Plaquemines Parish, La.– The people of Plaquemines Parish live harmoniously but that wasn’t always the case.  Avowed racist Leander Perez led the segregation movement for generations but even back then, there was resistance. Reverend Tyronne Edwards wrote a book about the forgotten people of the parish.

Edwards said, “Most the time when you tell people you’re from Plaquemines Parish, they will say you’re from Perez Parish. With Perez, with a lot of people you know that while Perez was talking this segregation stuff there was an underground right to vote movement taking place in Plaquemines Parish by Rev. Victor Ragas.”

Reverend Edwards book tackles some of the history of the parish, but he’s a man optimistic about what’s ahead.

“I’m looking forward to the future because if our pope really take off like it should, we’ll invest a lot of money into it and people will have a place of employment,” said Edwards.

After all, there’s a lot to love here.

Edwards continued, “I call Plaquemines Parish an island. I just love it here. I just love the fact that we don’t have the hustle and bustle of the city life. I like the fact that we don’t have no movie theater. It’s just land. To hear the birds singing in the morning, to walk on the levee, the river, the fishing.”