A Black family whose history in Altadena spans generations lost 20 homes in the Los Angeles wildfires, destroying decades of legacies built in the community.
“I lost everything,” said Oscar Benn. “There is nothing to dig from the rubble. I’m grateful that we have our lives.”
In the 1950s, the Benn family fled the Jim Crow South, settling in California to lay down their roots and build generational wealth.
Situated just north of Pasadena in the San Gabriel foothills, Altadena was long considered a haven for Black families who began settling there in the mid-20th century and continued trickling in as the years ensued. Some had escaped segregation in the South and took refuge in a place that did not subscribe to the racist criteria of the era for land ownership, an anomaly even in California.
Altadena’s Black community boomed during this period — as it did in the entire Los Angeles area, according to Paul Ong, director of UCLA’s Center for Neighborhood Knowledge.
“Altadena represents the gains that were made during the civil rights movement, particularly in housing. It was the one area where homeownership was really possible,” Ong said.
In recent years, Altadena’s home prices have skyrocketed, leading to fears that generational wealth could be lost to gentrification. Those fears have intensified after the Eaton Fire ravaged vast swaths of the community.
“Altadena is a litmus test about how committed we are to racial justice. And I have high hopes that we will respond. But I also have late-night nightmares that things won’t happen the way we want it to happen,” Ong said.
Oscar’s daughter, Loren, says they’ve already gotten calls from those looking to buy their land, and is angry about what she calls an attempt by some to profit off her family’s tragedy. She says they don’t have any plans to sell.
As the Benns mourn the soul of a lost community, there’s an uneasy feeling of what’s next.
“Even if our homes rebuild, our neighborhood has to, too… If we rebuild and the city changes, now we have to decide if we want to stay,” Loren said.
Still, she says there are no plans to walk away from the land that’s been in the family for generations.
