Twin sisters Jo and Joy Banner have bought the historic Woodland Plantation in LaPlace, Louisiana—the same site where their enslaved ancestors lived and helped spark the 1811 German Coast Slave Revolt, the largest slave uprising in U.S. history. Now, instead of another polluting plant, the land will become a hub for Black genealogy, freedom-fighter history, and environmental justice through their nonprofit, The Descendants Project.
The ancestors just flipped the script.
Twin sisters Jo and Joy Banner, founders of The Descendants Project, now own Woodland Plantation in LaPlace, LA—the plantation where the 1811 German Coast Uprising began and where their ancestors were enslaved. The same porch where freedom fighters planned rebellion is now in Black women’s hands for the first time in over 200 years.
The History on That Land
Built around 1793 by Manuel Andry as a sugar plantation on the German Coast.
1811: Enslaved leader Charles Deslondes launches the German Coast Uprising from Woodland—over 500 enslaved people marching toward New Orleans.
After slavery, the land passes through white families (Lasseigne, Montegut, Ory), eventually tied to Kid Ory’s family and then subdivided into modern LaPlace.
What the Banners Just Did
Spent years negotiating with owner Timothy Sheehan before finally purchasing the Woodland Plantation house (reported at around three-quarters of a million dollars).
Blocked the narrative that this site is just another real estate asset or future industrial site in “Cancer Alley.”
Plan to turn it into:
A museum re-framing the 1811 revolt as a freedom movement, not a “riot.”
A center for Black genealogy and descendant research in the River Parishes.
A space to talk plainly about petrochemical pollution, zoning, and health in Black river communities.
Environmental Justice Angle
Louisiana’s River Parishes sit in the middle of “Cancer Alley,” surrounded by petrochemical plants and grain terminals. The Banner sisters have been loud opponents of projects like the Greenfield Louisiana grain export terminal that would sit near historic Black communities and cemeteries. Buying Woodland is both a historic move and a political one—land ownership as resistance to more industry.
The Descendants Project Vision
Create a welcoming space for Black descendants to walk the land their people worked and resisted on.
Tell the story of enslaved “freedom fighters” in their own words, not just through plantation tourism gloss.
Use tours, talks, and archives to link the 1811 uprising to today’s fights over air quality, land use, and Black health.
The BlkCosmo Take
Jo and Joy Banner buying Woodland Plantation is bigger than a feel-good headline. It’s Black women turning a site of terror into a site of truth, healing, and strategy. Their ancestors started a revolt from that porch in 1811—now their descendants own the porch, the keys, and the narrative.
What hits you hardest—the ancestor reclamation, the environmental justice fight, or the genealogy center vision? Drop your thoughts below.
#JoBanner #JoyBanner #TheDescendantsProject #WoodlandPlantation #GermanCoastUprising #1811SlaveRevolt #BlackLandBack #EnvironmentalJustice #RiverParishes #BlkCosmo
