Photos by Grace Mahoney This story was published in partnership with High Country News. Altadena used to disappear under the trees. Adonis Jones’ neighborhood was once defined by thick oaks and pines, their canopy guarding winding trails where Black cowboys rode, shaping his childhood memories. Now, standing on the bare site of his future master […]
Altadena
Posted inClimate Change, Extreme Weather, Housing
After LA Fires, Black Altadena Faces Foreclosure and Displacement
Six months after California’s Eaton Fire, Black residents of Altadena find themselves at the epicenter of a mounting national crisis as state and federal foreclosure moratoriums expire. A Capital B analysis of public records found that roughly three dozen fire-ravaged properties have been added to pre-foreclosure lists — a public record of homes where owners […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
After a Wildfire Takes Your Home, How Do You Get Your ‘Soul’ Back?
ALTADENA, Calif. — Adonis Jones’ house was gone, but the keys were still in his hand. For weeks after the fire, he carried them out of habit. They jingled in his pocket, and sometimes he twirled them between his fingers. And then, sitting in his car one evening after making the two-hour drive from Los […]
Posted inEducation, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Natural Disasters Are Driving a School Crisis. Black Children Are Hit the Hardest
Adrinda Kelly watched from New York as Hurricane Katrina swallowed her hometown of New Orleans in 2005. Floodwaters rose, neighborhoods disappeared underwater, and she felt a familiar ache deepen. Her family was safe, but devastation quickly compounded a painful realization: Black children were portrayed as disposable, and New Orleans’ education system was almost completely privatized. […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Policies Undermine Recovery in Black Disaster Zones
For two months, hundreds of workers have cleared smoldering, toxic ashes in Altadena, California, removing what remains of a historic Black neighborhood. All the while, many don’t know how much longer they’ll be in the country. Since Hurricane Katrina, undocumented immigrants have been the backbone of America’s disaster recovery system, trailing nature’s fury from hurricanes […]
Posted inClimate Change, Housing, Wealth Gap
In Altadena, Black Households Were Most Likely to Burn, Study Finds
The Jones family lost their home of 55 years on Altadena’s foothills. They were far from the only ones. The Eaton Fire that exploded in early January tore through more than 9,000 structures in the heart of Altadena, devastating a historically Black neighborhood that had persevered for generations through discrimination and, more recently, gentrification. A […]
Posted inClimate Change, Public Safety
Why Were Black Altadena Residents Not Warned to Evacuate in Time?
A faint glow flickered behind the canyon ridges, and at first, it felt like a threat no different from fires past. Inside one home, Erliene Kelley, an 83-year-old grandmother, believed, as it had always gone over her 57 years in Altadena, that it would never roll down the hill toward homes. This time, however, the […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Health, Money, Public Safety
Generational Black Homes in LA Reduced to Ash Amid Growing Wildfires
Support Black-Led, Nonprofit News Capital B is an independent news organization uncovering important stories — like this one — about how Black people experience America today. But we can’t tell these stories without your help. If you support our mission, please consider becoming a member by making a tax-deductible donation. Sixty-two years burned to ashes for […]