By Emil Guillermo

The inauguration of Donald J. Trump, convicted felon, takes place on Jan. 20. He’s promised to not to be a dictator “except for Day One.” Don’t let that mar your MLK Day.

I will be thinking about Dr. King, but also Rodney Nickerson, the first person reported dead last week in Altadena. More names will come out as the fire’s death toll rises.

It’s already tested our descriptive powers. Let’s stop using words like “apocalypse” or “war zone” or say the scene looks “like a bomb hit L.A.”

Call it what it is. The fires were a disaster borne of climate change.

The unimaginable devastation forces us all to confront what can no longer be denied.

Climate change is real, and the catastrophe is personal, claiming the lives of people like the 82-year-old Nickerson, who moved to Altadena in the L.A. area, when it was the only place in that area where Blacks and others could buy a home.

His daughter found him in his bed last week. He died holding a garden hose.

Race and class are part of the climate change tragedy. But here’s the thing about fire and smoke: They don’t discriminate. The Santa Ana winds, clocking in at times at speeds in excess of 80 mph, have turned all of L.A. into a powder keg, where one spark can ignite unimaginable chaos.

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Watching from afar, I’ve been transfixed by the crisis in LA. As a San Francisco native, I’m supposed to have a bit of smug superiority when it comes to Southern California. But not this week.

Instead, I’ve found myself filled with love and empathy for L.A. I even found myself thinking: Take our Northern California water, L.A.  For now. You need it more than we do.

These fires are an unnatural tragedy that’s not supposed to happen in winter. Last year, L.A. faced mudslides and floods. This winter, LA has seen a paltry 0.02 inches of rain, compared to an average of 3.46 inches.

Combine that with intense, unrelenting winds and dry conditions, and California now has a year-round fire season fueled by climate change.

Hotter summers, drier winters, and decades of poor decisions around land use and water management have turned the Golden State into a tinderbox. It’s also a preview of what’s coming for the rest of America as global temperatures rise and devastating extreme weather events become routine.

For a country where ‘wokeness’ has become a dirty word. Pay attention to all the fires — the ones in L.A. and the ones set by Trump.

Let’s continue to stand together for the America of our dreams and reassured by Dr. King’s belief: that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist, commentator, and storyteller. He hosts “Emil Amok’s Takeout” on YouTube and on patreon.com.

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