A peek into my latest project: Still Here

Plus, behind-the-scenes photos from last week's reporting trip to South Louisiana. And, of course, some music from the road.

Author

Barry Yeoman
July 29, 2025

Dear friends,

I am back from nine days in South Louisiana with my friend John Noltner, a talented photographer who runs a multimedia arts project called A Peace of My Mind. I want to share this video trailer for the series we’re producing:

In “Still Here,” we explore some of the people and communities finding creative solutions to some daunting challenges along the fragile Louisiana coast.

During our time down in the Pelican State, we heard a lot about disappearance. Not only are coastal marshes and barrier islands vanishing, but so is Black-owned farmland. So are the livelihoods of shrimpers and the tradition of eating Gulf seafood. So are local grocery stores, neighborhood music clubs, affordable houses.

And yet.

“We’ve been here for millennia,” said Rosina Philippe, an elder from the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe. “And happy to say that we’re still here.”

We’ll start sharing stories—photography, podcasts, and text—the third week of August. And I’d like to ask your help. “Still Here” will be independently published, with no corporate distributor. These stories are urgent and bracing and deserve widespread attention. I hope you will share this video, or this newsletter, on social media and with friends who might be interested. I also hope you will share individual episodes when they start to drop next month.

You can follow A Peace of My Mind on Instagram and Facebook. John is doing sacred work: using portraits and personal stories to bridge divides and encourage dialogue around important issues.

A few behind-the-scenes photos from our travels:

Interviewing Chief Devon Parfait of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw. Chief Devon’s arc runs from climate refugee to tribal leader, and he tells his story with clarity and conviction.

An usie at Provost Farm in New Iberia. Angie and June Provost (right side with peace signs) are sugarcane farmers who took on the U.S. Department of Agriculture for systematic discrimination against Black farmers. Ebony Woodruff (front) is an attorney fighting Black farmland loss. That’s John in front, me on the left side, and John’s three terrific interns from Willamette University (Kate, Sawyer, and Kaitlin) in back.

Bruce Sunpie Barnes, a musician, bandleader, and naturalist, donned hip waders and stood in Barataria Preserve’s Bayou Coquille for his portrait.

Plus, what else I’m reading

  • Danielle Paquette and Obed Lamy writing about the Vitals, a Haitian family in Springfield, Ohio who face a cracking house and uncertain future;

  • Keith Spera tracking down Chris Rose, the New Orleans columnist whose writing gave voice to the agony that followed Hurricane Katrina;

  • Jordan Green on being targeted for assassination by neo-Nazis;

  • This Washington Post feature following a young Utah couple named Shay and Tanner Martin during the run-up to their daughter's birth. Tanner, who had Stage 4 colon cancer, wanted to survive long enough to met his child. By Ariana Eunjung Cha, Drea Cornejo, Jahi Chikwendiu, Dan Keating and Julia Wall.

What I’m listening to

Our intergenerational team in Louisiana had some seriously good DJ’ing during our hours on the road. One of my favorite surprises: this cover of George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” by Hurray for the Riff Raff, a band that originated in New Orleans.

Another from the road: the anthemic “Unstoppable,” a collaboration between Australian singer-songwriter Sia, American rapper Pusha T, and Brazilian samba-reggae band Olodum.

Our last night in New Orleans, we went out to hear music and stumbled on the women-led Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band. Here’s a video from an earlier performance of theirs.

See you in August, when we start rolling out the series.

All best,
Barry Yeoman