights activists rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2019.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/06/2020_0629-abortion-protest-scotus-2-400x300.jpg)
The Fight’s Not Over. Doctors Like Me Will Continue Pushing for Abortion Rights.
The Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s restrictive abortion law, but the fight for patients’ rights continues.
![RISE St. James activist Sharon Lavigne speaks during a Juneteenth ceremony held Friday at a recently-discovered cemetery on old plantation grounds in St. James Parish, Louisiana. Formosa, a massive plastics company, is building a massive petrochemical complex at the site.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/06/sharon-ceremony-400x300.jpg)
A Giant Plastics Company Tried to Halt a Juneteenth Ceremony for Buried Slaves
A court upheld the rights of residents in Louisiana's "Death Alley" to observe the holiday on hallowed grounds.
![Mardi Gras Story Lays Bare How COVID-19 Is Devastating Black America](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2020/05/SEG3-Covid-RacialDisparities-Medium-400x300.jpg)
One Mardi Gras Story Lays Bare How COVID-19 Is Devastating Black People
A social organization's Mardi Gras aftermath shows the deadly disparate impact of the pandemic on its Black members.