Sharon Lavigne

Sharon Lavigne is an environmental justice activist in Louisiana focused on combatting expanding industrial complexes in Cancer Alley. Lavigne, who is from St. James Parish, Louisiana which is at the center of the alley, has testified before congress, and runs a faith-based organization, RISE St. James, focused on preventing expansion and worsening petrochemical plant pollution in the area.
Lavigne is also a collaborator on the Coalition Against Death Alley a regional environmental justice group. She is also a pantiff in White Hat v. Landry an environmental justice case, focused on changes in Louisiana Oil and Gas law.
Lavigne, a Black Catholic, in part, is focused on defending the cultural heritage of the African American community. For example, in 2019, she organized the community against a new Formosa Plastics Corp factory that would have disrupted a slave grave in the community. In December 2020, the plant's process was stalled by court ruling.
Personal life.
Lavigne is a retired special education teacher. Her father was a sugarcane farmer in the area, and her mother a homemaker. Her family participated in civil rights actions in the area during the Civil rights movement.