By Eddie Ponds
THE Drum Publisher
MAURICE, La. — Genealogist Leonard Smith III has been bridging the gap between Louisiana’s past and present.
Smith is a prolific film producer from New Orleans who has created an immense body of work reflecting the misrepresented and forgotten history of Black Americans, including the history the Desire Housing Complex and the New Orleans Upper Ninth Ward community where he grew up.
Smith refers to himself as a renaissance man who spends time with the people who live the stories. He said he has a deep and abiding love to educate, entertain, and inspire others to tell their story.
