Fred Prejean

Fredrick James Prejean Sr. (September 6, 1946 - January 27, 2022) was an American activist from Lafayette, Louisiana.

In August 1963, just one week before his seventeenth birthday, Prejean found his life purpose. As a student at Holy Rosary Institute, he received permission from his family to attend the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. There, he witnessed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s iconic "I Have a Dream" speech and saw civil rights legends John Lewis and Rosa Parks. He returned to Lafayette with a newfound understanding of what community meant, and how he hoped to influence his beloved hometown. "That experience became my north star," Prejean said in 2020.

Upon high school graduation in 1964 from Holy Rosary Institute, Prejean served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve for six years.

Prejean worked with an organization headed by Fr A.J. McKnight, the Southern Consumers Cooperative. There he helped black entrepreneurs envision, design, and launch startup businesses, and received his early training as a community organizer. In Sunset, Louisiana, Prejean helped to organize a buyers club to enable members to buy their groceries at a cheaper price. He also worked in Sunset to help local farmers establish the Grand Marie Vegetable Producers Cooperative to give Black farmers power over their prices for sweet potatoes.

In 1970, Prejean enrolled in Southern University studying Accounting and Business Management. In March 1972, Fred Prejean and other students traveled by bus to Gary, Indiana to participate in the National Black Political Convention. Prejean described this experience as "another march on Washington kind of experience for me." These murders were never solved. Denver Smith and Leonard Brown both appear as cases that were opened under the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. According to a 2024 list of cases under the Till Act, the case remains open.

Following the shootings, nine student protest leaders including Prejean were expelled from the university and banned from campus. Prejean chose to fight for his right to graduate. He took classes at Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans. In December 1974, a state judge lifted Prejean's ban from campus, allowing him to graduate from Southern.

Community service After graduating from Southern University, Prejean again worked for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. Three credit unions that provided low interest loans to members were established with Prejean's guidance – St. Paul's Federal Credit Union in Lafayette, Louisiana; St. Jules Federal Credit Union in Franklin, Louisiana; and Madison Parish Federal Credit Union in Tallulah, Louisiana.

From 1999 to 2007, Fred Prejean was a member and Chairperson of the Lafayette Planning and Zoning Commission. He was also president of a consulting firm, Empire Management Inc., and retired from that position in 2012 Move the Mindset is not only a membership organization but also a coalition of local organizations. Move the Mindset is committed to promoting racial and social justice through education, dialog, the arts, and direct action. The organization seeks to educate and establish community acknowledgement concerning the local history of slavery and racial terrorism while seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. An important goal was to gain support for relocating the statue of Confederate General Alfred Mouton from in front of the old City Hall in downtown Lafayette to an educational site, museum, or Civil War battlefield. With the unanimous support of the city/parish council and mayor/president Josh Guillory, that goal was achieved on July 17, 2021 when the statue was removed and finally moved to Camp Moore, a historic confederate camp and cemetery.

Prejean actively served his Lafayette community in many other roles.

Legacy and honors Over the years, Prejean received numerous honors and awards in recognition of his community service. 2020 Lafayette Civic Cup - An award given to honor an outstanding individual who has given of their time and resources to improve the Lafayette community.