The
Coleman family moved to Altadena, CA, in 1969.
The house they came to call "home" became the
hub of warmth, love, and security to the five
children they raised there and the broader
family and friends who came there for
weddings, family parties, and gatherings that
included grandchildren, cousins, and dozens of
kids from the community. The Coleman home was
the "go-to spot" to receive advice and
support.
The
Coleman family loved Altadena, and the
racially and ethnically diverse community
loved them. Sadly, on Jan. 7, the Coleman
matriarch, who is 93 years old, lost the home
to one of the worst fires in the history of
Southern California.
Families
Affected by the Altadena Fire
After
embers from the Eaton Canyon fire began
setting homes on fire, the Colemans were
forced to flee the home with just the clothes
on their backs.
Sadly,
they lost everything in the fire, including
photos and items that can never be
replaced.
The
tragedy that began on January 7th is just the
beginning for the Colemans and the thousands
of others who survived one of the worst
disasters in California history. Here is a
link to the Coleman
Family GoFundMe campaign. Please
give what you can.
Local
journalist and frequent LA Progressive
reporter, James Farr, happens to live in one
of the high-risk regions adjacent to Eaton
Canyon. James, who lives in Pasadena, CA,
gives some insight into what he witnessed over
the past few days. An evacuee himself, James
took his family to Orange County initially but
has now returned to Pasadena.
He
talks about how the Altadena Fire has already
affected Black and Brown families in ways that
are different from the other communities.
James maintains that marginalized communities
are typically hit hardest by disasters, and
this wildfire disaster is proving to be no
different.
Environmental
justice and economic justice go hand in hand
when analyzing how disasters such as this
impact different communities differently.
Katrina
Comparisons
Almost
twenty years ago, the world watched as Hurricane
Katrina and
the failure of the levees resulted in
unimaginable death, damage, and disaster,
particularly in New Orleans. But less of the
world paid attention as the mostly white areas
of ravaged New Orleans were completely rebuilt
and reinhabited, while Black neighborhoods
like the Lower 9th Ward experienced a far
different story.
Prominent
public intellectual, noted political analyst,
and Georgetown Professor Michael Eric
Dyson provided an analysis of these two
different stories in his highly acclaimed
post-Katrina book, “Come
Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina
and the Color of Disaster." In
it, Dyson examines what Hurricane Katrina
reveals about the fault lines of race and
poverty in America. He offers a
well-researched, searing indictment of the
unevenhandedness of government policy as it
relates to race and class.
What Katrina Didn't Teach Us
In the week since
the first embers set so
many homes ablaze in
the
Altadena/Pasadena
area of Southern
California, scores
of people we know
personally have
reached out, and we
have reached out to
them. What is
becoming clear is
that those who were
already living on
the edge, without much
to begin with, are
in worse shape than
those with more
resources.
James Farr has found
that this story is
shaping up to be
omenously similar to
Katrina but holds
out hope that the
aftermath of these
two devastating
tragedies will be
different as do we.
