Altadena community gets a first peek at new ‘Monumental’ app
On April 1, 2026, USC Charlotta Bass Journalism & Justice Lab debuted the Monumental app via soft launch at Octavia’s Bookshelf to a selected audience. Monumental is a project to preserve and amplify Black stories, with the first installment on the cities of Altadena & Pasadena. The presentation featured a series of videos shot by Halline Overby, Director of Photography of the Bass Lab, highlighting several Altadena landmarks and community members post Eaton fire.
Invited guests started trickling into Octavia’s Bookshelf around 6 p.m., and the evening officially kicked off with welcome speeches by Rafiq Taylor, Public Relations associate, and Dr. Allissa Richardson, founder and director of the Bass Lab. Dr. Richardson shared about her time living in the area, and emphasized that this app was her “love letter to the city of Altadena.” Nikki High, owner of Octavia’s Bookshelf, addressed the room and gave a little background information on how her store came to be. She recalled how on the opening day a little over three years ago, her goal was to have 50 people show up. Instead, over 400 people arrived to show love to the newest bookstore on the block. Octavia’s Bookshelf was named after Octavia Butler, a local Altadena legend who was the first Black woman to achieve national recognition for her works in the science fiction genre. Nikki wanted to dedicate a space to celebrate the literary works of Black writers. When the Eaton fire happened, she opened her doors to the grieving community. With her mindset of “If I got it, you got it,” the bookstore naturally became a service hub for Altadeneans post fire. This was the perfect setting for the presentation that followed.
The first video highlighted the Turkey Tussle, particularly the tailgating just outside of the Rose Bowl. This was a very lighthearted and energetic feature, and was welcomed by cheers and whoops from audience members who recognized their friends and community members in the clips. With everyone aptly hyped up, the mood of the room gradually mellowed out as more videos were played. The following videos highlighted individuals and their connection to specific areas of Altadena that were either affected by the fires or held a lot of memories for many folks. The central messaging of the stories shared was clear: Altadena is a city full of memories and Black excellence, and the community will help bring it back to glory. One line summed up the recovery efforts by the community: “In order for a tree to grow you gotta plant a seed, and if we can get that seed to grow, we can get it as close as it used to be.” From the farmers’ market to to John Muir High School, it was obvious that Altadena is “a place of love, good times, and good people.”
By the end, there was not a single dry eye in the room as audience members sat with their emotions and recalling the difficult moments immediately post fire. Welcomed by a smattering of applause, Overby thanked the crowd for welcoming him, an outsider, and trusting him to help tell their stories. This was especially important, as an audience member later confessed that many have tried to “make a narrative of something else.” He gave special shout outs to certain people, and then opened the floor up to everyone. Several people gave speeches, thanking Halline for “telling our story from us” and sharing personal, raw anecdotes from the tumultuous times right after the Eaton fire burned. One could tell this was a tight knit group of people, with many being proud Mustangs of John Muir High School.
The night wrapped up with thank you messages from Dr. Richardson, and a note that the app is looking to officially launch Fall 2026. Audience members were invited to a bigger event for the launch, happening on USC’s University Park campus and open to everyone.
