Wildfires have devastated Southern California in the past week, while mainstream media has remained fairly fixated on the wealthier communities and celebrities affected. Meanwhile, the majority of lives lost were in the middle class neighborhood of Altadena, and mutual aid efforts have blossomed across the city to address those affected. This week, Jamie reaches out to writers and organizers in Los Angeles to take a closer look at who will be at the forefront of this ongoing crisis.

Theo Henderson of We the Unhoused speaks to how the unhoused and newly displaced have to navigate city hostility; independent reporter Alissa Walker explores how the fires will continually affect families and the risk of holding the Olympics in LA; Sara Reyes, Maebe A. Girl, and Rachel Sanoff of SELAH talk mutual aid in a time of crisis; and Mychal Threets tells Jamie about the importance of libraries and community spaces in the wake of tragedy.

Displaced Black Families Mutual Aid: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pK5omSsD4KGhjEHCVgcVw-rd4FZP9haoijEx1mSAm5c/htmlview 

Follow Theo Henderson and We the Unhoused here: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-we-the-unhoused-66071889/ 
https://x.com/TheoHen95302259 

Follow Alissa Walker and Torched here:
https://www.torched.la/ 
https://bsky.app/profile/awalkerinla.bsky.social 

Follow SELAH here:
https://www.selahnhc.org/volunteer 
https://www.instagram.com/selahnhc/?hl=en 

Follow Mychal here: https://www.instagram.com/mychal3ts/?hl=en

Tickets to The Bechdel Cast in San Francisco: https://sfsketchfest2025.sched.com/event/1rbOs

Buy A Paradise Built in Hell: https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-paradise-built-in-hell-the-extraordinary-communities-that-arise-in-disaster-rebecca-solnit/11725474?gad_source=1