Amid the wildfire devastation in Altadena’s business district is the sense of another looming disaster: Will restoring historic Black businesses and their culture be hindered by land speculators and a lack of aid?

A brush fire fueled by high winds ignited the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 7 in the Eaton Canyon area in Pasadena. It has burned parts of Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre and forced evacuations including La Canada-Flintridge. While the fire is still burning and it’s difficult to know the total damage, whole neighborhoods appear to be lost.

The mosque started as the Altadena-Pasadena Dawah Center in the 1970s by a group of Black Muslims leaving the Nation of Islam. The community was tight knit and used various locations to worship. But as their numbers grew, they needed a permanent home.

Just when many restaurants had turned the corner of surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, some near the fire zones in Los Angeles County are feeling the same burden all over again. The doors are open but no one is coming in.

The Southern California blazes left churches, temples and mosques in ash and debris, leaving congregations without spiritual homes.

The lingering emotions and ongoing angst among many in Altadena and Pasadena found some outlet Saturday evening, Jan. 18, when a Texas-based artist organized an impromptu vigil on

For many African Americans who built their lives and businesses in historically Black communities like Altadena, the combined loss of generational wealth and personal heirlooms is indescribable.

Roberto Marquez came all the way from Dallas, Texas to paint a mural and put up crosses in hopes of helping the Southern California community heal after the Palisades and Eaton fires. "Especially those lives that were lost.

For Black residents, Altadena represented something more than suburban living. It was a foothold in generational prosperity.

Families of color, making up over half of Altadena, have bought homes and kept them for generations. The Black homeownership rate exceeds 80%, almost double the national rate.

Qatar to Hold Press Conference in Doha Amid Gaza Ceasefire Negotiations DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar's Foreign Ministry will hold a news conference on Wednesday in Doha where the country has been ...

CAIRO (AP) — The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will go into effect in less than 24 hours, said Qatar’s foreign ministry on Saturday. In a post on X, Qatar’s foreign minister Majid al ...