It Is Past Time To Abolish Climate Disasters By Sonali Kolhatkar
“ Under racial capitalism , land is treated as nothing more than a natural resource to be extracted , and violence is committed against the climate and the waters ,” said Leah Penniman , who runs Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York and is the author of the acclaimed book Farming While Black .
Penniman ’ s words have been echoing in my mind since January 8 , 2025 , when I awoke to find myself on the floor of a cramped hotel room in Southern California , where I had evacuated , escaping the Eaton Fire . My multigenerational family — parents , kids , and cat — fled our home the night before as ferocious Santa Ana winds whipped around us , threatening power lines and fueling a firestorm that sailed down the San Gabriel Mountains , miles into densely inhabited areas , burning down houses within two blocks of my home .
In my quarter of a century of living here , the fires never came so close , and they never raged in early January . The Eaton Fire is part of a conglomeration of wildfires across Southern California racking up more than a quarter of a trillion dollars ’ worth of damage .
Three days after the fires started on January 7 , I returned to my north Pasadena home , a structure covered by ash and soot on the outside , but wellsealed on the inside ; Los Angeles sheriffs had barricaded all streets entering Altadena . Local authorities had requested National Guard forces to join them , ostensibly to deter “ looters ,” and prevent homeowners from returning to the toxic ashes of their former homes .
I found myself on the front lines of the world Penniman described in the conversation I had with her a year ago , one of 12 such conversations I had with leaders , thinkers , academics , and activists who describe themselves as “ abolitionists .” The conversations are gathered together in my new book , Talking About Abolition : A Police-Free World is Possible ( Seven Stories Press ) released on January 14 , exactly one week after the most catastrophic climate devastation my community has ever experienced .
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