survival

In Los Angeles, we know what can be because we’ve been living in the future for a while. The pollution, the forever summers, the strange waves of humidity, the newish influx of ankle-biting mosquitos — L.A. is brilliant in its foreshadowing prowess. Urban theorist and historian Mike Davis once wrote, “L.A. already was everywhere.” The world plays catch-up to the city, and in turn we’re always on the precipice of the next fire.

The world’s climate future looks a lot like a weekly drive down Hollywood Boulevard or Wilton Place. One day you see an encampment on the sidewalk. The next week, same spot, it’s been swept away. Where did the people go? we wonder. Most of the time we never see them again. Just another reminder that in a lot of ways Octavia Butler was right all along. The seeds of dystopia and possibility are sprinkled everywhere, like the debris L.A. Sanitation and Environment leaves after a deep clean. Every day, we encounter IRL the world Butler’s books depicted.

Our parable in L.A. is one of overexposure; paradoxically, showing yourself too much could be the thing that makes you eventually disappear. It’s not just the unhoused who feel this sense of precarity; think of all those weekend warriors in their luxury car rentals showboating by the Santa Monica police headquarters on their way to Élephante or the Shangri-La. Neither the gaudy nor the humble know what might wipe them out next. Living shouldn’t be so conditional.

How do you find hope in a place like this? Well, through memory and imagination, of course. Survival demands conscious actions. Which is why in this installment of Image we created some space for the homies to remember and to dream. They wrote us letters, made art, journaled it out, shared their routines for endurance. All for the love of L.A. A short roll call of who all in here: writers, organizers, actors, artists, plus activists from Communities for a Better Environment in Wilmington, who are fighting to end climate injustice for people of color.

Issue 7, “Survival,” is about vision. We can create the future of our dreams. It just takes a little dedication.

Commitment is another way of putting it. It rolls off the tongue effortlessly, but requires an investment in those first three letters before you can lay claim to the rest. To commit you must begin from a place of community. Survival starts here. Where it all goes is up to L.A. The city knows how it moves. The future is a “with” sort of situation.

Ian F. Blair
Editor in Chief