About the Program

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and the City Archives present a film about a Plaquemines community’s fight to save itself, followed by a discussion led by the project’s advisory scholars Dr. Angela Allen-Bell & Dr. Alex Kolker.

• The discussion begins at 30 minutes–please see the chapter selection on the YouTube page (click on the video to go to the YouTube page).
• You may watch the film without an overlay on LEH’s YouTube channel here:    • Iron Sharpens Iron  

A film by director John Richie, “Iron Sharpens Iron” is the story of the historically Black community of Ironton in Plaquemines Parish, which has found itself at the forefront of both coastal change and recent efforts to address it. This film captures this community’s fight against the development of the Plaquemines Liquids Terminal (PLT) atop land that includes their ancestral cemetery. 

The two consulting producers on this film are Angela A. Allen-Bell, a B. K. Agnihotri Endowed Professor at Southern University Law Center, and coastal scientist Dr. Alex Kolker. Following the film, they lead a discussion on the impacts that coastal and minority communities experience at the hands of fossil fuel corporations in southern Louisiana. 

The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of either the City Archives & Special Collections, New Orleans Public Library, the City of New Orleans, Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, of the Friends of New Orleans Public Library. This video has been edited for length and clarity without removing relevant content.

Links and Resources 

• Tulane’s Environmental Law Clinic: Environmental Law Clinic | Tulane Law School https://law.tulane.edu/clinics/enviro… 
• The Descendants Project: Black Residents Living in ‘Cancer Alley’ Say They’re Being ‘Poisoned’ (businessinsider.com) https://www.businessinsider.com/cance… 
• Response from the UN: Environmental racism in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’, must end, say UN human rights experts | UN News https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/… 
• Recent Legal Efforts: Black Residents of Louisiana File Landmark Lawsuit | Human Rights Watch (hrw.org) https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/23/b… 
• Rise St. James: Rise St. James (risestjames.org) https://risestjames.org/ 

About Our Presenters and the Director

Dr. Angela A. Allen-Bell

“During production, I reviewed the film “Iron Sharpens Iron” with attention to accuracy of the historical narrative and a focus on cultural sensitivity. This film introduces and auspiciously develops a number of significant themes—environmental justice, systemic racism, Black resistance, unmarked burial sites, political patronage, corruption, corporate greed and the democratic process. The film presents an opportunity. It should endow viewers with knowledge of the past long enough to propel them into action where a new future is imagined and constructed.”

Professor Bell is a respected local, national and international legal scholar and expert of constitutional law; criminal procedure; civil and human rights; social, restorative and transitional justice; and the interplay between race and justice. It was her research that catapulted the movement that successfully ended the use of non-unanimous juries in Louisiana in 2018, and she is one of the founding members of the advocacy team that led this effort to reform Louisiana’s jury system through the adoption of legislation requiring unanimous juries in criminal trials in Louisiana state courts.

Dr. Alex Kolker

Dr. Alex Kolker served as the consulting producer on Iron Sharpens Iron. He oversaw the environmental aspects of the film, providing context on Louisiana’s changing environment and its impacts to residents and ecosystems. He also helped with a variety of other elements of the film’s planning and execution, adding to the interviews, edits, story arc, filming and distribution.

Dr. Alex Kolker is a coastal scientist who has worked in systems across the world. He has studied the impacts of climate change on coastal ecosystems and communities, the drivers of air pollution in the American South, and the natural processes that can guide coastal restoration. He is an Associate Professor at the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium in Cocodrie, Louisiana, and served on the Science Advisory Group for Louisiana’s Climate Initiative, the Framework Development Team for Louisiana’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan. He also worked as both a Fulbright Specialist and Fulbright Scholar in Morocco.

John Richie, Director

Filmmaker John Richie traveled to Ironton before and after Ida’s onslaught, recording local takes on the community’s history, the plans for the PLT, and the storm’s devastation. These residents, speaking for themselves, form the core of the project and show viewers both why people have chosen to stay in Ironton and the difficulties they face in remaining for another generation. Iron Sharpens Iron captures a Louisiana community at a pivotal moment in its history, one that nonetheless looks like much of its past: discounted and unaided, it endures.

John Richie is a director and producer who specializes in non-fiction media. He was a producer on BET’s BOILING POINT, a 6 part docuseries which examines systemic racism through the lens of current historical events. John has directed and produced 2 feature length documentaries involving gun violence in the United States. SHELL SHOCKED premiered on PBS’s AMERICA REFRAMED series in 2015 and 91% continues to be used as a tool to build support for gun legislation reform. John continues to work on his series WaterWays which takes a look at community struggle along Louisiana’s disappearing coast and the State’s efforts to combat climate change and the negative effects of industry.