ALLENSWORTH, Calif. - Black History Month offers an opportunity not only to honor the past, but to recognize how history shapes the present - and how public institutions can help repair the harm caused by decades of inequitable policymaking. For more than half a century, the Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) and its partner offices have worked to support communities that have been historically overlooked, under-resourced, or harmed by land use, infrastructure, and environmental decisions. Today, that legacy continues through programs that center equity, local leadership, and community-driven solutions in the face of a changing climate.

One such example is Allensworth - a community whose history, resilience, and future are deeply intertwined with California's Black history.

A Vision of Freedom, Resilience, and Self-Determination

Founded in 1908 by Col. Allen Allensworth and a group of African American settlers, Allensworth holds a singular place in California's story. It is the first town in the state founded, financed, and governed entirely by African Americans, envisioned as a self-sufficient rural community where Black residents could live free from racial discrimination and thrive through education, agriculture, and entrepreneurship.

In the early 1900s, Allensworth stood surrounded by open farmland and wide skies, the town was carefully planned and purposely built. Dirt roads ran between modest but well-kept wooden homes, many painted in light colors to reflect the intense Central Valley sun. Young trees lined the streets, newly planted and still growing, much like the community itself.

Daily life was demanding, shaped by heat, water scarcity, and the challenges of building a new town from the ground up. Yet Allensworth was alive with intention. Children walked to school, neighbors gathered for church and community meetings, and residents worked toward a shared goal - creating a place where Black families could live, work, and govern themselves as a free and dignified community. In a time when opportunity was systematically denied elsewhere, Allensworth stood as a powerful symbol of resilience, pride, and possibility.

That vision was tested over time. Generations later, water contamination, and long-standing disinvestment threatened the community's future. In the late 20th century, residents organized to defend Allensworth from projects that would have erased its history and further burdened its people. That era of defense laid the groundwork for today's renewal.

Community-Led Renewal in a Changing Landscape

In 1908, Col. Allensworth and community partners came together to create the Allensworth Progressive Association (APA) to develop guidelines to help govern the town. In 1997, the organization became a nonprofit to continue serving the community. Now, a new generation of community leaders has emerged - strengthening local organizations, securing millions of dollars in funding, and advancing a bold vision for the future.

Members of the APA are working to transform Allensworth into an organic farming hub for southwest Tulare County and to bring essential services long denied to their rural community. Their vision includes access to clean drinking water, a town-wide sewer system, restored sacred spaces like the cemetery, and a Community Resilience Center that can serve residents year-round.

LCI's Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program on the Ground: Learning From Community

During this Black History Month, LCI is uplifting the recent work of its Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program (ICARP) and the ICARP Technical Advisory Council (TAC), which visited Allensworth in 2025 as part of its ongoing statewide learning and engagement efforts.

During the Quarter 4, 2025 TAC meeting, LCI Director Samuel Assefa, along with TAC members and LCI staff, met with APA leaders to learn directly from the community about local projects focused on education, regenerative agriculture, and long-term climate resilience.

The visit highlighted plans for a new Community Resilience Center, being designed with support from a California Strategic Growth Council's (SGC) Transformative Climate Communities (TCC) Program Round 4 Planning Grant. When completed, the center is expected to provide:

• Improved access to clean and safe drinking water
• Cooling and refuge during extreme heat events
• Emergency shelter and basic healthcare services
• Space to incubate small businesses and support local entrepreneurship

These investments reflect LCI's commitment to meeting communities where they are - and supporting solutions shaped by local priorities and lived experience.

Innovation, Partnership, and Equal Access to Resources

The ICARP TAC also toured innovative water-treatment technology developed through a partnership between the APA and University of California, Berkeley Gadgil Lab. Since 2019, the Gadgil Lab has worked alongside the community to pilot methods to remove arsenic from local drinking water - a persistent challenge rooted in both geography and historical neglect.

This collaboration reflects how science, community knowledge, and public investment can come together to address environmental injustices that disproportionately impact rural and historically marginalized communities.

Carrying Black History Forward

Allensworth's story is one of vision, loss, resistance, and renewal - a story that mirrors the broader Black experience in California and the nation. Through ICARP, the TAC, and LCI's broader resilience portfolio, the state is learning from communities like Allensworth and investing in solutions that honor history while preparing for the future.

This Black History Month, LCI recognizes that climate resilience is inseparable from racial equality - and that lasting solutions are built by listening to communities that have long led the way.

Learn more about the ICARP Technical Advisory Council.