A Year after the Fires and the Work Ahead

This week, the winds picked up in Los Angeles. It reminded me of this time, a year ago when night fell and, with it, howling winds whipped through our communities. I remember the trees swaying violently, the power shutting down, the search for candles, and the next morning…

A blackened sky. Ashes falling. A burned page from a math book on my lawn. Neighbors outside staring up in awe. Also in fear. We were just beginning to learn that the winds had incited fires in Altadena, the Pacific Palisades and other parts of the region. 

There were murmurs on the streets: Are you staying? Did you get the evacuation warning on your phone? Should we water our roof? If you stay, will you keep me updated on what’s going on? Our Covid-era masks came out of storage. We downloaded the “Watch Duty” app to track fires. 

I also remember how our team at Inclusive Action responded in those first days. Some rushed to help on the ground in Altadena, even though they themselves were evacuated and worried about their homes. I remember our newly minted Communications Director, merely two days into her role, getting on an early phone call with me to talk about how we jump into action (“I’m experienced in crisis response,” she said). I remember our Board Chair calling me and asking, “How are we going to help people during this time?” I remember our team collectively being worried about how our street vending community and other outdoor workers were going to be impacted. In hours, I remember our Operations Director devising a system to deploy cash assistance to help workers – building on what we’d learned during the pandemic.

And we helped a lot: Over 5,000 outdoor workers received direct cash assistance through our team’s efforts. We mobilized with the Mayor’s Office, with County partners, with community-based organizations and more. We followed up our cash relief work with a new, ongoing effort to support small businesses in Altadena who have received little to no help, even one year later.

The unprecedented wildfires were compounded by another crisis: the deployment of masked agents into our communities to kidnap our neighbors. Thousands of people have been kidnapped in Los Angeles and throughout the country. Families have been separated. Small businesses have suffered. And a wave of fear and chaos has taken hold – with no signs of stopping. 

At times, these two crises have merged. Two days ago, Jose Madera, the leader of the Pasadena Jobs Center who coordinated massive fire response efforts along with his colleagues at NDLON was arrested by the Pasadena Police Department at the request of ICE for his participation in his community’s rapid response network. And in Minneapolis, we were stunned to see the killing of Renee Good, a Minneapolis resident who was bearing witness to ICE’s attempts to kidnap her neighbors.

I must admit that I have experienced a range of emotions this week. Shock. Anger. Grief. Paralysis. Inspiration. And then all these emotions come back again – usually in that order.

I think it’s natural to wonder if we are getting closer to the breaking point? Will things get worse? What will be the next crisis?

Earlier this week, Pastor Eddie Anderson from McCarty Memorial Christian Church offered a prayer at the City of LA’s wildfire remembrance gathering. He said, “give us the courage for the long work, patience for the process, and love for one another along the way.”

This request to a higher power is also an appeal to us. The work ahead calls on us to have the bravery to face it. We must build our endurance for a long road of recovery, that begins by taking care of ourselves and extending compassion and love to our families, our neighbors, and our city. 

I believe that we were built for moments like this. I believe that we have the endurance to keep going.

This year, endurance will require us to invest in what makes us effective in times of crisis. Rapid response efforts require a strong operations team with experience working under pressure and a commitment to minding the details and stewarding resources for others. We must prepare for the future by streamlining our decision-making processes, refining our data and evaluation systems, recommitting to collaboration, and most importantly, reinforcing our relationships with our communities and finding new ways to connect with them as they face extraordinary challenges.

And in the face of struggle, we need to invest more in solidarity. As the same communities who have been impacted by natural disasters are being threatened by masked agents, we must make a choice on how we will respond. Will we get engaged? Will we speak up? Will we get involved with a neighborhood organization? Or will we stay silent and permit the harm in our communities?

Last year, I appealed to many of our partners in the community development field to walk with us despite our fear of being targeted for our values. This year, we will continue to appeal and to organize. As our country experiences more chaos and division, we are being called to speak up and actively work towards unity and repair. Our vision for a unifying and inclusive community must be integrated into every part of our lives. We must shape the future we deserve by talking to our neighbors, engaging our co-workers, and moving all sectors towards a future where we are all safe and where we all have an opportunity to thrive. 

If we are afraid to move towards a brighter future, we are choosing to accept the suffering our communities are facing. As our new Chief Financial Officer shared with us yesterday, the “windshield on a car is bigger for a reason. We have to stay focused on what’s in front of us and move towards it.”

So we will.