Sonali Kolhatkar has published freelance stories widely in various news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, Salon, Truthout, The Nation, In These Times, PBS SoCal, and more. Read her stories here.
PBS SoCal, January 30, 2025
Rebuilding the Rhythms of Altadena’s Village
On any given Saturday afternoon in Altadena, California, you would have likely heard the synchronized cadence of djembe drums emanating from the upper reaches of Lake Avenue. The Chukwurah family established Rhythms of the Village, a retail hub and learning space for African culture and art in 2013, on the western flank of north Lake, Altadena’s main thoroughfare. The store’s signature Saturday drum circle workshops filled the air with sounds perfectly symbolizing the store’s name.
“The drum is a symbol of the heart beating,” says Emeka Chukwurah, and when “people would hear those drums it would give them a sense of the pulse of Altadena, that we were alive and well.”
Truthout, January 26, 2025
I’ve Covered Climate Disasters for Decades. Now I Live on the Front Lines.
In January, I am ordinarily making lemon curd, lemonade, lemon bars, lemon salad dressing and every citrus-infused dish I can think of. It is the time of year when my decades-old dwarf lemon tree is overflowing with intoxicating Meyer lemons, hanging on spiky branches like yellow baubles on a Christmas tree, heavy and sweet with juice and zest.
But this year my lemons are covered in a layer of soot and ash from the Eaton fires that began a few miles from my North Pasadena home, in neighboring Altadena, on January 7. The fire decimated thousands of acres of land and homes, 17 souls and counting, and the worldly possessions of ordinary people.
Los Angeles Times, January 14, 2025
Opinion: Beautiful Altadena’s one-of-a-kind town was destroyed. But we can rebuild
When asked what was the best place for lunch in Altadena, I often recommended Fox’s Restaurant on north Lake Avenue. Their elevated take on the BLT — stacked with roasted red pepper and goat cheese — paired well with a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. For dinner, the generous plate of fish and chips was a must. The kitschy diner’s decor remained preserved in time from a long-gone era, at pitch-perfect odds with its elegant menu items.
Now all that remains of Fox’s is a blackened sign with its iconic cartoon red fox logo. The rest of it was flattened into a pancake of soot and ash and the dreams of Altadena’s quirky community within 24 breathtaking hours of lightning-speed flames, which cut homes in half and lacerated historic structures.
The Nation, August 1, 2024
Forget Trump’s Idea of Tax-Free Tips
The Republican Party has a knack for tapping into the frustrations of people who are struggling to get by without actually helping them. GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has offered up a new idea, for tips to be exempted from taxes. Building on that, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced the No Tax on Tips Act in the Senate. Such knee-jerk ideas—Trump claimed he thought of it after an interaction with a Las Vegas server—do little to address economic inequality.
Tipped workers are among the lowest paid in the nation, and, depending on which state they live in, they may be entitled to less than the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage for tipped workers is an appalling $2.13 per hour—a floor that was last set in 1991.