January 2020 , in a milestone moment , the project received a $ 697,000 grant from DWR . But due to the coronavirus pandemic , the Morrison Creek project has stalled .
Pope-Harden is plenty busy with her remote job as a state policy advocate for the nonprofit ClimatePlan , based in Oakland , and is running for a seat on the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education in November ’ s election . While this year has been devastating , she says , it has also affirmed the work she and others have been doing to improve their city .
“ I think a lot of social justice has been about seeing a better world and fighting for it against folks who don ’ t have the same imagination as you ,” she says . “ When we talked in the past about needing resources for the community , and we were told there ’ s no money for it , we didn ’ t have anything to combat that with . Or when we were talking about all the folks that were already on the margin that needed help , it wasn ’ t given that much energy .”
But she says they are listening now . She used to tread carefully when explaining that something was racist so she wouldn ’ t make people uncomfortable , but she can be more candid in a “ post-George Floyd world ,” she says , referring to a Black man killed by police in Minnesota on May 25 . In the aftermath of his death and the national protests seeking police reform , more people have been speaking out about the intersection between racial and environmental justice — that they cannot , in fact , be kept apart .
“ Police accountability is also about making sure that Black folks are living in a safe environment ,” Pope-Harden says . “ All organizing groups in some way really link back to what type of environment are we making for these communities ?” It was not far from her own home where Stephon Clark , a 22-year-old Black man , was shot and killed by police in 2018 in the backyard of his grandmother ’ s house in the Meadowview neighborhood .
August and September brought triple-digit heat waves to Sacramento , and record-breaking wildfires through early fall scorched the West Coast , burning millions of acres , killing dozens of people and unknown numbers of wildlife , and causing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate their homes , fleeing to safety but unable to escape the dense blanket of smoke that hung in the air for weeks . Roughly 4 million acres have burned across California this year , which is double the previous annual record . An estimated 1,200-3,000 people in the state died between Aug . 1 and Sept . 10 as a result of exposure to the immense amount of wildfire smoke , according to Stanford University researchers . People shared dystopian cellphone photos of the smoggy haze outside their own front doors , and existential dread spread as one climate scientist after another said if you think 2020 wildfires are bad , wait for 30 years from now .
A year and a half ago , Pope-Harden gave birth to a son , Naeem . “ Part of me says that I just want to move the needle forward for my son ,” she says . “ But , at the same time , I don ’ t want him to be an organizer . I want him to be an artist or a chef or whatever he wants to be and not have to pick up this mantle . I want him to be able to be goofy and quirky and angry in public without that meaning something else .”
Pope-Harden pauses to turn on the sounds of nursery rhymes , Naeem making little cries , telling his mother he is ready to be released from the cradle of her arms and put down for his morning nap . “ His internal clock is like , ‘ Hey , we ’ re off a little bit ,’” she chuckles , before growing serious again , her tone carrying both the hope and burden of a parent determined to leave the world her child will inherit in a better , and safer , state . “ I want him ,” she says , “ to experience the world as freely as possible .”
Sena Christian is managing editor of Comstock ’ s . Online at www . senachristian . com and on Twitter @ SenaCChristian .
“ Part of me says that I just want to move the needle forward for my son . But , at the same time , I don ’ t want him to be an organizer . I want him to be an artist or a chef or whatever he wants to be and not have to pick up this mantle .”
NAILAH POPE-HARDEN Organizer , Morrison Creek Revitalization Project
November 2020 | comstocksmag . com 47