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At a recent Lafayette Parish Council meeting, a familiar narrative resurfaced — one we’ve heard before from those trying to rewrite history. During public comments, a speaker claimed there were never any inappropriate or offensive books in the children’s section of the Lafayette Public Library.
We’ve been down this road before.
This kind of statement isn’t just misleading, it’s a form of gaslighting. It’s meant to make the public second-guess what they saw with their own eyes, heard at public meetings, and read in documented evidence. But we haven’t forgotten. And we’re not about to let them whitewash the past or undermine our state and community’s hard-fought progress.
In this podcast episode, we revisit key moments in the battle over controversial materials in public spaces. You’ll hear from community members, public officials, and advocates who helped bring attention to the issue, including Senator Heather Cloud, whose powerful story illustrates the heart of the matter without dwelling on graphic specifics. Her words are a reminder that this isn’t about politics, it’s about protecting children and holding public institutions accountable.
As always, we believe in transparency, honesty, and preserving a record of what actually happened, not what revisionists want you to believe.
Watch, listen, and decide for yourself.
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Facts First. Even When They’re Inconvenient.
Some outlets or groups tell you what to think. Others have discovered there’s an easier way to build an audience: tell people exactly what they want to hear. We’ve chosen a harder path.
At Citizens for a New Louisiana, we start with the evidence — public records, financial disclosures, court filings, voting records, audits, and original documents — and follow it wherever it leads. Sometimes the facts confirm what we expected. Sometimes they surprise us. Sometimes they disappoint our friends. Either way, we publish them.
That approach doesn’t always produce the loudest headlines or the easiest fundraising. But over time, it produces something much more valuable: TRUST. If you value independent Louisiana journalism that puts evidence ahead of outrage and principle ahead of tribe, please help us continue the work.
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