The Eaton Fire in Los Angeles claimed 22 lives and destroyed nearly 10,000 buildings. It's not the first predominantly Black neighborhood that a disaster has wiped out. Or was it?
Mother Nature didn’t destroy Black Wall Street, an affluent Black neighborhood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, mob violence did. In the century since, a series of natural disasters and systemic disinvestment in the area have stymied efforts to rebuild the community, yet its history and spirit endure to this day.
Twenty years ago, Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters devastated the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Only one in five residents have been able to return. Yet, those who have returned have worked hard on rebuilding their communities and have reinvested in making the area a living museum to maintain its history.
Many Black families made their homes in Liberty City in Miami, Florida, during the Great Migration. The neighborhood was ground zero for RNC resistance in 1968 and riots in 1980. Hurricane Andrew in 1992 all but wiped out the city. Still, the remaining residents thrive as they embrace what the space can become.
Time and again, we've shown an incredible resolve to rebuild, persevere, and thrive. Even in the face of adversity, the creativity and solidarity of the Black community endures—infinite, unbreakable, and ready to shape the future.