Trans-identified musician Ethel Cain is catching heat for posting risque bedroom photos which clearly show his male genitalia on Instagram despite clear community guidelines prohibiting this type of nudity.  The 28-year-old creator first posted the images on Thursday. The post originally had no content warning, but sometime prior to Saturday received a blurred “sensitive content” warning which can be circumvented with a single click by account holders of any age. Per Instagram community guidelines, nudity is “not allowed” on the platform, with exceptions being made only for breastfeeding, post-mastectomy scarring, and nudity appearing in sculptures or paintings. Meta did not immediately reply to The Daily Wire’s request for comment. Cain, whose real name is Hayden Anhedönia, has courted controversy before. He was born and raised in a Southern Baptist household and rebelled hard after turning 18, “transitioning” into a woman and beginning to create music with a dark aesthetic.  Album releases “Inbred,” “Preacher’s Daughter” and “Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You” involve violent, disturbing lyrics with taboo themes including incest, abusive religious practices, and demonic possession. The singer was called out for wearing a “legalize incest” t-shirt and using a real missing poster for a murdered child, repurposed with his own name, to promote his music. Cain apologized for wearing the shirt and for using the “n” word in the past, but at the same time defended the concept of subversive “art.”  “‘Regarding the topic of incest in my artwork, it’s a layered experience,” he wrote as part of a lengthy statement. “I have always been interested in creating art centered around the taboo.” “While sometimes the topic of incest may get intermingled on a song with my own experiences of sexual abuse or my own familial traumas, I have never and would never fetishize such a sensitive subject,” the statement continued. Predictably, Cain’s defenders accused any dissension about the graphic photos as being “transphobic.” “No, Ethel Cain is not sexually harassing you by posting her d*ck. You’re just transphobic and also weird about non-sexual nudity,” one X commenter wrote.

The New York Times got hit with a wave of backlash — and ultimately was forced to issue a correction — after Friday’s print edition included a headline replacing the word “Atlantic” in North Atlantic Treaty Organization with “American.” POLITICO editor Sasha Issenburg drew attention to the flub, sharing a photo of the newspaper showing both the date and the erroneous headline, which read, “A North American Treaty Organization Without America?” Does the @nytimes know what NATO stands for? pic.twitter.com/wvD1WxPOnN — Sasha Issenberg (@sissenberg) April 3, 2026 Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer weighed in on the paper’s mistake, noting that every headline published by The New York Times had to make it past multiple editors before going to print. “The NYT should release the names of every editor who read this and did not correct it. They have multiple layers of editors, especially for the print publication. That’s what the NYT would demand when the government makes a bad mistake. They should live up to the same standard,” he said. Former Trump administration official Richard Grenell pointed out that the piece’s author, Steven Erlanger, as the paper’s Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe: “Yikes.” President Trump even commented on the flub on Saturday morning, saying in a Truth Social post, “The Failing New York Times, whose lack of credibility, and their constant Fake News attacks on your favorite President, ME, has caused its circulation to absolutely PLUMMET, referred to our severely weakened and extremely unreliable “partner,”NATO, as the North American Treaty Organization. The correct name is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – A very interesting mistake! The hiring and educational standards have gone way down at the NYT. Bring back, “ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT” and, Make America Great Again!” The article itself referenced President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to leave the organization over other nations — primarily in Europe — not providing monetary or military support when the United States is the one asking. Those threats have only accelerated as European allies have failed to answer calls for assistance with Operation Epic Fury in Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been equally critical of NATO, saying in recent remarks that if the United States could not rely on NATO allies when help was needed. “If now we have reached a point where the NATO alliance means that we can’t use those bases, that, in fact, that we can no longer use those bases to defend America’s interests, then NATO is a one-way street. Then NATO is simply about us having troops in Europe to defend Europe,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity, adding that it did not make strategic sense for the United States to remain in the organization if it was going to be so one-sided. By Friday afternoon, the outlet issued a statement promising a correction in Saturday’s print edition: “A correction will appear in tomorrow’s print edition: ‘A headline with an article on Friday about President Trump’s threats to leave NATO misstated the full name of the body. It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not the North American Treaty Organization.'”

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** “Who’s monitoring all of this?” my dad said, immediately skeptical of the oversight on a fast food promo that pays out in ice cream cones. I get my rule-following instincts from my parents, so I knew they would be A-plus students at trying Chick-fil-A’s viral cell phone challenge at a location currently running the campaign: Towson Place, Maryland. Let the record show that I assumed my favorite boomers could breeze through a meal without checking their phones. I have since been enlightened. The concept is simple: Store your silenced cell phone in a “chicken coop” while you enjoy your Chick-fil-A meal in-store and get a free “Icedream” cone as your reward for staying present with your chicken sandwich and your fellow guests. Open to groups and solo acts, the initiative got its start at a Chick-fil-A in the Atlanta area back in 2016. It hasn’t gotten the nationwide rollout treatment, but it pops up around the country every so often at the whim of individual franchisees. This month, the hype went global after Complex posted Chick-fil-A phone challenge signage on X.   Commenters quickly responded with enthusiasm for the stroke of marketing genius behind quality family time and an immersive tech cleansing. But others called out the “sad” state of affairs with someone adding, “Society has hit a low point holy sh*t.” One hater posted, “I’m trying to enjoy my chicken, not talk to my d*mn family.” Another person bet that this particular Maryland-based Chick-fil-A would be giving out zero ice cream cones since no one can stay off their phones these days.  Well, random X user, I brought receipts proving that at least five people have successfully completed the task and cashed in on those cones: my two parents and the three teenagers they paid to participate in the same challenge at another table. Having known my mom and dad my whole life, this all checks out. My parents FaceTimed me the minute they returned from their mission, sharing boots-on-the-ground perspective on the promo everyone else in America wishes their local Chick-fil-A was running. They were already fans of Chick-fil-A, as well as the Towson Place location’s spacious dining area and flawless customer service. “I love ‘It’s my pleasure,’” my mom said.  I confessed to stopping by Chick-fil-A when I lived in Los Angeles purely because, unlike people in the rest of the city, the chain’s friendly employees seemed to enjoy serving customers. But back to the challenge at hand. “We were expecting a chicken coop,” my mom said. There are many representations of the  “coop” from the Chick-fil-A phone challenge on social media (one claims to be made of wood), but the Towson Place version involves a plain white cardboard box meant to secure your phone. (Apparently, it could have used some fun chicken-related decoration, according to “reviews.”)  Still, my parents persisted, roping in a trio of local teens into the mix, who my mom says “were like … ‘o-kay?’” about the idea. The boys had completed the challenge before and were happy to walk these nice elderly people through the process, accepting $2 each in cash. My parents value the quality time of other people’s grandchildren. And still carry cash.   Lauren Bair / The Daily Wire They placed their order at the counter, sat down at the table with their drinks, and stowed their phones in the “coop” once their food arrived.  “Wait. So do you normally use your phone during dinner?” I asked, having no idea what my parents do in their free time. “No, but I usually have it at the ready,” my mom said, like most of us. (How else are we gonna pick it up 186 times a day?) But when she admitted, “I checked my purse for my phone 10 times while my phone was still in the ‘coop,’” my eyeballs ejected from my face. Full disclosure, I did ask her to document as much pre- and post-coop action as possible. But I was shocked. The challenge, which is so obviously aimed at kids, even had my mom feeling the benefits from sealing her phone in a cardboard box. “I’ve watched many families come in with young kids, and they do it,” said Natalie Martz, owner of the Towson Place Chick-fil-A. “I’ve seen adults come in with adult children and do it.”  Maybe the Chick-fil-A challenge is just a wholesome excuse to encourage customers to “eat mor chikin” and make it an occasion by purchasing meals for the whole family. But breaking bread sans phones might lead to small, surprising joys beyond chicken nuggets — no matter your age.   Lauren Bair / The Daily Wire “I haven’t had a cone in years,” my mom recalled. “It was nostalgic. It brought back good memories for me.” Chick-fil-A happens to be celebrating its 80th anniversary this year with a “Newstalgia” marketing blitz that features retro packaging on drinks and sandwiches along with all-new plushie cows. “The cone was really good,” my dad reported. That comment on the actual cone part of the old-school vanilla soft-serve dessert is notably high praise from a non-foodie. It warmed my heart hearing that they had fun with the assignment. As one fan summed it up on Instagram, “A free ice cream for being present with your people? That’s a deal worth taking.” Try the challenge for yourself at a participating Chick-fil-A or politely ask your local shop to get in on the action. I’m sure it would be their pleasure.

The MCU is yesterday’s news. The NCU, or Nintendo Cinematic Universe, is just beginning. Ever since Robert Downey Jr. tinkered with that iron suit back in 2008, Marvel movies have dominated Hollywood. “Iron Man” changed the movie-making landscape. In recent years, however, superhero romps no longer light up the box office like they once did. Even “Superman” struggled to turn a profit last year. Meanwhile, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” spun from Nintendo’s beloved video game franchise, could make $180 million (or more) in its opening weekend. Video game movies are having a moment, and Hollywood won’t be the same moving forward. Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images for Universal Pictures, Nintendo and Illumination The superhero film genre may have run its course organically, but Hollywood hastened its decline. The genre peaked with 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame,” which made an astonishing $2.8 billion worldwide. It’s been downhill ever since, with MCU gatekeepers injecting girlbossery and DEI platitudes into the saga. That helped crush “The Marvels” and “Eternals,” while slowing the MCU’s winning streak. Even respectable entries like last year’s “Thunderbolts” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” proved financially underwhelming, at least by previous standards. So Hollywood needed another source of IP (Intellectual Property) gold. Why not video games? Well, Hollywood had tried that repeatedly, often with ghastly results. Think 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.,” a colossal misfire starring John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins, 1999’s “Wing Commander” bust, and even 2005’s “Doom” with Dwayne Johnson. Andreas Rentz/Getty Images More clunkers? The 2005 catastrophe “Alone in the Dark” and 2003’s “House of the Dead,” both courtesy of hack auteur Uwe Boll. Something was missing, be it A-list actors, competent directors, or the kind of FX to pull off the visually impossible. Slowly, Hollywood began treating video game adaptations with a critical element — respect. The 2018 film “Rampage” wasn’t a sensation, but by then Johnson was a star attraction, and the film’s budget gave it the gravitas the source material required. The 2021 comedy “Free Guy” cast likable Ryan Reynolds as an NPC (non-player character) in way over his head. The film packed big laughs with video game elements to the tune of $331 million worldwide. Reynolds may be gently progressive off-screen, but he knows how to put on a show without pushing Heartland viewers away. Few actors can match his marketing savvy. The “Sonic the Hedgehog” films, based on the Sega speedster, have all made serious coin, aided by slick video game elements and the unchecked Id of star Jim Carrey. Rich Fury/WireImage via Getty Images Another secret to video game movies’ recent success? Respecting the audience. These films haven’t pushed a progressive agenda on unsuspecting audiences. No lectures, unnecessary woke asides, or clunky identity politics casting. Even Snoop Dogg can watch these mostly PG-friendly films with his grandson. The new wave of video game-inspired films, while far from artistically relevant, cater to fans via Easter Eggs and other source material nods. And, when the fans speak, they listen. Recall the outrage over the character design shown in the initial “Sonic the Hedgehog” teaser from 2019. Fans mocked the FX behind the titular hero, and the studio quickly addressed the matter by tweaking the film. That probably cost a pretty penny, and it pushed the release date forward several months. The results spoke for themselves. The film earned $148 million in the U.S. alone and sparked a new franchise. A fourth “Sonic” film will debut next year, adding A-lister Kristen Bell to the saga (her voice, to be precise). Video game adaptations were suddenly vital, but they still couldn’t approach MCU-like box office grosses. Then along came “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in 2023. That animated romp rang up $1.3 billion at global theaters, cementing video game movies as the new Hollywood drug. The industry couldn’t get enough, and that was before “A Minecraft Movie” debuted two years later. That film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, earned $424 million stateside and nearly $1 billion globally. A sequel is in the works. Of course. Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures. Copyright 2025 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. IMDB. That film’s “chicken jockey” sequence sparked a viral video sensation. Not only were Gen Alpha types seeing the film in theaters, but they went cartoonishly wild during that farcical moment. Suddenly, it was cool to be in a theater again. Hollywood is now paying full attention to a competing media landscape, and many more video game adaptations are on the way. This May brings us “Mortal Kombat II,” while a “Resident Evil” reboot by “Weapons” director Zach Cregger is coming in September. Bigger titles abound in 2027, including “The Legend of Zelda,” “Call of Duty,” and “Elden Ring.” Any one could spark a new film franchise. Maybe all three will do just that. The potential seems endless, at least for now. The same once could be said for superhero movies given the endless amount of source material, but the MCU is so desperate for a cultural reboot that it reunited virtually every hero under the sun for December’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” Can that film light a fire under the Men in Tights genre anew? Or have video games taken the box office crown and won’t give it back? Movies are a natural fit for video game adaptations, but the small screen is also seeing a benefit. Hit shows like HBO Max’s “The Last of Us” and Prime Video’s “Fallout” show how games can also inspire TV sensations. The video game manufacturers couldn’t be happier about the Hollywood synergy. It’s boosting both game awareness and sales, meaning these companies will gladly sell the film and TV rights to their properties … for the right price. It’s one Hollywood studios will gladly pay. * * Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com.

Nestled between New Orleans and Baton Rouge is a stretch of land dubbed “Cancer Alley,” where activists blame high cancer rates on nearby petrochemical plants. Several local groups have sprung up to fight these plants, garnering national attention and funding as they rail against the dangers of fossil fuels, not just in Louisiana, but across the country. Some of these groups seem powered by the very fossil fuels they oppose. A Daily Wire review found that the leaders of three Louisiana-based environmental activist groups — Rise St. James, the Vessel Project, and the Descendents Project — take frequent domestic and international trips, jetting around the globe from Europe to the Middle East to Asia.  Collectively, top leaders of the groups have taken dozens of international and domestic trips between 2019 and 2025 while hobnobbing with prominent Democrats and global elites, according to a review of social media posts. Several of the groups are also linked to the group Beyond Petrochemicals, an organization founded by climate alarmist and billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Activism has opened the door to traveling the wider world for these leaders. One was showered in gifts and treated “like royalty” during a trip to Canada, while another took an excursion to the pyramids during a trip to Egypt for a United Nations Climate conference. Another influencer posted influencer-style videos of the “really nice” private suite she booked for a similar summit. These globetrotting ways show how “grassroots” activist organizations with ties to powerful leftist donor networks can achieve international reach. Bloomberg or one of his nonprofits has promoted or funded each of the three organizations to varying degrees, illustrating his massive influence as a climate donor.  While they crusade against the petrochemical industry, the leaders of the groups have taken a host of international and domestic trips that suggest they may also be addicted to the benefits of fossil fuels. Illustration by Daily Wire staff. Rise St. James Rise St. James is an organization based in Vacherie, Louisiana, that describes itself as “a faith-based grassroots organization that is fighting for environmental justice as it works to defeat the proliferation of petrochemical industries in St. James Parish, Louisiana.”  The organization was started in 2018 and is a fiscally sponsored project of the Earth Island Institute, a $30 million per year nonprofit based in California. It is reportedly planned to become a 501(c)(3) organization in 2023 and received a determination letter from the IRS during the summer of 2025.  In 2018, Rise St. James successfully mobilized against a $1.25 billion Chinese-owned plastics manufacturing plant that was set to come to the area. That fight was in part funded by Bloomberg. The organization also fought against a $9.4 billion plant from Formosa Plastics with help from Bloomberg.  “It’s a very expensive fight,” Rise St. James President Sharon Lavigne told The New York Times. “So that Bloomberg money has helped.” Rise St. James is listed as a partner of Bloomberg’s Beyond Petrochemicals, an organization that fights the expansion of the petrochemical industry. Petrochemicals are products made from chemicals from petroleum, natural gas, and coal. They can include things like water bottles, packaging, toys, phone cases, car parts, synthetic rubber (tires), paint, shampoo, medical tubing, disposable gloves, fertilizer, and pesticides. While previously acknowledging support from the billionaire Bloomberg, Rise St. James says its struggle is against a billion-dollar industry.  “History has shown that advocating for communities with fewer resources against multi-billion-dollar industries often invites criticism and scrutiny,” Rise St. James told The Daily Wire. “Unfortunately, environmental justice movements frequently face efforts to shift attention away from the issues and toward personal attacks or mischaracterizations.” Lavigne has taken trips to Italy, Egypt, and Abu Dhabi since 2019, at the same time as she said she would like to see “the end of fossil fuels.” These trips have been documented on social media posts from Lavigne and her organization. Rise St. James said that “most” of the trips taken were paid for by whichever organization invited Lavigne.  “Because of this recognition and the importance of the issues facing St. James Parish, Ms. Lavigne is regularly invited by organizations and institutions to share the experiences of residents living in communities impacted by heavy industrial development,” Rise St. James said. “In most cases, travel associated with these speaking engagements is arranged and paid for by the host institutions or organizations extending the invitation, which is standard practice for invited speakers.” Lavigne at 2024 Time 100 Gala: Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic. In March 2022, Lavigne traveled to Abu Dhabi for a Forbes summit dedicated to female leaders, according to her Facebook page. She posted multiple photos wearing Rise St. James shirts from various sights in the Middle Eastern nation. The event featured talks from female celebrities and failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.  Later in 2022, Lavigne traveled to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 2022 United Nations climate conference known as COP27, an event where the government and business elites fly in to lecture the public about greenhouse gas emissions.  At the conference, Lavigne and her team hosted a space that provided “a platform for the global climate justice movement and amplifying the voices of those most impacted by the climate crisis, including representatives from the Global South, the U.S. environmental justice movement, and Indigenous peoples.” Her team reportedly hosted a panel with then-Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan. Rise St. James boasted that the event drew “large crowds.”  While in Egypt, Lavigne rode a camel and visited the Great Pyramids of Giza, according to an Instagram post. The distance from Giza to Sharm El-Sheikh is about 322 miles, or about 5.5 hours of driving. In March 2025, Lavigne and her granddaughter, Asha Lavigne, an office administrator for Rise St. James, flew to Italy to spend a week in Rome for the Taproot Earth’s Frontline Peoples’ Jubilee Convening on Global Climate Reparations. Rise St. James said the purpose of the conference was to “envision climate reparations through collective healing and repair.” Photos posted on Facebook showed Lavigne and a board member of Rise St. James touring outside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.  Organizers said the conference was “catalyzed by the Catholic Church” and “moved past the barriers of language, the challenges of race, the differences of religion and came to agreement around the accountability and repair needed for a just future.” The conference was awash in leftist ideology, with a push against colonialism and calls to challenge “the political borders that limit our rights and abilities.” It called for the Catholic Church to “advance a decolonial, re-indigenized ethic of Catholic Social Teaching and practices that recognizes Black and Indigenous spirituality, cultures, and their relationships with nature and share its access to resources and research with these communities.” Lavigne took a second trip to Italy in September 2025, where she was accompanied by another family member, Shamyra Lavigne-Davey, who was listed as the executive assistant of Lavigne at Rise St. James.  The organization said Lavigne had been “invited to serve as a visiting professor, lifting voices from Cancer Alley onto the world stage and linking grassroots struggles with global movements for climate and environmental solutions.” The organization added that she was expected to meet with Pope Leo XIV.  Apart from frequently traveling abroad, Lavigne has taken multiple trips to both New York City and Washington, D.C., for climate-related protests, according to social media posts. In February 2024, she and daughter Shamyra Lavigne Davey were in D.C. to call for an end to exports of liquid natural gas.  Other posts show protests in New York City (2019) and D.C. (April and October 2021) to highlight a few.  Credit: Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Repairers of the Breach. Lavigne is well-connected with influential Democrats. In April 2023, she visited the White House for an event with former President Joe Biden on an executive order he signed on “environmental justice.” She was again pictured with Biden and Bloomberg in September 2024.  That same month, Lavigne “hit the red carpet” for the TIME100 Climate Leadership Forum during Climate Week in New York City. She said at the time that “environmental justice” was about ensuring that no one, “especially those of color,” suffered because of where they lived.  Lavigne and her daughter Shamyra traveled to New York City in December 2024 to present in front of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. Shamyra gave testimony on “reparations for climate and environmental harms.” Lavigne and Shmary were back in New York City in April 2025, where they attended another TIME 100 event, which they described as “where global influence meets unstoppable purpose.” When questioned about the frequent flights, Rise St. James said it was “misguided” and “misinformed” to suggest that Lavigne’s use of fossil fuels was hypocritical.  “Attempts to frame environmental advocates at Rise St. James as hypocrites for using fossil fuels in their daily lives are misguided, misinformed, and reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose and goals of this movement,” the organization said. “The work of Rise St. James is not about eliminating everyday energy use overnight. It is about ensuring that communities are protected from harmful industrial pollution and have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their health, environment, and future.” The Vessel Project Another Louisiana-based climate group is the Vessel Project, which describes itself as “a grassroots mutual aid, disaster relief, and environmental justice organization” and that it “realizes the intersectionality of the challenges that plague BIPOC communities and works holistically to achieve environmental and climate justice, voting rights, and access to housing, energy, clean water, safe fresh produce, and healthcare.” The Vessel Project, which is also promoted by Bloomberg’s Beyond Petrochemicals, is run by Roishetta Ozane, another activist with a penchant for global and domestic travel. The organization is fiscally sponsored by the Institute for Enhanced Equity, which told The Daily Wire it does not provide any funding to the group.  Like Lavigne, Ozane also traveled to Egypt for COP 27, where she spoke and presented, according to a Facebook post. While there, she posted a video on Instagram showing her “really nice” Sharm El Sheikh hotel suite, starting with a tour of the bathroom. At the conference, the Vessel Project said that Ozane was demanding that Biden declare a climate emergency and “that our elected officials put an end to the extraction of fossil fuels.” She flew business class on her return trip, according to a social media post.  According to social media, Ozane also planned to travel to Dubai for COP28 to “demand that the US and other governments phase out fossil fuels.” In a Facebook post from December 2022, Ozane said that she traveled to D.C. several times, canvassed in Rehoboth, Delaware, went on a cruise, supported “BIPOC” businesses, and boasted that she could now “officially say GOOGLE ME,” an apparent reference to her burgeoning importance. Credit: Photo by Brian Stukes/Getty Images. Social media photos indicate that the cruise was to Mexico. She also took vacations to Universal Studios in California in 2024 and 2025, when she got the VIP tour.  In a similar post from December 2023, Ozane said she had traveled to a dozen states and four different countries — Canada, Japan, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.  Photos of her trips to Japan (June 2023) and Malaysia (June 2023) show pictures of the food she ate and what she saw.  Traveling to Europe in March 2024, Ozane intended to protest at the European Gas Conference in Austria. Ozane said the conference was canceled when organizers “heard we were coming due to the ‘potential of violence or harm’ from protesters. That means our voices are being heard because how ironic that the companies that are killing us are afraid of us.” Ozane did take a selfie inside the Austrian parliament with leftist member of parliament Lukas Hammer. She captioned her Instagram post on the visit with the words that she didn’t come to Austria “just to ‘play.” In September 2025, Ozane went to Toronto, Canada, for an anti-Israel protest where people held up signs that said “Stop Starving Gaza.” While in Canada, Ozane said that she “had the most delicious strawberry short cake from the hotel.” On her second day in Toronto, Ozane said she “felt like royalty” as she spoke to a group of retailers of Lush Cosmetics North America, a company that makes vegetarian skincare products.  “I’ve felt like royalty the entire time I’ve been here from the amazing welcome, great food, standing ovation after my speech and the overload of gifts and products I’m bringing home with me,” she posted on Facebook.  The Descendants Project The Descendants Project, founded by sisters Joy and Jo Banner, is an organization focused on the “intergenerational healing and flourishing of the Black descendant community in the Louisiana river parishes.” One of the group’s goals is to “eliminate the narrative violence of plantation tourism and champion the voice of the Black descendant community while demanding action that supports the total well-being of Black descendants.” The construction of the Descendants Project headquarters was funded in part by the Bloomberg Family Foundation. Like their fellow Louisiana-area climate activists, the Banners have jetted around the world to protest fossil fuels from Europe and Asia to Africa and South America.  In August 2022, the Banners traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, where they discussed “Cancer Alley” and “environmental racism in Louisiana.” Traveling with Beyond Petrochemicals executive director Heather McTeer Toney, the Banners took a trip in June 2023 to Paris, France for a United Nations event on a global plastic treaty. They posted a video with the Eiffel Tower in the background.  One month later, in July 2023, the Banners were back in Geneva for a United Nations discussion on chemicals. They said they ​​”we’re in the room to make sure our health, lives, and happiness are front and center!” Joy Banner: Credit: Photo by Erika Goldring/WireImage. A few months later, in November 2023, Jo Banner traveled to Geneva for a conference on international business and human rights.  That same month, Jo Banner went to Nairobi for anti-plastic protests. While there, she planted a few trees.  “Today I experienced African soil in my hands for the first time planting trees in the Gong forest,” she said. “Yet, the more my hands became covered in the dirt, the cleaner my hands felt. This is the power of returning to the earth, especially for me the earth of my ancestors, and forging new roots in our efforts to protect our pasts and futures.” In May 2024, Jo Banner flew to Bogota, Colombia, for a discussion at the U.S. Embassy. While there, she said she discussed her “concern for the many environmental and racial injustices we continue to face due to the actions of our government.” Visiting Busan, South Korea, in November 2024, Jo Banner attended a session of a United Nations gathering for a proposed global plastics treaty. Banner was part of the U.S. “Environmental Justice” delegation.  In June 2025, she traveled to Tanzania to give the keynote address at a symposium hosted by the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Health Academy. They spoke on their “mission to eradicate the historical and environmental legacies of slavery in our little corner of the world.” “We often forget to connect the threads of slavery and the historical mass production of sugar and other foods to the environmental and nutritional harms that are negatively affecting our community,” they posted on Facebook. “The extraction of millions of people’s labor for profit led to the greed for fertilizer, pesticides, and other chemicals to replace the ‘free labor’ of slavery.” In August 2025, Jo Banner returned to Geneva for two weeks for more negotiations on a plastic pollution treaty.  The Banners also frequently find themselves with notable leftist celebrities from Jane Fonda to former Vice President Al Gore.  According to an IRS tax filing, both Banner sisters were paid $105,416 in salary for their work with the organization in 2023, roughly $40,000 more than the median income for the area they work in.  A Family Affair In addition to worldwide travel, leadership at all three groups appears to have family members working for their organizations.  Vessel Project Founder Roishetta Sibley Ozane lists four individuals with either her maiden name (Sibley) or last name (Ozane) as “organizing fellows” or on the outreach team.  Family members of Sharon Lavigne of Rise St. James have key roles in the organization. A now-deleted webpage from Rise St. James reviewed by The Daily Wire lists Shamyra Lavigne-Davey as Sharon’s executive assistant and Shamell M. Lavigne as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. Both women are Sharon’s daughters. Her granddaughter, Asha, was referred to as an office administrator and went on a trip to Rome with her for the organization. The Banner’s Descendants Project lists their brother Verdell as their industry research consultant.  While flying around the world to various climate activist events, all three have consistently criticized the oil industry.  “I would like to see the end of fossil fuels,” Sharon Lavigne said in March 2023. “If that’s going to make me live a longer life, breathe clean air, drink clean water, they should shut them down.” Ozane has made similar calls. “When will it end? No more fossil fuels. Enough is enough. We don’t need anymore,” she wrote on Instagram in March 2023.  The Descendants Project has said that the world has an “addiction to fossil fuels” and is “enslaved” to using plastic. They called for the “total end to the production of all forms of plastics.”