Ellington

Blythe Daigle doesn't look like your stereotypical activist. Dressed conservatively in a gray turtleneck, blue jeans and black clunky shoes, she resembles the other inhabitants of her Belhaven apartment complex. But, unlike most people who are only three years out of college, Daigle, a Louisiana native, has already completed a two-year stint in Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Why would a beautiful 26-year-old woman, with a halo of brunette ringlets befitting a Bronte character, want to spend time in a foreign country where the language is an ancient tongue called Guarani and houses are typically made of mud and straw? "I knew I wanted to give something back," she says simply. She likes to talk of how we as Americans have no idea how blessed we are.

Now Daigle is the director of parish health ministries for Catholic Charities. She wants to reach out to the rapidly expanding Hispanic community in Mississippi, drawing on her experience in South America, to help the poor and fight for immigrant rights.

Raised in a Catholic family in Covington, La., Daigle gives all the credit for how far she's come, and how quickly, to her parents, who helped her believe in herself. "They always supported me in anything I wanted to do."

What about the future? Fumbling absentmindedly with her thumbring, she talks about law school sometime off in the future. She thinks she could be even more help to the disadvantaged with a law degree.

Daigle lights up when asked about issues that are sensitive to her—namely, the death penalty and conditions for immigrants. The day we spoke, she was preparing to attend the vigil that night at Smith Park in downtown Jackson in opposition to the execution of Jesse Williams, where she later stood with quiet, determined emotion on her face, holding a candle as Williams was put to death at Parchman.

The young woman feistily defends her belief that she can make a real difference in the world around her. "A good friend of mine asked me if I felt responsible for feeding every hungry mouth. I said, 'Yeah, yeah I do.' "

Her tender age plays to her advantage, Daigle believes. "I have so much more to do and a lot of time to do it," she says.
— J. Bingo Holman